8 April 2011: The second session of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee (PrepCom II) for the Fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC IV) was held from 4-8 April 2011, in New York, US. LDC IV will convene in Istanbul, Turkey, from 9-13 May 2011, to assess the implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action, the outcome document of the prior LDC Conference, held in 2001; and to agree on new support measures for sustainable development of the 48 LDCs.

PrepCom II included a plenary session, during which participants were updated on the preparations for LDC IV; and presentations on the parliamentarian track, civil society track, and private sector track.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said it could contribute to the Conference by working to ensure an enabling environment to bolster sustainable development, improve tax regulations and trade schemes.

Delegations did not reach consensus on many parts of the draft outcome document of the Conference. The PrepCom recommended that the Chair continue informal consultations among States in order to finalize the document before the Conference. PrepCom Chair Jarmo Viinanen of Finland said, “as things stand today, we must try even harder to find common ground that would enable us to reach full agreement on all aspects of the document,” in the remaining month before the Conference.

The PrepCom adopted the draft provisional annotated agenda and the draft provisional rules of procedure for the Conference, and a draft report of the meeting was presented by the rapporteur. [Draft Report of PrepCom II] [Website of PrepCom II] [UN Summary of Day 1] [UN Summary of Day 2] [Draft Rules of Procedure (before final revisions)] [Draft Annotated Provisional Agenda for LDC IV] [Publication: Report of UNSG: 10-year appraisal and review of implementation of Brussels Programme of Action for LDCs] [UNGA Resolution on LDC IV]