News and Events Archive [January-March 2004]

High Representative's message to the Global Ministerial Environment Forum
29 March 2004: In his message to the Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative (OHRLLS) Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury praised UNEP's key and constructive role in promoting and highlighting issues of concern to the Small Island Developing States. Click for the message

UN official urges end to cotton subsidies that come at expense of poor farmers
26 March 2004 : Writing in The International Herald Tribune, Under-Secretary-General Anwarul K. Chowdhury points out that cotton is one of the world's most heavily subsidized crops. In the United States, cotton exported at 37 cents a pound in 2002 cost agricultural firms 86 cents to produce, with the difference made up by US taxpayers. The country's subsidies for cotton amounted to $1.7 billion in 2002.
Click for International Herald Tribune link
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Nepal to join WTO as 147th Member
26 March 2004: Nepal has formally ratified the World Trade Organization membership agreement and is set to become the international body's 147th member on April 23, the WTO said yesterday. Click for detail

Commitment by LDCs to strengthen population policies and strategies consistent with international agreed goals and objectives, says HR
22 March 2004: Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, said that success in dealing with the challenges posed by the population issues could bring about positive results in many areas.  The fight of the least developed countries to overcome poverty and free themselves from the morass of hunger and disease had been seriously hampered by rapid population growth and its “dragging” effect on social and economic development efforts. Click for detail

Officials at UN-backed meeting urge greater support for world's poorest States
18 March 2004: The President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and other senior officials today urged action to implement plans for tackling poverty in the world's least developed countries (LDCs). Click for detail

High Representative calls for international consensus to combat Poverty and Sustainable Development in the LDCs
17 March 2004: In his opemning remarks to the Second Preparatory Meeting of the Economic and Social Council, Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative called on council members to forge a stronger partnership to fight poverty and support sustainable development in the Least Developed Countries. Click for Detail

Benin President to participate in the ECOSOC High-Level Segment on the LDCs
16 March 2004:Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative (OHRLLS) made an official visit to Benin on 8 and 9 March 2004 to invite President Mathieu Kerekou to participate in the forthcoming Economic and Social Commission High-Level Segment. Mr. Chowdhury carried an official letter of invitation from Mr. Kofi Annan to President Kerekou. Benin is the current Global Chair of the Bureau of the Least Developed Countries. Click for detail

WFUNA Roundtable Dialogue on MDGs and the LDCs - Summary
4 March 2004: In leading the discussion, Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative (OHRLLS) highlighted the need to integrate women into efforts to reach the MDGs in the LDCs, where women make up at least half the population. Click for detail

Women must be involved in all aspects of peace processes, HR tells the forty-eighth session of the CSW
1 March 2004: In a Statement to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative underscored that sustainable peace is inseparable from gender equality and where women are marginalized, there is little chance for an open and participatory democratic society. Click for detail

25 February 2004 :Poverty reduction through solidarity efforts, a good model for the Least Developed Countries Click for Detail

24 February 2004: Media coverage on High Representative's visit to Tunisia (pdf, French) Click for detail

For Five African Least Developed Countries, 2002 A bad year for FDI
13 February 2004 -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to five least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa shrunk in 2002. Major structural problems, such as their landlocked status and the small size of their markets, largely explained the decline. Further economic liberalization and a number of investment projects now in the pipeline could, nonetheless, help them achieve a comeback on the global FDI market in the near future, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) predicts. Two other African countries -- Botswana and Zimbabwe -- made modest gains, but not enough to recoup their losses in recent years. Click for detail

'Culture of Peace' exhibit at UN shows role of both ordinary and renowned peacebuilders
4 February 2004 – The potential of both renowned and ordinary individuals to contribute to lasting global stability is the focus of "Building a Culture of Peace for the Children of the World," an exhibition which opened today at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Click for UN News Centre link
Click for World Tribune link (pdf)
Click for Soka Gakkai International link

Anwarul Chowdhury to lead U.N.’s island nation talks
30 January 2004 – Anwarul K. Chowdhury, under secretary general at the United Nations, on Jan. 20 outlined plans to foster agreement among various international partners attending talks later this month in the Bahamas on ways to improve conditions facing small-island developing states. Click for detail

Ministers adopt Declaration on small island developing States
30 January 2004 – Ministers and senior government officials meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, today adopted a Ministerial Declaration reaffirming the validity of the Barbados Programme of Action - a blueprint adopted 10 years ago for the sustainable development of small island developing States (SIDS). Click for detail

