STATEMENT BY DR ARJUN KARKI, INTERNATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR OF LDC WATCH AND CHAIR AND SPOKESPERSON OF THE LDC-IV CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM, AT THE SECOND MEETING OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PREPARATORY COMMITTEE ON LDC-IV 4-8 April 2011, New York

Mr. Chairman Ambassador Jarmo Viinanen; Mr. Cheick Sidi Diarra, Secretary General of UN LDC IV; Ambassador Acharya; Chair of the Bureau of LDCs;Ambassador Apakan, host of the UN LDC IV Conference; Excellencies; my colleagues from civil society; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for this opportunity to share our collective calls and concerns as global civil society at the opening of the second intergovernmental preparatory committee meeting for the UN LDC-IV. Today we are just a month away from Istanbul where you will forge a renewed and strengthened development partnership for the next decade. We are calling for Istanbul to be a historical watershed in terms of adopting a bold new agenda which will lead to the graduation of at least half of the LDCs. Civil society voices from across the globe at the PGA Hearing last Friday expressed the urge for a meaningful Programme of Action that will set the stage for a world without LDCs!