About Secretariat of the Committee for Development Policy

The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) is a subsidiary body of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. CDP provides inputs and independent advice to the Council on emerging cross-sectoral development issues and on international cooperation for development, focusing on medium- and long-term aspects. The Committee is also responsible for reviewing the status of least developed countries (LDCs) and for monitoring their progress after graduation from the category. The 24 members of the Committee are nominated by the United Nations Secretary-General in their personal capacity, and are appointed by the Council for a period of three years. Membership is geared to reflect a wide range of sustainable development experience as well as geographical and gender balance.

The Secretariat of the CDP provides substantive and administrative assistance to the Committee. While servicing meetings of the CDP, the Secretariat formulates and implements its own substantive work programme, including quantitative and qualitative analyses, particularly relating to the 2030 Development Agenda and the LDCs.

The Secretariat prepares reports to intergovernmental bodies such as Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly and other policy-making organs, as appropriate, including on the identification and graduation of LDCs; unilateral coercive measures; and third States affected by UN sanctions.

The Secretariat also formulates and implements capacity development and policy-advisory activities on various development issues. Activities focus on training and advising stakeholders in developing countries, particularly LDCs, to enhance their capacities in achieving sustainable growth. Among its recent outputs are the design and implementation of of analytical and operational tools, for instance, the LDC support measures portal, cost-benefit analysis, and e-Ping system.

Roland Mollerus, Chief, Secretariat of the Committee for Development Policy, joined the United Nations in 1991. Throughout his professional career, he has held positions in UNCTAD, UNDP, DESA and the private sector in areas of sustainable development, development policy analysis, trade, finance and information technology. Mr. Mollerus has provided substantive services for intergovernmental processes and capacity development activities, particularly in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). He has contributed to several reports by the Secretary-General on a wide range of development issues and has worked on various flagship publications such as the World Economic and Social Situation and the Least Developed Countries Report. Recently, he played a key role in the development of an electronic export alert notification system under a tri-partite collaboration with WTO and ITC and has been in charge of the overall coordination and policy analysis agenda of the Committee for Development Policy. Roland Mollerus holds an M.A. from the University of Amsterdam with a specialization in international political economy.