Dirk Wagener

During the meeting, Marape expressed his gratitude to Mr Wagener for his time in Papua New Guinea and urged him to continue advocating for PNG and the Pacific region in his new role as the UN Resident Coordinator for Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister informed Wagener about PNG’s offer to provide assistance in reclaiming the vanishing shorelines of other smaller island states affected by climate change.

Wagener made this statement as he led a joint mission of United Nations agencies, development partners and national government representatives to Hela and Southern Highlands to visit communities the UN is supporting to create conditions for peace and development.

Wagener added: “Development partners are keen to see how they can support peace building in local communities, but they can only provide support when the community is serious about achieving and sustaining peace.” 

This was the statement by the UNDP Resident Representative in PNG, Dirk Wagener, during the recent Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises Day.

“It is these enterprises that often bring us the innovations and drive for change. Lest we forget, Apple started in a garage in California, as did Amazon or Alibaba whose owner Jack Ma, is now the richest man in China with an estimated net worth of $25 billion dollars,” Wagener pointed out.

Wagener’s appointment as the UNDP Resident Representative to PNG follows a United Nations Reform agenda to separate the functions of the Resident Coordinator (RC) from UNDP. In the past, the UN Resident Coordinator also performed the role of  head of UNDP. The RC represents the Secretary General and has the overall responsibility to lead the UN development work in Papua New Guinea and UNDP has its own Resident Representaive.

Upon entry into the country on Monday 13^th May, Wagener presented his credentials to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Rimbink Pato.