Dear Friends,

I am writing to inform you that the UNDP South East Asia HIV and
Development Programme (UNDP-SEAHIV) will be closing down on 31 December
2004 following an internal restructuring of the UNDP.

It has been my privilege for the past six years to assist the countries
in South East Asia to become better aware of the inter-relations between
HIV and development processes and to assist in the formulation of
policies and programmes that would address this inter-relationship
through development processes and factors.

Through our joint efforts and collaboration, we have achieved in
building a knowledge base to inform decision-making and action under the
principles of governance. The pillars of the Programme have been
developing Early Warning Rapid Response Systems (EWRRS), mapping
techniques and community empowerment (e.g. Farmers' Life Schools). We
have also been able to identify mobility systems and have facilitated
the cooperation between various development sectors such as transport,
construction and agriculture. This has led, for example, to the signing
of the first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which has now just been
expanded and signed for another five years (2004 -2009); the Regional
Task Force on Mobility and HIV Vulnerability Reduction, and over 50
publications and other materials in English that have also been
translated into Bahasa, Burmese, Chinese, Khmer, Laotian, Thai, Tagalo
and Vietnamese. Most of these materials can be found on the SEAHIV
website at: www.hiv-development.org <http://www.hiv-development.org/> .

Through these efforts, I have had the opportunity to work with many
committed and innovative government officials from AIDS programmes,
development sectors, donor and NGO representatives, researchers and
experts, colleagues from various organizations within the United Nations
system and the dedicated members of my team. All these partners of the
Programme came from a wide range of backgrounds in agriculture and rural
development, construction, land transport, maritime industry, planning
and poverty reduction, among others. The success of the Programme is
largely due to their continuing cooperation and support. Thus, I hope to
have contributed my share in preventing and mitigating the impacts of
HIV/AIDS epidemics, which continue to grow in the region. I appreciate
UNDP in providing me with such a unique opportunity to serve the people
in this region.

For future contacts, I can be reached at zeehsu@...

Lee-Nah Hsu
Manager
UNDP South East Asia HIV and Development Programme
Convenor
United Nations Regional Task Force on Mobility and HIV Vulnerability
Reduction