The most vulnerable countries need to be given specific attention in all global forums because they are not receiving the official development assistance (ODA) that wealthy countries promised and are finding it difficult to take advantage of the expansion of international trade. Such was the appeal made by Anwarul Chowdhury, U.N. undersecretary general and high representative of for what are known as the least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries and small island states, in his address to the eleventh sessions of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XI).