Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed yesterday met with Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Helen Clark.

During the meeting, the Vice President updated Helen Clark on the progress of the government’s decentralisation programme, climate change adaptation and efforts to tackle drug abuse.

At the meeting, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, who is also the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, assured the Vice President that the UNDP would support the Maldives in areas highlighted by Dr Waheed. She also said the UNDP would continue to provide assistance to the Maldives’ decentralization programme, and facilitate training in areas of local governance.

As part of his visit to New York, the Vice President also met with Executive Director of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yury Fedotov yesterday.

At the meeting, Vice President Dr Waheed and UNODC Executive Director discussed expediting UNODC technical assistance programme to strengthen the national response on drug use prevention and treatment.