On August 3, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met with the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Achim Steiner.

Ambassador Mnatsakanyan congratulated Administrator Steiner on assuming responsibilities as the head of the UNDP, commending continuously growing partnership of over 20 year, thanks to which a large number of joint projects have been implemented in Armenia.

Administrator Steiner highly appreciated Armenia`s long-standing cooperation with the UNDP, expressing gratitude for the partnership and support, including throughout the presidency of Armenia in the UNDP Executive Board in 2016.

Ambassador Mnatsakanyan and Administrator Steiner exchanged views on the issues of international and bilateral agenda, such as the ongoing consultations on a repositioning of the UN development system, the reform agenda initiated by the Secretary-General, as well as the cooperation aimed at sustainable development goals (SDG) implementation.

Achim Steiner expressed the support  of UNDP for the nationalization and integration of sustainable development goals in Armenia. Both sides highlighted the importance of the recent visit of the UNDP Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policies Support Mission (MAPS) to Yerevan. The achievements of Armenia in the area of innovation and creativity were commended.

The interlocutors touched upon the Summit on Impact Investment for Development held in Yerevan in March, as well as the round table discussion summarizing the results of the Summit, organized at the United Nations headquarters in July.

It was reaffirmed at the meeting that UNDP continues to stay an important partner for Armenia in the context of generating new platforms and formats for impact investments aimed at sustainable development.