A pandemic that knows no borders [WIT World Ecology Report]
27 January 2004: In an interview to World Ecology Report, Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury mentioned about the four major causal factors contributing to the spread of HIV in the least developed countries (LDCs). First, is the differential access to healthcare in the developing world. Second, is the persistence of certain cultural patterns which increase risk. Third, public health information in most LDCs is limited and there are enormous amounts of "misinformation". Fourth, and most importantly, the financial resources to fight HIV/AIDS are entirely inadequate to the task. Click for entire interview

Small Island Forum Opens in Nassau, Bahamas; Slogan–‘Small Islands, Big Potential’ -- Proposed for Mauritius Meeting
27 January 2004: A one-week forum of small islands developing States (SIDS) opened yesterday in Nassau, Bahamas, attended by the Bahamas Prime Minister, Perry G. Christie,and more than 300 representatives of some 50 small islands States, including several ministers, a dozen donor countries, United Nations officials, experts and representatives of non-governmental organizations. Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Secretary General of the International Conference on small island developing States suggested that reflecting today's realities, the slogan for the Mauritius meeting should be "Small Islands, Big Potential". Click for detail

Mr. Chowdhury urges development partners to enhance ODA to Small Island Developing States
26 January 2004: Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Secretary-General of the International Conference on Small Island Developing States today called on development partners to enhance Official Development Assistance to the Small Island Developing States. He also urged them and the international financial institutions to enhance flows of concessional financing through regional and other multilateral financial institutions to promote the economic growth and human development and enhance the domestic and regional capacities of the SIDS. Mr. Chowdhury was addressing the opening of the five day Interregional Meeting in Nassau, Bahamas. Click for the statement

Bhutan, Mauritius, Azerbaijan and Jamaica elected Vice-Chairs of ECOSOC 2004
21 January 2004: The Economic and Social Council elected four Vice-Chairs for the ECOSOC 2004 that belong to the vulnerable group of countries - least developed, landlocked and small island developing States. They are Ambassador Daw Penjo of Bhutan, Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius, Ambassador Yashar Aliyer of Azerbaijan and Ambassador Stafford O'Neil of Jamaica. The Finnish Premanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Marjatta Rasi was elected president of the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), becoming the first woman ever to head the 54-member Council.
Click for Press Release ECOSOC/6097
Click for UN News Centre
Click for UN Wire

Trade Routes for Landlocked Countries
Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, UN High Representative for the Least Develoed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, who told the UIN Chronicle that the Almaty Ministerial Conferences held on 28 and 29 Aug 2003 was an important step forward. " Thirty landlocked developing countries did not have a United Nations document supporting their cause. For the first time, this doubly disadvantaged group of countiries has a UN-mandated declaration and programme of action. Transit and donor countries, UN agencies, civil and private sector parties showed their support for landlocked countries." Click for detail

Mr. Chowdhury to lead talks on improving conditions in small island countries
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Click for detail       Webcast video

Bahamas Meeting (26-30 January) to Develop Common Platform for Small Island States Worldwide
19 January 2004: NEW YORK, (Department of Public Information) -- Some 300 representatives of small island developing States in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and South China Seas, and the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans will gather in the Bahamas from 26 to 30 January to attend an interregional preparatory meeting to develop a common platform for a review of the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action for Small Islands. Click for detail

Secretary-General calls for renewal of commitment to the most vulnerable countries at the G-77 meeting
16 January 2004: The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, called the international community to renew their commitments to the least developed and landlocked developing countries as well as to the small island developing States. He was addressing the turnover ceremony of the Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China in New York Click for detail

World Bank Creates Trust Fund For World's Poorest Nations
16 January 2004: The World Bank announced yesterday it has created a $25 million trust fund to help the world's poorest nations in supporting efforts to promote good governance and improve delivery of social services. Click for detail

High Representative calls China, Mongolia and Russia for early conclusion of the Transit Traffic Framework Agreement
14 January 2004: The fifth negotiating meeting between the Governments of China, Mongolia and Russia on the Draft Transit Traffic Framework Agreement began today in Qingdao, China.Following the GA resolution 50/95, the First Sub-Regional Consultative Meeting of countries of North-East Asia on transit transport cooperation was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 20 to 22 May 1997. Click for detail

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