UN-OHRLLS MANDATE FOR LDCs

The key functions of the UN Office of the High Representative in regard to LDCs as endorsed by GA resolution 56/227 and recommended in the Secretary-General's report A/56/645 are the following:

(a) To assist the Secretary-General in ensuring the full mobilization and coordination of all parts of the United Nations system, with a view to facilitating the coordinated implementation of and coherence in the follow-up and monitoring of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries at the country, regional and global levels;

(b) To provide coordinated support to the Economic and Social Council as well as the General Assembly in assessing progress and in conducting the annual review of the implementation of the Programme of Action;

(c) To undertake appropriate advocacy work in favour of the least developed countries, in partnership with the relevant parts of the United Nations as well as with the civil society, media, academia and foundations;

(d) To assist in mobilizing international support and resources for the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries and other programmes and initiatives for least developed countries;

(e) To provide appropriate support to group consultations of Least Developed Countries.

Progress since the establishment of the UN-OHRLLS.

Soon after the establishment the Office initiated the creation of a regular agenda item on the review of the implementation of the Programme of Action by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as stipulated in paragraph 111 of the Programme. As a result, at its 45th plenary meeting held on 24 October 2001 ECOSOC has adopted decision 2001/320 by which it has established a regular sub-item "Review and coordination of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010" under the regular agenda item "Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the major United Nations conferences and summits". By the same decision the Council decided to consider, at a substantive session before 2005, devoting a high-level segment to the review and coordination of the implementation of the Programme, and furthermore "to consider later in the Decade further options for such review and coordination".

The first review of the implementation of the Programe took place in 2003 when ECOSOC considered the first annual progress report of the Secretary-General "Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 at its substantive session in Geneva. The Office of the High Representative facilitated the participation of the LDCs delegates in this review thanks to the generous contribution of the Italian Government. The review concluded by the adoption of ECOSOC resolution 2003/17 whereby ECOSOC took note of the report and expressed its deep concern over the weak implementation of the Programme. It reiterated that the Programme of Action offered a framework for partnership, based on mutual commitments by least developed countries and their development partners to undertake concrete actions in a number of interlinked areas set out in the Programme of Action. It called upon LDCs to promote implementation of the Programme by translating it into specific measures within their national development frameworks and poverty reduction strategies. It called upon developed countries to take concrete measures to effectively implement their commitments on Official Development Assistance (ODA) as stipulated in paragraph 83 of the Programme of Action. It invited UN system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, and other international organizations "to support as a priority, the implementation of the Programme of Action, including programmes of financial and technical cooperation devoted to least developed countries in support of their national development programmes, including their poverty reduction strategies". It also called on the Secretary-General to submit his next annual progress report on the implementation of the Programme of Action in a more analytical and results oriented way "by putting greater emphasis on concrete results and indicating the progress achieved in its implementation."

At the same substantive session, on 24 July 2003, ECOSOC also adopted decision 2003/287 whereby it identified the theme for the high-level segment of the 2004 substantive session of the Council as "Resources mobilization and enabling environment for poverty eradication in the context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010". In the same decision it also identified the theme "Coordinated and integrated United Nations system approach to promote rural development in developing countries, with due consideration to least developed countries, for poverty eradication and sustainable development" as one of the themes of the coordination segment of the 2004 substantive session of the Council". As a result, three (high-level, general and coordination) segments of ECOSOC have been devoted to the LDCs.

The high-level segment of ECOSOC (28-30 June 2004) was preceded by a number of preparatory events (roundtables, panels, discussions) involving all stakeholders that were organized in February and March 2004 by DESA and OHRLLS to contribute to its successful outcome. It undertook a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the resources mobilization and creating enabling environment for poverty eradication in the LDCs. It has also provided a forum for sharing national experience, lessons learned and best practices. It brought together the government officials, representatives of the UN system and international organizations, including the Bretton Woods Institutions, regional organizations and financial institutions, civil society and the private sector. The three-day multistakeholder assessment concluded by the adoption of the ministerial declaration in which the LDCs and their development partners recognized the weak implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the period 2001 -2010 adopted by the Third United Nations Conference of the Least Developed Countries (LDC III) in May 2001 in Brussels and reaffirmed their commitment to undertake increased efforts and speedy measures with a view to meeting its goals and targets in a timely manner.

