UN-SG: Report on the Work of the Organization

The UN/GA has circulated the Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/66/1). Coverage includes:
-  responses to disasters and the fact that the UN has begun to place a higher premium on disaster risk reduction and to forge new types of partnerships with the business community and civil society;
- responses to development needs underlining the outcome of LDC-IV, by which States committed to address the structural challenges faced by LDCs;
- a call for UNCSD (Rio+20) to agree on “an ambitious and actionable framework that complements the Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs), to follow the 2015 target date for meeting the eight MDGs;
- the needs of Africa and the worsening problems (extreme poverty, unemployment, armed conflicts, sexual and gender-based violence) masked by the region’s overall economic growth. In response, the UN is working to advance implementation of the Declaration on Enhancing UN-African Union (AU) Cooperation: Framework for the 10-Year Capacity-Building Programme for the AU, and partnering with governments to boost financing in sustainable forest management and other areas;
- climate change and its importance to global peace and prosperity; calling for “sustained global cooperation coupled with accelerated national actions to reduce emissions and strengthen climate resilience.” It praises the results of the Cancun Climate Change Conference as having provided an important set of tools that now must be put into practice;
- the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP), which aims to provide a practical road map for sustainable, climate-resilient development that addresses poverty eradication, energy, food, water and other key issues, the recommendations of which are expected to provide input to UNCSD (Rio+20);
- participation of the business community and the successful integration through the “private sector track” at LDC-IV providing a model for closer engagement around UNCSD (Rio+20) and other high-level events.

Lastly, the report notes that “achieving sustainable development is imperative" and in the view of the UN-SG, a crucial part of this agenda will be forging a sustainable global energy strategy.

ECOSOC: 2011 Substantive Session

Delegates to the Substantive Session agreed on, inter alia, a Ministerial Declaration on education; recommendations on preparing for the 2012 Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) of the UN system's operational activities by the UN/GA; follow-up to LDC-IV; and postponing consideration of a review of UN support for SIDS.
 Website of Session

UN/GA: Human Right to Water and Sanitation

The UN/GA has concluded its debate on challenges to achieving the human right to water and sanitation in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with some delegates stressing the impact of climate change on the realization of this right, in particular in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS)

Press Release

LDC-IV: Declaration and Action Programme

Over 7,000 participants, including Heads of State and government, IGOs, and NGOs gathered in Istanbul (Turkey) for the 4th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC IV) from 9-13 May.

As the meeting came to a close, participants adopted the Istanbul Political Declaration and Programme of Action for the LDCs. In the Declaration, which serves as preamble to the Programme of Action, governments commit to further strengthen their support to the poorest countries by “creating a favorable environment for sustainable development, increasing productive capacities, diversification of economies and building the necessary infrastructure.”

The Programme covers 27 priority areas, including: infrastructure building; energy access; disaster risk reduction (DRR); human capital enhancement through health measures; and the empowerment of women and youth. Specifically, the Action Plan calls on countries to build their human capacities by: fostering sustained, equitable and inclusive human and social development;  increasing gender equality and the empowerment of women; reducing the vulnerability of LDCs to economic, natural and environmental shocks and disasters, as well as climate change; and enhancing their ability to meet these and other challenges through strengthening their resilience. Under the Programme of Action, developed countries agree to support national disaster reduction and mitigation programmes in LDCs, and to facilitate South-South transfer of lessons learned on disaster preparedness.

The Action Plan commits governments to enable half the number of LDCs to meet the criteria for graduation by 2020. Forty-eight countries are classified as LDCs, 33 of which are in Africa, 14 in the Asia-Pacific region, and one in Latin America and the Caribbean.

LDC's Report from Eminent Persons Group

The UN Secretary-General’s Eminent Persons Group on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) has released its report, titled “Compact for Inclusive Growth and Prosperity.” The report finds that the structural limitations of LDCs must be addressed in order to close the gap between LDCs and the rest of the world, and outlines objectives and targets for a new Programme of Action (PoA), including on small island developing States (SIDS) and climate change.

UNDESA/UNDP: Support for LDCs in Rio+20 process

It has been reported that Least Developed Countries (LDCs) were not among those countries that responded to the UNCSD (Rio+20) Secretariat's solicitiation for technical inputs for the preparation of the Secretary-General’s report to be submitted to the 2nd UNCSD Preparatory Committee meeting (PrepCom) in March 2011.

In response, a Concept Note has been prepared by UNDESA and UNDP proposing a project that would seek to assist approximately 60 developing countries to "prepare for and contribute effectively to the UNCSD process based on their expression of demand and their particular needs." The inputs into the project would seek to build the capacity of relevant institutions and individuals to engage in the outcomes from UNCSD. The Concept Note indicates that the total resource requirement for the proposed project is US$2,809,820.