UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
ECOSOC
17 July 2003

Halting progress in the world's 49 least developed countries (LDCs) was
reported this week to the UN Economic and Social Council, along with a call
to set their plight higher on the international agenda.

Major challenges cited by UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury
include the widespread prevalence of diseases in the LDCs, slow progress in
debt relief and continuing low levels of foreign investment and trade -
with 11 per cent of the world population, LDCs account for a bare 0.42 per
cent of global trade, he said.

Several LDCs have demonstrated the capability of achieving high economic
growth rates in recent years (in 2002, Angola by 10 per cent, Chad by 11.3
per cent and Mozambique by 12.0 per cent, according to the UN World
Economic and Social Survey 2003). But at least 15 of these countries
suffered a drop in per capita income last year, Under-Secretary-General
Chowdhury said, presenting a report of his UN office to the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) in Geneva.

Aid to LDCs has been insufficient and, over the past decade, in decline,
but he noted that new donor pledges constituted a "positive trend that is
emerging regarding the volume of Official Development Assistance".

The report of the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least
Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island
Developing States reviews implementation of an action plan that was agreed
at a May 2001 global meeting in Brussels. That month, the European Union
announced elimination of tariffs on LDC imports, and the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development set new guidelines to improve aid
efficiency. Shortly after, however, terrorist strikes, Middle East tensions
and military incursions swung world attention sharply to security issues.

Adjusting the Agenda

With the release this month of the UN Development Programme's report on
challenges in reaching the Millennium Development Goals, and a renewed
focus on Africa, recognition of the extent of poverty in the hardest hit
countries, as well as their vulnerability to exploitation by terrorist
organisations, now appears to be rising. Thirty-five of the LDCs are
situated in Sub-Saharan Africa.

"The LDCs seem to have slipped off of everyone's agenda it's time to put
them back", said Daphne Davies, coordinator of LDC Watch, an NGO coalition,
in an interview with a UN information officer.

An LDC Watch report, issued at a 15 July NGO forum in Geneva, endorses a
"bottom-up" approach to development and maintains that additional training
of civil society leaders will enhance the contributions currently being
made by NGOs in the poor countries. The report notes that some governments
have been nervous about civil society playing a role in development
efforts, but says that they should be reassured that NGOs are playing "a
constructive role in making policies work on the ground and being engines
for change".

One obstacle to grassroots efforts is the large scale of farm subsidies in
the rich countries, according to LDC Watch.

"There is no point in trying to stimulate agriculture in LDCs, when they
face unfair competition from subsidised agriculture in the North", said Ms.
Davies.

Half or more of the population in the 49 least developed countries are
estimated to live at or below the absolute-poverty line of one dollar a
day. According to standards set by the Committee on Development Policy,
countries designated as LDCs must have a per capita gross domestic product
of no more than $900.

At its 16 July meeting, ECOSOC accepted the suggestion of UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan that LDC issues should serve as the main theme
of its upcoming 2004 annual session, to be held in New York.

The report of the Secretary General on "Implementation of the Programme of
Action for the Least Developed Countries" [A/58/86 - E/2003/81] is
available on the website of the UN Office of the High Representative for
the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small
Island Developing States (OHRLLS), at www.un.org/ohrlls

For more information, contact Tim Wall at the UN Department of Public
Information, 1-212-963-5851, or Marie Heuzé, Director of the UN Information
Service in Geneva, 41-22-917-2300.

List of Least Developed Countries (as of July 2003)

Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic,
Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania,
Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tuvalu,
Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia.