UNDP's review team for CHT

The tribal leader had alleged on behalf of the interim regional council that the local UNDP office was being exclusionary in terms of associating the regional and district councils with the development process. The allegations went so far as to object to the UNDP's inclusion of plainland settlers as beneficiaries of its projects.

The litany put a stop to the resumption of development activities which were planned to be undertaken in full-swing from July last year. It is important to note that the decision to resume UNDP work followed a detailed risk assessment survey conducted by a team of experts. The reassessment was done in light of the abduction of three foreign nationals in February 2001 that brought the UNDP's involvement to a standstill. All this means that while the overall risk assessment was favourable, an entirely new dimension of tribal objections came in the way of continuing with the development projects.

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Both the UNDP resident office and the headquarters have, in effect, proved sensitive to the need for associating the indigenous people with the development processes in CHT. If it were not so, the work itself wouldn't have stopped following the 'reservations' voiced by the tribal leadership in the first place. Also, by the same token, the headquarters wouldn't have sent a team to the CHT if they were not committed to the all-round development of the inhabitants of the CHT. This inherent truth must not be overlooked by the leaders of all communities in the hill districts.