Statement by H.E. Mr. Abdul Jalil

Honorable Minister of Commerce of Bangladesh and Coordinator of the Global Community of the

Least Developed Countries at the Closing Plenary session of LDC III

Brussels, 20 May 2001

(Check Against Delivery)

Mr. President,

1. As the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries draws to a close, it is my pleasant duty to express, on behalf of the LDCs, our most profound, thanks, first and foremost, to the European Union for having hosted this important event, for providing financial and other support for its preparatory process, and for making excellent arrangements for it. This Conference will go down in history as a major milestone in the development cooperation between the EU and the global LDC community.

2. We thank our development partners for their solidarity and shared responsibility throughout the course of preparations for the Conference. A most notable aspect of the Conference has been the excellent atmosphere of collaboration between our group and our partners. This certainly augurs well for the implementation and follow-up of the Programme of Action.

3. We are beholden to His Majesty King Albert II for gracing the Conference by his presence at the inaugural ceremony. To the Government of Belgium and the host city of Brussels go our special thanks for their warm hospitality and support.

4. We are particularly indebted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He has always championed the cause of LDCs, has taken our case personally to the development partners, and given voice to our concerns and aspirations in different forums and the global media.

5. We are impressed by the efficient and effective manner in, which you, Mr. President, have conducted the business of the Conference. Ambassador Jacques Scavée did a great job by guiding the work throughout the preparatory process extremely well. He, and Ambassador Magistad and Ambassador Kittikhoun, Vice-chairpersons of the Committee of the Whole, deserve our deep appreciation for their tireless work. We thank UNCTAD Secretary General Mr. Ricupero and his team for the substantive support to the Conference.

6. We are happy that we have been able to negotiate and agree on the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010. It is perhaps too early to make a detailed assessment of the document. In short, it represents an excellent basis for broad-based national actions and international cooperation in favour of the LDCs.

7. The Declaration that we have adopted by acclamation gives us a political document incorporating our commitment for the development of LDCs.

8. We are pleased that the overarching goal of the Programme of Action is 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 LDCs. Reaching this goal, which is embodied in the Millennium Declaration, will require strong and sustained actions in all seven areas of commitment contained the document.

9. We have reiterated our primary responsibility for our own development. Our own actions however, would not be enough. We believe that the development partners will implement fully and in a timely manner the commitments they have undertaken in this Programme of Action, particularly in the areas of ODA and other financial resources, external debt and trade. Only a reinvigorating and substantially strengthened development cooperation between us and our partners can we ensure that this Programme will not meet the fate of its predecessors. In this Programme, we have put in place the platform on which such partnership could be translated into reality.

10. It is on the arrangements for implementation, follow-up and monitoring and review that the Programme of Action will stand or fall. We believe we have outlined a set of arrangements that would help ensure an effective follow-up at the national, sub-regional, regional and global levels.

11. As regards global follow-up, we are pleased that the Intergovernmental Review will be undertaken on an annual basis by the ECOSOC. We want these reviews to be effective so that their conclusions make meaningful contributions to the implementation and follow-up to the Programme of Action. We urge all governing bodies of the UN system organizations and other relevant multilateral organizations to mainstream the LDC issues in their agenda.

12. Regarding secretariat arrangements for follow-up, I would like to recall that the Ministerial Declaration of LDCs adopted prior to this Conference called upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to set-up an Office of High Representative on LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS immediately after the Conference, with adequate human and financial resources. The essence of this is reflected in paragraph 116 of the Programme of Action, which requests the Secretary-General of the UN to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session his recommendations for an efficient and highly visible follow-up mechanism, including the possibility to transform the current Office of the Special Coordinator for the Least Developed, Land-locked and Small Island Developing States into an Office of High Representative for Least Developed, Land-locked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. The process of implementation and follow-up of the Programme of Action must start immediately after the Conference.

Mr. President,

13. Let me conclude by saying that the success of the Conference owes to the dedicated efforts of all actors that participated in the process: governments, international organizations, the civil society including the private sector, and the media. The sense of strengthened partnership and solidarity in favour of LDCs that was demonstrated throughout the conference has rekindled the hope in the minds of 630 million people in the LDCs that this time around, they could look forward to a decade when their aspirations would begin to be fulfilled, the crushing burden of poverty and hunger would begin to be lifted, and they would genuinely begin to join the mainstream of our global society and the world economy. It is with this hope that we will go back from this Conference.

14. I thank you, Mr. President.

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