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His Excellency, Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations,
Distinguished Members of today’s panel,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed an honour and a privilege for me to be opening this important event and I thank the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives for this opportune briefing which gathers experts and relevant stakeholders to discuss the issue of graduation and ensuring a smooth transition post-graduation. This subject takes on greater relevance today more than ever, as the international community prepares for the Fourth UN Conference to be held in Turkey from 9 to 13 May 2011. The Conference represents a major opportunity to deepen the global partnership in support of LDCs and set the terms of engagement for the next decade, bearing in mind that the ultimate objective of the global partnership for LDCs remains that of paving the way for the graduation of LDCs from the category.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are encouraged by the socio-economic progress experienced by the LDCs during the past decade, some more remarkably than others. But we remain deeply concerned of the 800 million people or half of the LDCs’ population living in abject poverty. The LDCs also remain marginal players in the global economy, accounting for less than 2 percent of world GDP and about 1 percent of global trade in goods. It is not surprising that since the establishment of the LDC category in 1971, only three had graduated from the category. This despite the three decade-long development programmes for the LDCs. In this context, it is worth recalling what the MDG Summit in September 2010 had underlined -- there would be “No MDGs without LDCs”.
The LDCs, as we are aware remain economically vulnerable, with a majority of them relying on very few products and/or services to support their economies. This makes them susceptible to external shocks. Compounded by problems related to climate change and weather variability, many LDCs remain in precarious situations.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The holding of the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs is opportune and an excellent forum to renew the pledge and the partnership against poverty. There, Member States are expected to adopt an ambitious, comprehensive, forward-looking, targeted and results-oriented programme of action for the LDCs, which, not only addresses their way out of poverty and pave the way for graduation – at least half of them – but also tackle the issue of graduation and smooth transition for these are two sides of the same coin. At the Conference, the international community is envisaged to renew its commitment to LDCs’ development and continue to provide the support that LDCs so direly need from their development partners.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The issue of graduation is a preoccupation not only by those who have recently graduated but the wider group of LDCs as wel. In the pre-Conference event organized by my office in October last year on Enhanced International Support and Smooth Transition of LDCs towards Graduation, where many of you have also participated, the concern about losing LDC-specific preferential treatment, particularly in the area of ODA, trade preferences, and other forms of support such as caps in the contribution to the UN budget and travel funds was underlined.
We have been reminded time and again that the General Assembly Resolution 59/209 had laid down a framework for facilitating "smooth transition" strategies for the benefit of graduating countries, where after the adoption of the General Assembly resolution deciding on graduation of an LDC, a three-year grace period is provided for the graduating country to prepare an “exit strategy”, in cooperation with its development partners and with UN support.
But what happens after the six-year pre-graduation period, when the LDC has finally reached the stage of graduation? Resolution 59/209 envisions a smooth transition process which includes the gradual phasing out of special measures afforded to LDCs, to ensure a “soft landing” and also to safeguard the gains that they have earned over the years. The experience of recently graduated countries, however, including that of the Maldives, do not seem to match the spirit of the resolution as we have yet to see the institutionalization of such smooth transition measures .
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is very commendable for Maldives, an island-LDC, to use its case, together with other LDCs that have either recently graduated or in the process of graduating to increase awareness of their peculiar plight. While enjoying relative prosperity owing to domestically-generated income mainly from tourism, Maldives remains vulnerable to external shocks and high structural costs due to their geography. Despite having graduated from the LDC category, it thus requires and continues to reiterate the need for smooth transition measures. As with Maldives, the LDCs that have participated in our October meeting highlighted the persistent structural constraints they face and their extreme vulnerability to external and internal shocks, including the negative impact of climate change. These constraints should all be taken into account when designing support measures for LDCs, including “smooth transition” measures.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We should mention and recognize the efforts by some development partners as well as multi-donor funded projects such as the Enhanced Integrated Framework to extend the benefits provided to most recently graduated LDCs to support their “smooth transition.” Such deeds are likewise expected from other development partners. Benefits provided by international organizations to LDCs, including the UN, should likewise be continually extended for a certain period of time to newly graduated LDCs with institutional provision for their gradual phasing out.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Over the past 30 years the number of LDCs had doubled. The new Programme of Action to be adopted in Istanbul seeks to see the halving of the number of LDCs by the end of the ten-year implementation period of the new PoA. With this aspiration, and the required actions from the LDCs and their development partners, it may well be that in the next few years, more LDCs will have joined the batch of graduates. While graduation is welcomed by the LDCs, they also need some assurance of a smooth landing into post-LDC life to make sure that their development efforts would not be suddenly disrupted.
This makes it even more pressing to address the issue of smooth transition for recently graduated LDCs, not only in the context of resolution 59/209 but likewise with respect to the broader set of support measures that are afforded to LDCs. This is to prepare the “terrain for their soft-landing” so to speak so that graduation is a state to be looked forward to and not to fear or to try to escape from.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
I can see a full programme ahead of us, with a very respectable panel to elaborate on the issue of smooth transition and I am very much looking forward to listening to the presentations and the exchanges that will follow.
As you debate on this subject, I encourage you to reflect on the issue of smooth transition under the backdrop of the UN LDC IV Conference -- a Conference that is expected to adopt the next decade’s ambitious and comprehensive programme of action for the LDCs, with the provision of favourable international support measures based on a scaled-up partnership for development and effective arrangements for follow-up, review and monitoring of the implementation of the new programme of action.
I thank you and wish you success in your deliberations.
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