Baku, 11 March 2019 – Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, UNDP Assistant Administrator, Director of UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, on 12 March will begin a three-day official visit to Azerbaijan, as part of her official tour to the South Caucasus.

Having derived much of its revenue from oil, and achieved decisive progress against poverty, Azerbaijan has been attempting to diversify its economy and is working to expand the number of people who benefit from economic growth and public services. In recent months, the government launched with UNDP three major programmes aiming to help people with disabilities create their own businesses; improve job prospects for excluded groups, including war veterans; and boost the supply of essential medicines across the country.

While in Azerbaijan, she will meet with state officials and key ministers to examine future areas of collaboration in key areas such as employment, environmental protection, women’s empowerment and sustainable cities.

Ms. Spoljaric Egger will attend the opening of the new Women’s Resource Center in the Baku Khazar district and will visit ASAN Service Centre, a one-stop shop for delivering public and private services to citizens. She will also participate at the VII Global Baku Forum, titled “New Foreign Policy” and will discuss the political economy of transitioning to sustainable development in a panel with the Earth Institute’s Jeffrey Sachs and Helen Clark, the former Administrator of UNDP.  Ms. Spoljaric Egger will also open the 6^th Regional Internet Governance Forum, a flagship annual event supported by UNDP in Azerbaijan, this year part of the first ever Cyber week.

UNDP brings to Azerbaijan new development insights, having piloted the use of innovation labs and having recently announced the launch of 60 Accelerator Labs in its offices worldwide including in Azerbaijan.

For interview requests, please contact Arzu.Jafarli@undp.org

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As the Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS, since October 2018, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger leads UNDP’s work and teams in 17 countries and one territory, spanning Central Asia, the Western CIS and South Caucasus, and Western Balkans.

Ms. Spoljaric Egger previously served as Head of United Nations and International Organisations Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, where she has been instrumental in shaping Swiss UN policies and priorities in support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.