(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)
Helen Clark, Administrator
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has begun her first
visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The UNDP Administrator
is considered to be the third most senior official within the UN System.
The UNDP publishes annually its Human Development Report, which presents
Human Development Index
(HDI) values and ranks for 187 countries and UN-recognized territories.
In the latest Human Development Index (2013), Israel ranks 16 in the
world.
During her visit to Israel, which will be held on 18-19
February, Helen Clark will meet with President Shimon Peres and Members
of Knesset. In addition, she will hold meetings with the
COGAT
(Coordinator of Activities in the Territories) and senior MFA
officials, including the Deputy Director General for the UN and
International Organizations and the head of
MASHAV
(Israel’s agency for international development cooperation), members of
academia, government ministries and the private sector.
In
addition, she will meet with participants from six African countries
taking part in a training program organized by MASHAV in partnership
with the UNDP, and will participate in
ID² - Israeli Designed International Development,
the young entrepreneurs’ conference held in Caesarea, organized by the
Schusterman Foundation and sponsored by MASHAV and Tel Aviv University.
The
visit represents an additional step in the strengthening of the
relationship between Israel and the United Nations, and positions Israel
as an important United Nations partner vis a vis the UN agenda aimed at
the eradication of poverty, economic development and job creation.
The
relationship between the organization and Israel has strengthened in
recent years, a fact expressed by Israel's membership of the
organization’s board for the first time in 2012, as well as by its
involvement in the shaping of the program’s policy and leading internal
decisions and processes.
An important aspect of the relationship is the cooperation agreement
between MASHAV and UNDP
signed in 2008,
which includes, among other things, the promotion of joint activities
in Africa and joint activities concerning gender and women's empowerment
in developing countries. The organization was also a partner of the
International Women's Leadership Conference
organized by MASHAV in 2013. A group of businesswomen from Africa is
currently in Israel attending a course on agriculture as a business tool
for empowering women.