|
UN Conference On The Least Developed Countries Begins in Istanbul
9 May 2011
Some 10 thousand guests including ministers, parliamentarians, representatives of private sector, scientists and members of non-governmental organizations from 192 UN-member countries are attending the event.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly Joseph Deiss, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President Bamir Topi of Albania, President Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran, President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Prime Minister Yves Leterme of Belgium, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Nikoloz Gilauri of Georgia are among guests of the conference.
The conference brings together nearly 50 heads of state and government, 10 vice-presidents, 94 ministers and chairmen of 47 international organizations in Istanbul.
President Abdullah Gul is set to hold bilateral talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission President Barroso, President of the sixty-fifth session of the UN General Assembly Deiss, President Rupiah Banda of Zambia, President Boni Yayi of Benin, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, President Filip Vujanovic of Montenegro, Vice-President Abd al-Rab Mansur Hadi, of Yemen, President Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Prime Minister Willy Telavi of Tuvalu.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also set to hold bilateral talks with guests leaders including President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, European Commission President Barroso, Prime Minister Leterme of Belgium, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President of the sixty-fifth session of the UN General Assembly Deiss, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, President Bamir Topi of Albania, Prime Minister Gilauri of Georgia and President Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran.
Prime Minister Erdogan will host a luncheon in honor of guest heads of state and government, chairmen of delegations and CEOs of leading companies later in the day. Meanwhile, tight security measures have been taken in and around the Lutfi Kirdar Congress Center.
There are 48 least developed countries in the world with a population of nearly 900 million. These countries are struggling against chronical structural problems in their economy, development and human resources. There are 33 African, 14 Pacifician and a Latin American states among those countries.
In 1971, the international community recognized as the Least Developed Countries a category of countries distinguished not only by widespread poverty, but also by the structural weakness of those countries' economic, institutional and human resources, often compounded by geographical handicaps. The group, comprising 25 countries at the time has been described by the United Nations as "the poorest and weakest segment of the international community" whose economic and social development presents a major challenge both for them and for their development partners. The UN General Assembly convened the First United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Paris in 1981 to respond to the special needs of the LDCs. To continue the focus on the need for special measures for those countries, the General Assembly convened the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, also in Paris, in 1990. The third conference was held in Brussels in 2001.
Source: Turkish Weekly
« Return to news archives
|
