On 3 November, the Japanese Government announced its decision to decorate Mr. Kemal Derviş, former Administrator of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to mainstream Japan’s development policy through the United Nations.

As the Administrator of UNDP and the Chair of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), Mr. Derviş exercised prominent leadership to confront the most pressing global challenges; the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), addressing climate change, supporting countries in crisis, and reforming the United Nation development system.

During his tenure in UNDP, Mr. Derviş played a significant role to strengthen the collaborative partnership between UNDP and Japan in tackling the above mentioned challenges, including the development of Africa through TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) process as co-organizers.

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