KATHMANDU, 6 October 2017 —Hon'ble Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara today received the Letter of Credentials of Ms. Lubna Baqi, the new Country Representative of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, for Nepal.
Amid a special event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister received the Letters of Credentials. On the occasion, Minister Mahara hailed UNFPA's long partnership with the Government of Nepal and hoped that it will continue in the future too.
In reply, the UNFPA Representative said she is honoured to represent the UN Population Fund in Nepal and expressed her agency’s readiness to support the government’s efforts in promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and strengthening population data collection and analysis capacities in Nepal.
Ms. Baqi took up her new assignment as UNFPA Representative Nepal on 3 October 2017. Before her deputation to Nepal, she served as Deputy Regional Director in UNFPA’s Asia and Pacific Office in Bangkok since 2011. Prior to this, she was the Associate Director, UN Development Operations Coordination Office in New York (2007-2010), where she led the Programme Support and Global Quality Standards Team, responsible for promoting programme coherence and innovation under the UN development system.
She was UNFPA Representative in Sri Lanka and Country Director in the Maldives (2003-2007), supporting the development and implementation of programme operations as well as the humanitarian response to the devastating 2004 Asian Tsunami. She also served in Egypt as the acting UNFPA Representative and Deputy Representative (2001-2003).
UNFPA has had a presence in Nepal since 1971. The 8th Country Programme (2018-2022) was recently approved by UNFPA’s Executive Board. The five-year programme is aligned with the country's priorities as spelled out by the Government of Nepal in three key interrelated areas — sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and population dynamics. Vulnerable women and young people are the primary target groups of the programme. It aims to contribute to building a foundation for the achievement of the SDGs in Nepal.
Guided by the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the work of UNFPA is closely linked with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Together with the Government of Nepal, development partners, parliamentarians, civil society, young people, UN agencies and other stakeholders, UNFPA works to ensure that “every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled”.
For enquiries, please contact:
Santosh Chhetri, Advocacy & Communications Officer, UNFPA Nepal
schhetri@unfpa.org/ +977 9801056028/ +977-5523880
