UNDP resident rep bids farewell |20 June 2012

Mrs Tegmo-Reddy was accompanied by the UNDP programme manager for Mauritius and Seychelles Roland Alcindor, and the UNDP project officer in Seychelles Preethi Nair.

Ending a two and a half year stay in the post, Mrs Tegmo-Reddy is retiring from the UNDP after 30 years’ service.

President Michel thanked her for her service and wished her all the best in her future endeavours.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, she said she had discussed with President Michel how much the United Nations system appreciates the collaboration with the government of Seychelles.

“I also expressed how Seychelles is doing so well in many areas; for example it’s got the highest human development index in all of Africa and also doing very well in its millennium development goals, many of which has been achieved already,” she said.

“I also commended him on the fact that Seychelles has the fifth largest proportion of women in government.”

She added that she sees Seychelles as a champion in the environment field.
“We in the UN stand ready to assist in the various challenges that the county faces, such as piracy, health, gender equality, youth and employment issues, and we look forward to continued collaboration in these areas and more,” she said.

Now that she was retiring, Mrs Tegmo-Reddy said she will take a month or two to think about her next step, but she has a lot of ideas, one of which is to visit Seychelles again.

“I have several nationalities, since my father is from India and my mother from Turkey and I was born in the United States, so now I have family from all these countries, and after 30 years of working all over the world, putting down roots is a bit difficult. With my career and my life, I have learned how wonderful it is to live in many different places though,” she said.

“But I now plan to travel a bit, starting with going to India first, then visit my parents and other relatives in the United States of America and then go see my son in Kathmandu, Nepal,” she said.