Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki to the European Parliamentary Hearing on the Green Paper, the DCI and China: Key points for EU development policy in Asia and Latin America, 17 November 2010, Brussels, Belgium

Honourable Members, colleagues and friends,

Thank you for allowing me to share some civil society perspectives from the least developed countries (LDCs), on behalf of LDC Watch. The LDCs, we must bear in mind, are a "special" group of developing countries that hence, require specific development attention as was first recognised by the United Nations (UN) four decades back. Already characterised by low human development indicators and economic vulnerability, these countries are further challenged by inherent geographical constraints and environmental vulnerabilities.

Statement by International Coordinator Dr. Arjun Karki at the side-event of the High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs “From the MDG Summit to the UN LDC IV” UN Headquarters, New York, 22 September 2010

Mr Chair, Honorary Guest, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for allowing me to share, on behalf of LDC Watch, some civil society perspectives on this very significant development process that will pave the path for a next-generation development agenda for the LDC citizens. Today, we need to deliberate on how we can all work in partnership to make the Fourth United Nations Conference on LDCs (LDC IV) in 2011 a real success - in charting out the next specific programme of action towards real sustainable development and poverty eradication in LDCs.

Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki, International Coordinator, LDC Watch in the High Level Event on LDCs and MDGs, UN Headquarters, New York, 21 September 2010

Her Excellency Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh Madam Chair, His Excellency President of Turkey, His Excellency Prime Minister of Belgium, Minister Rawal, Heads of Government, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for this opportunity. Today, I will be speaking about LDC civil society perspectives on the LDCs and MDGs. Despite three UN Conferences on LDCs and three specific Programmes of Action, in the last 40 years, the number of LDCs has more than doubled, rising from 24 in 1971 to 49 today. Today, around 850 million of the world’s citizens continue to live without access to adequate food, clean water, education, health, energy and other essential services in the LDCs. More than half of this population also lives with gender related discrimination that stands in the way of sustainable development, social justice and human rights. By 2015, the year by which the international community committed to achieve the MDGs, the number of people living in the LDCs will have risen to 925 million.