Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki, International Coordinator of LDC Watch in the Substantive Session of General Segment of United Nations Economic and Social Council, Geneva, 22 July 2011

Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of LDC Watch and Civil Society Organisations involved in the monitoring and implementation of Istanbul Programme of Action. I would like to thank His Excellency Mr. Cheick Sidi Diarra for the excellent presentation of Secretary General’s report in the implementation of LDC Programme of Action and Mr. Nikhil Seth for his thought provoking opening remarks.

The fourth UN conference on the Least Developed Countries concludes making pledges to support LDCs to help themselves. But will these pledges translate into action?

By Bhagirath Yogi in Istanbul

For five-days (9-13 May), the Lutfi Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Center looked like a festival ground. Some 9,000 people, attired in their traditional dresses, had gathered in the historic city from around the world. The aim was to lobby with the western developed countries to commit more to support one of the poorest sections of the world’s community. But, as delegates and activists were returning to their respective countries, there was little for them to take back. “We had high hope that things would change this time, especially after all these crises in the world. Unfortunately in the produced document, we see cynicism, it is business as usual. Developed, countries do not seem ready for a new kind of partnership, it is really disappointing,” said Demba Mousaa Dembele, a civil society activist from Senegal, who is also the chairperson of LDC Watch—a network of civil society organisations monitoring the progress of LDCs. The Istanbul Declaration and Istanbul Programme of Action (2011-2020), adopted by the member states of the United Nations at the conclusion of the summit, however, called for partnership for all the stakeholders to change the plight of the poorest people in the world.

Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki, Chair and Spokesperson of the Civil Society Steering Committee to the Opening Ceremony of the Fourth UN LDC Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 09 May 2011       

Mr. Chairperson, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Civil Society Steering Committee and Civil Society Forum representatives gathered here in this beautiful city of Istanbul, I thank you for giving us this opportunity to address the Opening Ceremony of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

We are meeting here in the final days of a long journey to craft the new agenda for sustainable development for the 48 Least Developed Countries of the world. As civil society we have an ambitious vision for this process. In our world of plenty, no nation should be left in the status of ‘least developed”. We must challenge governments, the international community and ourselves to do better. We can no longer tolerate the massive suffering, unnecessary deaths and waste of human potential that result from the under-development of 900 million people in the LDCs.