Besides the high-level segment of ECOSOC the Office used various international forums such as the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto (Japan), the Extraordinary Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries held on 24-25 June 2003 in Rabat (Morocco), the G-77 Conference on South-South Cooperation held from 16 to 19 December in Marrakech (Morocco), the sixtieth session of ESCAP in Shanghai (China) in April 2004 and the Third LDCs Trade Ministers meeting in Dakar, Senegal, from 4 to 5 May 2004 and UNCTAD XI Conference held from 13 to 18 June 2004 in Sao Paolo, Brazil for advocacy and mobilization of international support for the LDCs.

Open Forums regularly organized by the OHRLLS serve as the primary interface with all stakeholders, including civil society and private sector but the Office also uses a wide variety of other means for advocacy and raising awareness such as round tables, panels, discussions, special and side events, publications, media and its own website. Upon the request of the Office the UN Statistics Division annually issues LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS Statistics Pocket Books.

Some 20 UN system and multilateral organizations have adopted decisions on mainstreaming the Programme of Action in their respective work programmes and intergovernmental processes. Governing bodies of UNCTAD, FAO and WTO undertake regular sectoral reviews of the implementation of the PoA. Regional commissions have included implementation of Programme in their annual reports. ESCAP has scheduled its first regional review of the implementation of the Programme in April 2005 in Bangkok and ECA holds regular Big Tables to promote policy dialogue between LDCs finance ministers and their development partners.

At the national level 45 LDCs have designated National Focal Points and 18 LDCs have established National Forums and others use existing national mechanisms for the effective follow-up and implementation of the Programme at the country level.

In response to the request of the LDCs Group and in collaboration with UNDP, UNCTAD, UN DESA and the WB the Office organized a five day workshop for the National Focal Points of LDCs from 17 to 21 May 2004 in New York. The overarching objective of the workshop was to strengthen the national capacity of the LDCs for the follow-up and implementation of the Programme of Action, provide them with a forum for sharing national experience, lessons learned and best practices, build the foundation for their future networking and clarify the roles of the National Focal Points and National Forums in the follow-up and implementation of the Programme at the country level. The workshop also addressed issues of monitoring and reporting.

Challenges ahead.

The Programme of Action stipulates that "its success will be judged by its contribution to progress of LDCs toward achieving international development targets, as well as their graduation from the list of LDCs"

The Programme includes 30 time bound and measurable international development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration. They are embedded in commitments of the LDCs and their development partners in seven interlinked areas. Elaboration of a credible indicator-based monitoring methodology for measuring the progress on each and every goal of the PoA at the global level is a matter of most urgent priority of the Office. Lack of statistics, statistical infrastructure and statistical capacity of the LDCs present a great challenge in monitoring the progress on the PoA goals at the national level.

Graduation of LDCs reflects their success in development and demonstrates their ability to achieve a transformation of their economies. However, abrupt withdrawal of benefits associated with the LDCs status could lead to disruption of their development. Two LDCs (Cape Verde and Maldives) have been recommended for graduation from the list of LDCs. Ensuring their smooth transition is one of the greatest challenges in the next few years.

Way forward

Achieving the PoA goals requires sustained economic growth and greater investment in the productive sector of LDCs. Scaling up aid, debt relief and a major breakthrough in trade as well as adoption and implementation of pro-poor and inclusive development policies, strategies and practices are important prerequisites for such growth. There is no universal magic formula for poverty reduction that could be applied across the globe but there exist an ample number of good practices that could serve as a model and be replicated. Identification and dissemination of these good practices that proved to be effective in poverty reduction and had positive impact on livelihoods of poor people is essential for mobilization of international support and resources for the implementation of the PoA. In this regard, the Programme states that "only positive concrete processes and outcomes can sustain public confidence in the development partnership between LDCs and their development partners" (Para 21 e)