UN to assess progress of projects in Sri Lanka

A top UN official said he will assess the progress made in the UN supported projects in Sri Lanka during a three-day visit to the country beginning Sunday.

The UN assistant secretary general and director of the United Nations Development Programme Asia-Pacific bureau, Xu Haoliang, said he looks forward to understanding the progress made in the first year of the UN Development Assistance Framework for 2013-2017, Xinhua reported.

Xu will meet government officials, civil society and development partners, and will visit the development projects in Sri Lanka's northern province.

"UN's work in Sri Lanka has shifted largely towards more development-focused programmes. While understanding the impressive progress made so far, I also look forward to better understanding the human development priorities of the country as well as how we as the UN could strengthen our support to achieve these priorities," he said.

Xu said his visit will focus on the areas of access to justice, gender equality, socio-economic development, empowerment and disaster risk management.