Asia-Pacific meet of LDCs begins in city today
Monday, 18 January 2010
FE Report
A high-level Asia-Pacific regional meeting on the Brussels Programme of Action for the least developed countries (LDCs) begins today (Monday) in Dhaka, focusing on sustained economic growth of LDCs and their beneficial integration into the world economy.
To be organised jointly by the government of Bangladesh and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the meeting will assess and develop a regional position for Asia and the Pacific ahead of a global review next year on progress made in assisting the world's LDCs.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the three-day meeting at Hotel Sonargaon in the city, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said Sunday.
Finance Minister of Bangladesh Abul Maal A Muhith will deliver the keynote speech on the opening session, followed by statements by Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the UN and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Mr Cheick Sidi Diarra, Under-Secretary-General of the UN.
The opening session will be followed by a ministerial-level exchange and a number of technical sessions on reducing poverty through the promotion of substantial and inclusive development in the LDCs, promoting food security through sustainable agriculture and enhancing their share in global trade.
Other scheduled sessions include aid and financial flows and promoting their productive capacity, protection of the environment and reduction of vulnerability, development of human and institutional capacities to support inclusive and sustainable progress of the LDCs.
Ministers and senior government officials from 15 countries are expected to identify key issues requiring global and regional cooperation to further advance the objectives of the 2001-2010 Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA), the ESCAP said in its website.
That programme seeks "to make substantial progress toward halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and suffering from hunger by 2015 and promote the sustainable development of the LDCs."
Participants will look at protecting the environment and reducing the vulnerability of the LDCs to climate change, and developing human and institutional capacities to support inclusive and sustainable development of the LDCs.
The meeting's results will be presented in May to the annual ESCAP Commission session in Incheon, Republic of Korea, for further discussion by member States. Afterwards an assessment of implementation of the BPoA and future priorities at the regional level will be transmitted to the global review in 2011 in Turkey.
The LDCs in the Asia-Pacific region for the purposes of Brussels review include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Yemen, the lone LDC in the Middle East, is also participating in the meeting.
According to the ERD, the BPoA for the decade 2001-2010 was adopted by the 3rd UN Conference on the LDCs in May 2001 to address specific needs of the LDCs and help them to eradicate poverty, hunger, and improve the standard of living of their peoples.
A high-level Asia-Pacific regional meeting on the Brussels Programme of Action for the least developed countries (LDCs) begins today (Monday) in Dhaka, focusing on sustained economic growth of LDCs and their beneficial integration into the world economy.
To be organised jointly by the government of Bangladesh and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the meeting will assess and develop a regional position for Asia and the Pacific ahead of a global review next year on progress made in assisting the world's LDCs.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the three-day meeting at Hotel Sonargaon in the city, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said Sunday.
Finance Minister of Bangladesh Abul Maal A Muhith will deliver the keynote speech on the opening session, followed by statements by Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the UN and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Mr Cheick Sidi Diarra, Under-Secretary-General of the UN.
The opening session will be followed by a ministerial-level exchange and a number of technical sessions on reducing poverty through the promotion of substantial and inclusive development in the LDCs, promoting food security through sustainable agriculture and enhancing their share in global trade.
Other scheduled sessions include aid and financial flows and promoting their productive capacity, protection of the environment and reduction of vulnerability, development of human and institutional capacities to support inclusive and sustainable progress of the LDCs.
Ministers and senior government officials from 15 countries are expected to identify key issues requiring global and regional cooperation to further advance the objectives of the 2001-2010 Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA), the ESCAP said in its website.
That programme seeks "to make substantial progress toward halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and suffering from hunger by 2015 and promote the sustainable development of the LDCs."
Participants will look at protecting the environment and reducing the vulnerability of the LDCs to climate change, and developing human and institutional capacities to support inclusive and sustainable development of the LDCs.
The meeting's results will be presented in May to the annual ESCAP Commission session in Incheon, Republic of Korea, for further discussion by member States. Afterwards an assessment of implementation of the BPoA and future priorities at the regional level will be transmitted to the global review in 2011 in Turkey.
The LDCs in the Asia-Pacific region for the purposes of Brussels review include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Yemen, the lone LDC in the Middle East, is also participating in the meeting.
According to the ERD, the BPoA for the decade 2001-2010 was adopted by the 3rd UN Conference on the LDCs in May 2001 to address specific needs of the LDCs and help them to eradicate poverty, hunger, and improve the standard of living of their peoples.