The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) on February 6 agreed to extend their cooperation for another five years, aiming to scale up their support for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Southeastern Europe, Turkey, Moldova and Georgia, IPN reports.
The agreement, signed by CEB Vice-Governor Carlo Monticelli and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS Cihan Sultanoğlu, will help to address climate change and energy efficiency, respond to challenges such as the migration and refugee crisis, and promote inclusive social and economic development in the region.
“Our region has achieved remarkable progress but much more needs to be done to ensure people do not fall back into poverty or get left behind. Scaling up our work with partners such as the CEB, with its unique social vocation and large-scale investment capacity, will help ensure we finish the job,” Cihan Sultanoğlu said during the signing ceremony.
“Our two institutions are called upon to play a crucial role in meeting the challenges that we are facing. Enhancing the cooperation between the CEB and the UNDP is a key factor for social development in our respective member countries,” said Carlo Monticelli, CEB Vice-Governor.
In the framework of the initial Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2007, UNDP, with CEB funds, helped build the largest wastewater treatment plant in Cyprus to the benefit of 270,000 inhabitants; rehabilitated public infrastructure in Georgia’s Shida Kartli region following the 2008 violence; provided emergency food aid to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and promoted social inclusion of the Roma community.
