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Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries 30 May - 3 June 2011, Turkey

LDC- IV Eminent Persons Group

The United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon appointed on Tuesday 24th of August, 2010 a group of Eminent Persons to galvanise greater international support for the world’s 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The members of the Eminent Persons Group have been selected in light of their international stature, expertise and strong commitment to development issues. The appointments come just nine months before the Fourth United Nations Conference on the LDCs which is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from  9-13 May 2011.
 
The Group is tasked with assisting the United Nations system in its efforts to build political will and mobilize global action that will result in a Programme of Action for the LDCs for the next decade. The Group will also undertake efforts to raise public awareness on important issues affecting the LDCs in key areas such as trade, investment, technology transfer, official development assistance, building of productive capacities, adaptation to the effects of climate change, and the creation of a stimulus package for LDCs to manage the impact of the global financial crisis.
 
The full membership of the Group is as follows:
 
1. Alpha Oumar Konaré, former president of the Republic of Mali (co-chairperson of the Group);
 
2. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder and chairperson of BRAC, the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee;
 
3. Nancy Birdsall, the founding president of the Center for Global Development;
 
4. Kemal Dervis, vice president and director of Global Economy and Development at Brookings Institution;
 
5. James Wolfensohn, chairman and CEO of Wolfensohn & Company and former President of the World Bank;
 
6. Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd.;
 
7. Louis Michel, member of European Parliament and formerly the European commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid;
 
8. Louis A. Kasekende, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Uganda and formerly executive director at the World Bank; and
 
9. Sir Richard Jolly, Honorary Professor of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex
   
 
To access a short bio of the Eminent Persons Group members, please click here.
 
To access the Eminent Persons Group Report, please click here [ EN] [ FR ]