This is the first time the UN conference on LDCs is going to specifically incorporate the agenda of climate change and mitigation and adaptation measures to deal with the menace in the Action Plan. The issue of climate change was not recognized as a major issue facing the LDCs in previous three UN conferences and therefore has not received due priority.[break]
According to Rudra Nepal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two inter-governmental meetings of the preparatory committee aiming to achieve a new action plan to advance the economic and social development of these vulnerable countries have already been held in January and April.
“Negotiations are currently underway to finalize the Istanbul Plan of Action for LDCs,” Nepal said. “The new action plan will incorporate climate change as one of the major agenda facing the LDCs.”
Nepal as the current chair of the Global Coordination Bureau of 48 LDCs has pushed the agenda of climate change as LDCs are at the receiving end of the effects of climate change. Nepal´s Permanent Representative to the UN Gyan Chandra Acharya is coordinating the inter-governmental preparatory meetings and negotiations to finalize the Istanbul Plan of Action.
UN conference on LDCs is held every 10 years. While the first and second UN conferences on LDCs were held in Paris in 1981 and 1990, the third UN conference on LDCs was held in Brussels in 2001.
The Fourth UN conference on LDC being held from May 9 to 13 will assess the results of the 10-year Brussels Action Plan for the LDCs and adopt new measures and strategies for sustainable development of the LDCs into the next decade.
The priorities outlined for the Istanbul conference on LDCs include promotion of productive capacity across the board, infrastructure and energy, science and technology and ICT, commodities and trade, human and social development, gender equality and empowerment of women. Food security, environmental degradation, financial resources for development and capacity building are also among the priorities identified for the LDCs.
Unlike the previous three conferences, the upcoming Istanbul conference on LDCs will have four different tracks on its sideline namely inter-governmental, parliamentary, civil society and private sector. They will contribute expert knowledge in their respective areas to help address widespread poverty and structural weaknesses of LDCs´ economic, institutional and human resources.
Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal is scheduled to leave for Turkey on six-day visit on May 7 to address the UN conference.
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