PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK, 14 June 2007: A parliamentary group to support efforts to end poverty in developing countries, particularly the Least Developed Countries, has been launched today in Tokyo, Japan.

The Japan Parliamentarians League for Eradication of Poverty in Developing Countries, with a special focus on the Least Developed Countries, is headed by former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu as honorary chairman and former Minister of Education and Science, Kunio Hatoyama, as Executive President.

Former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata and former ministers Sadakazu Tanigaki, Wakako Hironaka and Takenori Kanzaki are members of the Bureau of the League.

UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, attended the launch. He highlighted the challenges of Official Development Assistance (ODA); debt; access to international markets; infrastructure development and good governance that the LDCs face and the efforts they are taking to overcome them.

Welcoming the initiative of the Japanese parliamentarians, Mr. Chowdhury said that the Japan Parliamentarians League for Eradication of Poverty in Developing Countries could play a vital role in strengthening Japanese support to the LDCs. He urged Parliamentarians from other donor countries to follow Japan’s example.

Mr. Chowdhury informed the Japanese Parliamentarians that his Office was supporting efforts to set up similar groups of Parliamentarians in the LDCs.

UN-OHRLLS/20/2007