ECA Meeting for Least Developed Countries in Africa opens in Addis

Addis (21 February) - The Economic Commission for Africa and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) opened on Tuesday until Thursday a regional meeting in preparation for a global review of an action programme for least developed countries at ECA headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Mr Sufian Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development officially opened the meeting.

Organized by the ECA’s Economic and Social Policy Division (ESPD), some 78 representatives from Africa’s 34 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are attending the conference, a pre-midterm review of the 2001 Brussels Programme of Action (BpoA).

Speakers at the opening ceremony included the Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr Abdoulie Janneh, the Under-Secretary General and High Representative for the OHRLLS, Mr Anwarul Chowdhury, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Mr Kim Hak-Su.

As a largely African diaspora nation, and the only LDC in Latin America, a delegation from Haiti is participating in the seminar.

The Brussels Programme of Action, is a commitment undertaken by heads of state worldwide to promote development in the LDCs. Divided into seven commitments that range from promoting gender equity to tackling HIV/AIDs, it largely overlaps with the Millennium Development Goals.

“There has been enormous progress on the macroeconomic front, but there is still a way to go,” said Abdoulie Janneh, the Executive Secretary of the ECA.“More than ever, our development programmes need to combine economic growth and wealth generation, in order to witness a real reduction in poverty,” he said.

Entitled “Challenges and Opportunities for African LDCs: towards the midterm review of the Brussels Programme of Action,” ECA/ESPD’s report for the meeting largely focuses on the state of development in Africa’s LDCs, and proposes a way forward for the Commission and its Member States with regard to this very comprehensive roadmap for development. (see the full report online www.uneca.org/ldcs)

“This review comes at a time when African countries are joining efforts in order to take full ownership over the continent’s development, witnessed in the implementation of programmes such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM),” said Janneh.

The Commission’s mandate to assist Africa in achieving economic success and social development, complements the comprehensive nature of this programme, he said.

The ECA team directly assists the Brussels Programme of Action through areas such as the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the mutual review on development effectiveness, trade and environment workshops, seminars on debt relief, trade negotiations, and capital market development, and activities to reach gender parity.

"This year is a crucial milestone for the Brussels Programme of Action: we are midway through its ten-year timeframe and now have the challenge to review and reflect," said Mr Anwarul Chowdhury, United Nations Under-Secretary General, and Special Representative for the LDCs.

Mr Chowdhury said highlighted that incrementing Africa''s trade potential is particularly relevant for achieving the targets set by the BPoA. He said dependency on primary commodities remains a challenge to be overcome by most of Africa''s LDCs.

In this regard, inter-regional and international cooperation is ever more pressing.

The Executive Secretary of ESCAP, which hosts a hub for 14 of the world''s 50 LDCs, said that the Asia-Pacific region has much to teach and to learn from Africa.

"Our Asia-Pacific region countries find themselves at a crossroads," he said. "Although their performance in the external sector is improving, there is still a long way to go."

Mr Kim said diversification is key to boosting the economies of LDCs worldwide. "The overdependence of LDCs on selected developed country markets could be reduced through increased participation in intra-regional trade and South-south cooperation."