Nepal lauds UN role on LDCs

Nepal hailed the United Nations (UN) role on Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Addressing the closing plenary of the thirteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) as the coordinator of the LDC Group, ambassador and permanent representative of Nepal to the United Nations Shanker D Bairagi, highlighted the important role the UN has been playing for the development of the least developed countries.
The successive UN conferences on LDCs have helped highlight their structural constraints and vulnerabilities and mobilise international support for their development, he added.
Referring to the last minute agreements on a number of contentious issues to be included in the outcome document of the Conference, Bairagi said that the consensus in Doha is the manifestation of the collective commitment of the international community to work for a better future for all, including the most impoverished and destitute. He stressed that as countries with widespread poverty and overall backwardness, the LDCs always attach high importance to development conferences and it was with this conviction they participated in the Conference.
The Ambassador thanked all delegations, including the development partners, for the flexibilities, understanding and accommodative spirit shown during the negotiation process, in particular on the needs and concerns of the LDCs.
He expressed hope that the Conference outcome will contribute meaningfully in the process of implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs which envisions enabling half of the LDCs to reach the level of graduation from the LDC category by 2020.
The conference concluded in Doha, Qatar on Friday, adopting an outcome document termed the 'Doha Mandate'.