Negotiators Adopt 10-Year Poverty Plan for LDCs

ISTANBUL – Negotiators at the Fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) adopted the Istanbul Programme of Action on Friday.

The goal of the programme is to substantially increase official development assistance (ODA) and to reduce or abolish unjustified trade barriers, with the intent of ‘graduating’ half the number of LDCs by 2020.

The programme specifically outlines a plan for the wealthiest nations to consider increasing ODA to 0.15-0.2% of GDP, a significant increase from current levels.

The programme also emphasizes private sector involvement in tandem with government action, as noted by UN High Representative for the LDCs, Cheick Sidi Diarra.

“Private sector orientation of the economy is of particular importance, but the private sector is not enough to bring wealth to the common men and women in the countries, particularly the LDCs. That’s why this plan of action comes up with a balanced role between what the State has to do and what the private sector has to do,” said Diarra.

The outcome has already been criticized by civil society participants at the conference. They claim the programme lacks teeth for enforcement and leaves implementation up to the people living in the countries seeking assistance.

“It is difficult to find real commitments and quantifiable targets that would help the lives of people in the LDCs [in the document],” said Arjun Karki, spokesperson for the Civil Society Forum at the conference. “The programme lacks specific commitments to action as well as any mechanisms to hold governments to account. It is devoid of political will.”

The agreed upon outcome is a 50-page document titled “Programme of Action for the Least  Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020.”