HELEN Clark, UNDP Administrator, and H.E. Mr. Nasser Judeh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, officially inaugurated UNDP’s Regional Hub for the Arab States in Amman, on 8 November 2015.
This is the latest regional Hub to be established by UNDP following the ones in Panama, Istanbul, Bangkok, and Addis Ababa. The Amman Hub aims to provide relevant, responsive and timely support to country offices across the Arab region and includes projects related to climate change, energy and disaster risk reduction, gender equality, anti-corruption and elections, among others.
“Amman is an ideal location for the Hub,” said Ms. Clark in her speech at the inauguration. “Its central location in the region, along with its wealth of local talent, are of enormous benefit to UNDP’s work across the Arab States.”
The Hub also has a sub-office for various regional projects located in Beirut, and also another sub-office in Cairo tasked primarily with liaison with the league of Arab states. With more than 90 staff, the Hub will seek to advance sustainable human development in the region in light of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support inclusiveness and resilience in the region in the face of crises and other development challenges.
Also present at the inauguration were Sima Bahous the assistant secretary-general, assistant administrator and regional director of the regional bureau for Arab States, and Khaled Abdel Shafi the newly appointed director of the Hub.
