New UNDP head pledges further support to the country

TIRANA, Oct. 16 – President Mr. Bamir Topi accredited last week the new United Nations Resident Coordinator, and United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative, Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun, who pledged continuous support to the country’s development areas.
Before Albania, Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun served as United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM (now part of UN Women) Representative in Morocco and Regional Programme Director for UNIFEM’s North Africa sub regional office.
Prior to this assignment, Touimi- Benjelloun was Programme Coordinator for UNIFEM’s North Africa Office. She has served as UNIFEM Gender Advisor for Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and before that, as Assistant Resident Representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Harvard University. She also holds a Masters in International Affairs with a specialization in economic and political development from Columbia University.
The Resident Coordinator (RC) system encompasses all organizations of the United Nations system dealing with operational activities for development, regardless of their formal presence in the country. The RC system aims to bring together the different UN agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operational activities at the country level.
Resident Coordinators, who are funded and managed by UNDP, lead UN country teams in more than 130 countries and are the designated representatives of the Secretary-General for development operations. Working closely with national governments, Resident Coordinators and country teams advocate the interests and mandates of the UN system while drawing on the support and guidance of the entire UN family.
Coordinating development operations promotes more strategic support for national plans and priorities, makes operations more efficient and reduces transaction costs for governments. This helps the UN to be a more relevant and reliable partner for governments.