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Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC III)

Brussels, 14-20 May 2001

The Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC III) was held in Brussels from 14 to 20 May 2001. The ILO delegation was led by the Director-General, and included a tripartite delegation of the Governing Body. The Conference adopted by consensus a Political Declaration (document A/CONF.191/ L.20) and a Programme of Action for the LDCs for the Decade 2001-2010 (document A/CONF.191/L.18).

In the Political Declaration, Member States committed themselves to the eradication of poverty in LDCs and to the improvement of the quality of lives of the more than 600 million people living in them. They took upon themselves to reverse the declining trend in Official Development Assistance (ODA) and to meet the targets of 0.15% or 0.20% of GDP as ODA to LDCs. They also undertook to improve aid effectiveness and to implement the OECD-DAC recommendation on untying ODA to LDCs, as well as to provide full financing and speedy implementation of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Member States stated that the accession of LDCs to the World Trade Oranization (WTO) should be encouraged and facilitated, and committed to seizing the opportunity of the Fourth WTO Ministerial Meeting (Doha, Qatar, November 2001) to advance the development dimension of trade. They also committed themselves to seizing the opportunity of the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterey, Mexico, March 2002) for the mobilization of resources for development, in particular for the LDCs.

The Programme of Action for the Decade 2001-2010 calls initiatives to arrest the marginalization of LDCs an "ethical imperative". It outlines a broad range of measures to be taken by the developed nations and the LDCs themselves in the form of a framework for partnership and seven commitments (people-centred policy framework; good governance; human and institutional capacities; productive capacities to make globalization work for LDCs; role of trade in development; reducing vulnerability and protecting the environment; mobilizing financial resources). The Programme of Action recognizes employment as one of the cross-cutting priority issues, together with poverty eradication, gender equality, sustainable development, governance and capacity building. The text calls for the respect, promotion and realization of the principles contained in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up, and stresses the importance of an effective dialogue between government and the private sector. Many other issues of relevance to the ILO’s mandate and activities are also referred to in this document, including micro-credit and micro-finance, basic social services, training and human resources development, response to socio-economic shocks, migrant workers, programmes to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the informal sector, small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employment.

It calls on the governments of LDCs to implement the Programme of Action within their respective national development framework and poverty eradication strategy, including, where they exist, through their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP), CCA and UNDAF and with the involvement of civil society, including the private sector. At the global level, it invites ECOSOC to consider, for final decision by the UN General Assembly, the creation of an annual agenda item on the review and coordination of the implementation of the Programme of Action, allocated to its coordination segment. The governing bodies of the organizations of the UN system are invited to mainstream the implementation of this Programme of Action within their programmes of work, as well as in their intergovernmental processes. They are also invited to bring to the attention of ECOSOC progress made by their respective organizations in implementing this Programme of Action. The General Assembly, towards the end of the decade, is invited to consider holding a fourth Conference on LDCs to review the implementation of the Programme of Action and decide on subsequent action. Finally, the UN Secretary-General is requested to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session his recommendations for an "efficient and highly visible" follow-up mechanism, including the possibility of establishing an Office of High Representative for the Least Developed, Land-locked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

The ILO was very active during the Conference. The Director-General participated as a special guest in the opening ceremony as well as in the Special Event on Poverty which gathered many Heads of State and Government together with a selected number of other prominent figures. He addressed the plenary sitting, stressing in particular that one of the best ways to eradicate poverty is through employment and making a strong plea for Decent Work as a development agenda. He reiterated the ILO’s commitment to work together with other UN agencies according to LDCs priorities and commitments. The Director-General addressed the NGO Forum and had a lively exchange of views with members of the civil society. The ILO was also the lead agency for the Interactive Thematic Session on Human Resources Development and Employment, placed under the co-chairmanship of France and Ethiopia. Based on the Issues paper prepared by the ILO, this session focused the debate on the role of human resources development and employment in stimulating growth and reducing poverty in LDCs. It provided a platform for dialogue with various actors of the international community as well as with social partners, and gave the opportunity to present and discuss a number of selected proposals for action ("Deliverables"). The ILO delegation was also actively involved in other thematic sessions and parallel events of the Conference, as well as in the NGO Forum.