Turk Chosen To Head UN Development Agenda
New York, Apr 26 2005 Choosing from over 100 nominations by Governments and other institutions, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today named a Turkish former World Bank executive, who was responsible for developing new
poverty reduction strategies, to head the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for the next four years.
The <"http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2005/april/pr26apr05.html">nomination of Kemal Dervis, 56, now goes
before the 191-member General Assembly for approval.
Mr. Dervis was Turkey's Finance Minister from March 2001 to August 2002, when he was credited with leading his country
out of a major economic crisis.
He had previously served for 22 years at the Http://Web.Worldbank.Org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,Pagepk:34382~Pipk:34439~Thesitepk:4607,00.Html World Bank, where he was Vice President for Middle East and North Africa and Vice President for Poverty Reduction and
Economic Management, according to <" http://www.undp.org/">UNDP.
In the anti-poverty post he was pivotal in developing the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) initiative, which
calls on Governments to involve civil society organizations (CSOs) and development partners in the process of devising
national proposals on promoting economic growth.
"I believe Kemal Dervis would make an outstanding Administrator of UNDP," Mr. Annan said in a letter to the President of
the programme's Executive Board. "I chose him from an outstanding array of global candidates."
Mr. Dervis' combination of proven practical and intellectual track records in development and international finance
"with a passionate commitment to addressing the scourge of poverty" and his managerial skills would enable him to
consolidate UNDP's critical role in addressing global priorities - from the 2000 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
which seek to reduce a host of socio-economic ills, to crisis prevention and recovery, Mr. Annan said.
He added that Mr. Dervis could build on the successful six-year reform effort implemented by current Administrator Mark
Malloch Brown, who, in that capacity, also chairs the UN Development Group (UNDG), but was recently appointed Mr.
Annan's Chief of Staff.
UNDP is the largest of the independently funded UN agencies and, under its special General Assembly mandate, leads the
UN's work on eradicating extreme poverty and promoting good governance in the developing world. Its staff is active in
166 countries.
Mr. Dervis' current activities, such as participation in the Global Progressive Forum and the Progressive Governance
Network, have been aimed at "finding ways to make globalization into a more stable and inclusive process and to further
international cooperation," UNDP said.
He is the author of a book published last month called "For Better Globalization," speaks fluent English, French and
German, besides Turkish, and holds a doctorate in economics from Princeton University and Master's and Bachelor's
degrees from the London School of Economics
ENDS