The Annual Session of the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS began in Geneva this morning under the presidency of Fiji's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Peter Thomson. The Executive Board provides oversight and guidance to the three UN agencies responsible for an annual expenditure of over US$7 billion.

Fiji's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Peter Thomson, has today completed an official visit to the Copenhagen headquarters of UNOPS. Ambassador Thomson is the 2014 President of the Executive Board of UNOPS.

Ambassador Thomson's visit was the first by a serving Board President to the UNOPS headquarters. He told UNOPS staff that UNOPS is now regarded as a model UN organization, "One that pays for itself, operates at highest standards, deploys quickly, delivers on time, and makes a measurable difference on the ground."

Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola met his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, for bilateral discussions in Istanbul today. Minister Kubuabola is in Turkey at the invitation of the Turkish Foreign Minister for the Turkey-Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS) Foreign Ministers Meeting.