A major UN meeting focusing on the world’s Least Developed Countries has closed today in Turkey with a call for greater support to the world’s most vulnerable nations. The three-day meeting, co-organized by The Government of Turkey and The United Nations’ Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed...

Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries, Plenary – 5th & 6th Meetings (AM & PM) ‘Need to Foster Progress across All Sectors’ Underlined at Midterm Review While the world’s poorest 48 countries had made headway in reducing poverty and improving well-being, without “robust” support to help...

A United Nations conference focused on the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) kicked-off today in Antalya, Turkey, to assess these 48 States’ progress over the past five years, and to find ways of accelerating their path towards sustainable development. “Least developed countries have seen significant progress and are a major...

High-level officials from around the world have gathered in Antalya, Turkey, today to assess the progress of the world’s least developed countries and their path to sustainable development.  The event is set to discuss the lessons learnt over the past five years and assess ways forward, highlighting that global peace and...

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, to the opening of the Comprehensive High-Level Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action, in Antalya, Turkey, on 27 May: I am pleased to convey my greetings to all those gathered...

Collaborating on the organization of major international conferences is a task well known to the United Nations, whose staff have the responsibility of ensuring that key messages are successfully delivered to not only those on location, but also worldwide. This week alone, two summits in Turkey have been organized with...

Starting on Friday, the 48 least developed countries (LDCs) of the world will be the focus of a global United Nations conference in Antalya, Turkey, that aims to review their progress over the past five years. In 2011, the international community adopted the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) which charts...

Ahead of a major United Nations conference on priorities for the world’s least development countries (LDCs), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of members to a governing council that will provide support towards the operationalization of a proposed Technology Bank for those vulnerable nations. In a note to correspondents...

We need to act urgently, with no delay until better times, to eradicate poverty, to save the planet, to combat inequalities and to accelerate human progress – this is the core of the Istanbul Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda, which are both ambitious, and which we must take...

London/Kathmandu: Hundreds of civil society representatives will be gathering in Antalya, Turkey at the end of May telling the international community to fulfill the pledges they made in 2011 to help Least Developed Countries (LDCs) lift their populations out of poverty. The Civil Society Forum, hosted by LDC Watch, an...

The international community was urged to stand by its commitments to support the sustainable development of the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries at a press conference in New York today. The call comes as high-level officials from around the world, Least Developed Countries and their development partners prepare for a...

A United Nations conference is set to undertake a review of progress made during the past five years by the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs), which comprise about 12 per cent of the global population. Called the Midterm Review conference for the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least...

Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya.Briefing on the forthcoming Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action in Antalya, Turkey.

On 4 May 2016, Under-Secretary-General Gyan Chandra Acharya and H.E. Mr. Y. Halit Çevik, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations officially signed the Host Country Agreement for the upcoming Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action to be held in Antalya, Turkey (27-29 May, 2016). With preparations for...

With their signatures of the landmark Paris climate accord, “governments made a covenant with the future,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the end of a United Nations ceremony that saw the largest single-day turn-out for such an event, and which puts the world on a path towards low-carbon growth and...

The co-facilitators of intergovernmental consultations for the high-level midterm review of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have issued the zero draft outcome document for the Review meeting. The draft recognizes that LDCs have made significant efforts towards achieving the objectives,...

The co-facilitators, who will oversee and direct informal inter-governmental consultations for the Mid-Term Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action have been announced. Bénédicte Frankinet, the Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations and Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin to the United Nations have...

1 October 2015 – The world’s poorest nations not only face vast challenges, they represent enormous reservoirs of untapped potential, Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon stated today, adding that unlocking this potential will be the litmus test of the new global sustainable developed agenda. Addressing the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Least...

Voicing determination to transform the structure of their economies and graduate from their status as some of the world’s poorest nations, Ministers from the least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa at a United Nations-supported meeting in Milan have pledged to draw on their countries’ great potential to boost growth and...

Professor Romain Murenzi, Chair of the Technology Bank High-Level Panel and Executive Director of the World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science (TWAS) in developing countries talks to The Commitment about how the proposed new Technology Bank could improve access to science, technology and innovation for LDCs.  Louise...