The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has conducted a mid-term comprehensive global review on implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for the Decade 2001-2010.

The review convened from 18-19 September 2006, at the beginning of the UNGA’s 61st session. The UNGA discussions were informed by regional meetings, an LDC ministerial meeting and an informal interactive civil society hearing that were held earlier in 2006. The review assessed progress made in the implementation of commitments and provided the occasion to reaffirm the goals and objectives agreed at the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which met in 2001 in Brussels, Belgium. The latest discussions in the UNGA focused on the lack of significant progress in reducing poverty in these countries, even as they posted sharply improved economic performance. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown pointed out that, although the least developed countries have experienced higher economic growth, greater exports and larger investment inflows over the past five years, and despite some progress on reducing maternal and child mortality and increasing universal primary enrolment, the progress has had “minimum impact where it is most needed: in the fight against extreme poverty.” UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul K. Chowdhury, who is also the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, called for democratic governance to address the issue because “the poorest should have a voice in the decisions that affect them.”
Links to further information
Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Programme of Action of the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 website
UN News Release, 18 September 2006
General Assembly News Release, 18 September 2006