United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Sri Lanka Ms Azusa Kubota met with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena today (01.07.2024) at the Temple Trees premises.

Findings and Preliminary Recommendations of Strengthening Transformation, Reconciliation and Inclusive Democratic Engagement (STRIDE) programme was presented to the Prime Minister at this occasion. STRIDE is a multi-stakeholder initiative, funded by the EU to promote dialogue between communities and local governments by improving access and quality of services at the local level. Their national symposium titled ‘Catalyzing change- Making Local Governance Future Fit’ held during 10-11 June 2024 summation was presented as a report and discussed at this meeting.
Prime Minister requested for many worthy causes from the programme, such as developments of renewable energy sources, solar panels projects to island- wide government schools and government institutions, and support to further develop rural agricultural economy and woman focused family unit economies. Responding to the Prime Minister, Ms Kubota stated that they are already focused on these areas and that they wish to have further discussions on creating a Task Force to expand their initiative on rural agricultural development.
The Head of Cooperation for the European Union Delegation to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Dr Johann Hesse and Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs Pradeep Yasarathna also joined this event.