STATEMENT BY DR ARJUN KARKI, INTERNATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR OF LDC WATCH AND CHAIR AND SPOKESPERSON OF THE LDC-IV CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM, AT THE SECOND MEETING OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PREPARATORY COMMITTEE ON LDC-IV 4-8 April 2011, New York

Mr. Chairman Ambassador Jarmo Viinanen; Mr. Cheick Sidi Diarra, Secretary General of UN LDC IV; Ambassador Acharya; Chair of the Bureau of LDCs;Ambassador Apakan, host of the UN LDC IV Conference; Excellencies; my colleagues from civil society; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for this opportunity to share our collective calls and concerns as global civil society at the opening of the second intergovernmental preparatory committee meeting for the UN LDC-IV. Today we are just a month away from Istanbul where you will forge a renewed and strengthened development partnership for the next decade. We are calling for Istanbul to be a historical watershed in terms of adopting a bold new agenda which will lead to the graduation of at least half of the LDCs. Civil society voices from across the globe at the PGA Hearing last Friday expressed the urge for a meaningful Programme of Action that will set the stage for a world without LDCs!

Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki, International Co-ordinator of LDC Watch and Chair and Spokeperson of the LDC-IV Civil Society Forum at the Informal Intractive Civil Society Hearing of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, April 1, 2011

Madam Chair Ambassador Susan Waffa-Ogoo, Acting President of UNGA; Ambassador Cheick Sidi Diarra, Secretary General of UN LDC IV; Ambassador Jarmo Viinanen, Chair of the PrepCom, Ambassador Acharya; Chair of the Bureau of LDCs, Ambassador Apakan, host of the UN LDC IV Conference, Excellencies, my colleagues from civil society, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to thank the President of the General Assembly for giving us this opportunity to be here, and for providing a forum for civil society from all parts of the world to voice their expectations of the Fourth UN LDC Conference.

Statement by Dr Arjun Karki, International Co-ordinator of LDC WATCH and Chair and Spokesperson of the LDC-IV Civil Society Forum, at the BOND-ODI Debate on the LDCs

30 March 2011, London

Madame Chair, Right-Honorable Stephen O’Brien, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development, Mr Cheick Sidi Diarra, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the LDCs and Secretary General of the UN LDC IV, friends from Civil Society, ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to begin by thanking both BOND and ODI for their excellent support and solidarity in bringing us together today for the LDC cause. I also want to stress how much we have been encouraged by the timeliness of this meeting in light of the recent UK aid review and the review of the UN LDC programme. The UK review has a strong focus on some low income countries as the major partners for development co-operation. We hope this approach will be clearly reflected in strengthened commitments to the LDCs in Istanbul and in the UK (and EU) contributions to the Istanbul outcome document, on which the negotiations are currently stalled at UN headquarters in New York.