Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (August 15, 2011) – The official ceremony of the presentation of letters of credence to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Roza Otunbaeva by the UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative, Alexander Avanessov was held today.

During the presentation of letters of credence signed by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Mr. Avanessov reassured that the UN system organizations and UNDP in Kyrgyzstan will continue their active support of the democratic, social and economic reforms within the framework of agreed strategies and programmes to further develop the country and increase people’s welfare in the new historical era of Kyrgyzstan.

After the official ceremony President Roza Otunbaeva and Alexander Avanessov talked about a wide range of issues related to strengthening of cooperation of the Kyrgyz Republic and the United Nations in priority areas.  The parties agreed that the traditionally high level partnership in joint strategy and programme implementation has always been very important for achieving sustainable human development.

The Kyrgyz President underscored the importance of coordinated efforts of the UN system and its close partnership with government structures and civil society of the Kyrgyz Republic, donor community in priority directions of the country’s development, including improvements in democratic governance, human rights records and rule of law, peace building, restoration after the recent country’s crises and shocks, and returning to the path of sustainable development.  Programmes and projects focused on economic development and improvement of the living standards , including in the remote regions of the country, child protection, infrastructure development, fighting drug trafficking, solution of environmental issues (including those of uranium tailings), and development of  tourism have become a center of the conversation.

The UN system has been represented at the ceremony and the talk by Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic, Pradeep Sharma, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic, Ercan Murat, Senior Adviser of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS and other officials.

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