Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki, International Co-ordinator, to the First Progress Report on UNCTAD's Contribution to the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs

21 September 2012, Geneva

Mr. President, Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Bairagi, Excellencies, colleagues, ladies and gentleman,

I am honoured and pleased to be a part of these important deliberations on the implementation of the Istanbul Programme and I thank you for this opportunity.

We welcome the first progress report by the UNCTAD secretariat on its contribution to the implementation of the Istanbul Programme since its adoption, more than a year back in May 2011. In particular, we have taken note of its conclusions and the way forward. We will continue to value UNCTAD’s contribution to LDCs on research and policy analysis, consensus-building and intergovernmental support, and technical cooperation and capacity building.

Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki, International Co-ordinator,at the Opening Plenary of the Fifty-Ninth Session of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board (TDB)

17 September 2012, Geneva

Excellencies, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the office of the Secretary-General, especially colleagues at the Africa and Least Developed Countries (ALDC) Division as well as of the Civil Society Unit, for this opportunity to speak.

I am speaking on behalf of LDC Watch and the International Working Group on Trade-Finance Linkages- IWGTFL, a grouping that brings together organisations from the South and North to understand the linkages between trade and finance and leverage them in ways that effectively serve development premised on universal human rights, gender equality, social justice and environmental justice.

Arjun Karki

JUL 19 - The present situation of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is alarming and inhumane as the majority of the LDCs peoples are still deprived of even the bare necessities of life such as adequate food, healthcare, water and sanitation, housing, decent work, energy and education. The international political economy presents a pessimistic image of the current world order. The richest 10 percent of people on this planet hold 57 percent of global income, while the poorest 20 percent has less than 1 percent; this one percent also includes the share of the LDCs. LDC livelihoods, which are already inadequate, are further threatened by the expansion of corporate control over agriculture, forests and fisheries. Productive employment and decent wages are not available for a huge percentage of the LDC labor force, and 40 percent of youth— who comprise 60 percent of the LDC population—are unemployed. These economic burdens are further exacerbated by war, conflict, political instability, violence and women’s oppression, which is prevalent in the LDCs. This is the result of a deeply flawed system of injustice, inequity, exclusion and marginalisation that deprives LDC peoples of the universal right to development, peace and freedom. It is all too clear that peace and political stability are prerequisites for sustainable development in LDCs, as development makes no sense for hot spots like Afghanistan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where people live in constant fear for their lives every ticking second.