On August 23, 2012, our Myanmar team received an informative briefing from the officers at UNDP office in Yangon.
        UNDP has been working in Myanmar since 1994 and providing assistance directly to people without going through the government. Their programme will now consist of projects in three areas. The first is the integrated community development programme (ICDP), with focus on the social rehabilitation, micro-finance, community development and HIV/AIDs. Especially, the social rehabilitation and micro-finance projects are significant for their cooperation with UNDCL. The second programme addresses grwoing environmental problems in Myanmar. Regarding the climate change. UNDP is trying to build a link with communities from the great damage of the huge cyclone in 2008 brought and is providing technical assistance to them because there is no proper assessment made in Myanmar. Secondary, UNDP is addressing the energy problem considering the environmental and development implications. Also they aim to develop an environmental assessment methodology. Lastly, UNDP is supporting capacity building for democratic governance with respect to the government of Myanmar. Thanks to the comprehensive and informative lecture, we learned that UNDP is playing an important role in helping Myanmar in its rehabilitation and development. (Yuka Narikawa)