One year after the Comprehensive High-level Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA), progress towards its?implementation has continued but there is the need to further accelerate actions in order to meet the agreed targets. Thus, while Chapter 1 focuses on the progress and challenges in implementing?the IPoA, Chapter 2 explores financing options for LDCs in order to?accelerate progress.
The first five years of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) coincided with the last five years of the MDGs. The next five years will be the second half of the implementation of the IPoA and the first five years of the 2030 Agenda, which includes the SDGs. Thus, Part 1 of this report reviews the implementation of the IPoA so far while Part 2 discusses the synergies in the implementation of the IPoA and the 2030 Agenda in the coming five years.
Progress towards meeting the goals and targets of the IPoA has been mixed. Over the past five years, continued progress by the LDCs towards graduation from the category – which is one of the overarching goals of the IPoA – could be observed, with 10 LDCs currently at some stage in the graduation process. Furthermore important strides were?made towards several goals and targets. For example mobile cellular subscriptions almost doubled from 33 per 100 people in 2010 to 63 in 2014.
Being at the midpoint of the implementation of the IPoA, the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries?and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) invited LDCs to review the status of the implementation of the IPoA at the national level and to highlight among others, lessons learned, challenges faced (including new and emerging challenges) and initiatives needed to overcome them.
The Least Developed Countries?(LDCs) constitute the poorest?segment of humanity. They are also?the most vulnerable countries and?those with the lowest stock of human?and physical capital. In recent years,?LDCs have experienced a whole?range of external shocks, including?natural and climate-related disasters,?volatility of commodity prices and?aid flows and health pandemics.
This document sets out a comprehensive set of recommendations that have been, or could be, made by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Group to the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG-SDGs), as well as a detailed justification for recommendations of greatest relevance and importance to LDCs.
The comprehensive high-level mid-term review of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), held from 27-29 May, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey, is an opportunity to review the progress achieved by the LDCs’ in meeting their development priorities. It is also a moment to identify new drivers for progress and to align all efforts with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Achieving the 2030 Agenda will be a challenge for?all?countries. It is however particularly?salient for the 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) where levels of deprivation are acute, infrastructure is inadequate, economies are vulnerable and capital is in short supply.Yet these are the countries we need to reach first if we are to meet the aspiration to “leave no one behind”.
The Istanbul Programme of Action aims at overcoming the structural challenges of the LDCs through building their human and productive capacities and enabling their graduation from the LDC category. The overarching objective of the Programme, which received a strong endorsement from the international community through the adoption in September 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is to support the sustainable development of LDCs.
LDC IV Monitor?is an independent partnership established in September 2011 by eight think tanks and academic institutions from least developed countries (LDCs) and partner countries. Through monitoring and assessing the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) for the Least Developed Countries adopted by the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (UN LDC IV), it aims to contribute to an improved delivery of commitments made to the LDCs.
