FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE MEETS WITH HELEN CLARK, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP)

· Mrs. Clark is in Mexico from March 12-16.

· Foreign Secretary Meade and Mrs. Clark discussed joint strategies to help design the new post-2015 development agenda.

· They signed the 2013-2018 United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).

Foreign Secretary José Antonio Meade Kuribreña met with Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, who is in Mexico until March 16th.

The Foreign Secretary and Mrs. Clark discussed joint strategies to help design the new post-2015 international development agenda, which seeks to follow up on and continue the progress made at the global level in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, which were adopted in 2000. Foreign Secretary Meade reiterated to the senior UNDP official that the Mexican government will continue to participate actively and decisively in the discussions in order to achieve concrete and measurable results.

They also discussed the 2014-2019 United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which sets forth the priorities of the United Nations agencies, programs and funds with the Mexican government, which will be signed today.

The UNDP administrator will also meet with senior officials from the Ministries of Interior, Social Development and Energy, with whom she will discuss key aspects of the strategic relationship between the UNDP and Mexico, and with legislators, academics and representatives of civil society and the private sector.

This Thursday, Ms. Clark will attend the presentation of the 2013 Human Development Report "The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World," at the Los Pinos official residence.

Helen Clark has been UNDP Administrator since April 17, 2009, and is the first woman to hold that post. She is also the Chairperson of the UN Development Group, which is comprised of the heads of all of the UN’s development funds, programs and departments. She was the Prime Minister of New Zealand for nine years, between 1999 and 2008.