Press Release

REPORT ON THE STATE OF LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDCs) LAUNCHED

The Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the United Nations in New York co-hosted the launch of the fourth edition of the report on the State of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) 2017 at the conference hall of the Mission on the afternoon of 19th July 2017, with the UN Office of High Representative of the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).

The programme for the launch included a presentation of the report by the Under Secretary-General and High Representative, Ms. Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu; remarks by the Chair of the Group of LDCs, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, Ambassador Masum Bin Momen and interactive discussions moderated by Mr. Karma Choeda, Charge d’ Affaires, a.i., Bhutan Mission.

In his welcome remarks, Mr. Karma Choeda, Charge D’ Affaires, said the report not only feeds into the various analytical reports at the UN, but also helps LDCs see their national progress within the larger framework of global development landscape: to see trends, gaps and challenges and also look at ways to address them, and called on the international community to continue their support to the LDCs.

The Under Secretary-General and High Representative highlighted the key messages from the report to enhance capacity of the LDCs and for development partners to meet their official development commitments, amongst others. The Chair of the Group of LDCs, Ambassador and PR of Bangladesh highlighted the challenges of LDCs.

The launch was attended by representatives of member states, particularly from the LDCs, Friends of LDCs and representatives of UN Funds and Programme, including UN Development Programme, UN Capital Development Fund and Committee on Development Policy. Copies of the report were distributed during the launch, which is available online: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/State-of-the-LDCs_2017.pdf.

The report on the State of LDCs 2017 is the fourth edition, compiled by the UN-OHRLLS. This year’s report focuses on financing of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA), which charts out the vision and strategy for sustainable development of LDCs through 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the report, the world’s 47 Least Developed Countries are facing significant challenges in implementing the IPOA and SDGs and recognizes the need for development partners, civil society, the private sector and the UN system to forge greater synergies and partnerships to support LDCs in their efforts towards achieving the IPOA and SDGs.