STATEMENT BY DR. ARJUN KARKI, INTERNATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR AT THE SIDE-EVENT ON MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE IPoA AND OTHER IADGs TO STRENGTHEN MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN LDCs, DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION FORUM, 5 JULY 2012

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to be taking part in this important panel discussion, on behalf of LDC Watch. This forum is very significant and timely for addressing the challenges of implementing the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) for the least developed countries (LDCs).

A year on, since the adoption of the IPoA, we fear that the implementation of the Programme has not made considerable progress. The persistent multiple crises continue to be an excuse for the international community to back-track on the achievement of sustainable development and poverty eradication despite repeated commitments. Recent UN development processes, even the most ambitious Rio+20, has failed us of ‘the future we want’ with no new, additional commitments and predictability of pledged resources for development. We have been reiterating that the trillions that are spent in destructive wars and militarisation could instead be used for constructive development cooperation, like meeting the IPoA and other internationally agreed development goals (IADGs) in LDCs.

We must seriously recognise that the development crisis we’re witnessing in LDCs, majority of them being fragile states, is a development emergency! And, therefore, there is no excuse but to place these 48 most vulnerable and marginalised countries at the forefront of development cooperation in order to make it fully effective and meaningful. The progressive implementation of IPoA is, thus, imperative towards ensuring the right to development of the LDC peoples. The IPoA must urgently be integrated into national, regional and global development programmes and processes. Similarly the roadmap for the implementation of the IPoA prepared by the UN-OHRLLS must therefore be fully implemented.

LDC Watch has been reiterating that without peace and political stability in our countries, we simply cannot pave the way for development and hence, the IPoA as well as other IADGs are at great risk of turning into a failure of development cooperation. We are witnessing in LDCs how violence, war, oppression are major impediments to development and thus, to the principle of mutual accountability. At the same time, we have been underlining that such socio-political instability and turmoil are symptoms of structural inequities and injustices in LDCs.

The very essence and spirit of development cooperation, therefore, is a farce for the LDC peoples who continue to live a life without the right to dignity and integrity – especially, our women who carry the double burden due to prevalent gender discrimination and injustices. We, therefore, strongly demand that both, our governments and development partners, must mutually commit to a true political vision and will to implement the principle of development cooperation for the rights of the peoples and the planet, and not merely for profits; thus ensuring mutual accountability in the true sense. After all, the aim of mutual accountability ultimately is to be accountable to the peoples, the taxpayers.

The overarching goal of the IPoA to overcome the structural challenges faced by the LDCs in order to enable, at least half of them, to graduate within the decade, must indeed be the guiding political will for genuine development cooperation. Similarly, the eight principles of the IPoA – of country ownership and leadership; an integrated approach; genuine partnership; result orientation; peace and security, development and human rights; equity; voice and representation; and balanced role of the state and market considerations – are indeed in the interest of the peoples as well as in strengthening mutual accountability and therefore, must be upheld at all cost.

However, the delayed delivery of a key concrete target of the IPoA - the committed official development assistance (ODA) to be met by 2015 or at least be accelerated - continues to undermine the accountability framework, besides exacerbating the development challenges in LDCs. The UN S-G also reinforced today in his opening remarks that development assistance must go where it is most needed. UN study shows that at least 1.5 times more of current levels of ODA is required to achieve the committed target of 0.15%-0.20% of GNI. There is no denying that aid commitment, aid predictability and aid transparency are key catalysts for mutual accountability, which must be, therefore, delivered. Similarly, imposed aid modalities and conditionalities continue to be counter-productive to mutual accountability. The principle of country ownership and the use of country systems are still undermined, on the ground. More and better ODA reaffirmed by the IPoA must, therefore, be met as a priority, not only to accelerate the achievement of the IPoA and other IADGs, but also to strengthen these basic UN global accountability frameworks related to LDCs.

We, as LDC civil society, further underscore that CSO’s role and responsibility in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the IPoA must be duly internalised, as recognised by the IPoA and Istanbul Declaration. Clearly, in our role as both partner and pressure group, our advocacy is purely linked towards defending and ensuring the rights of our vulnerable and marginalised peoples. We, therefore, call on both, our governments and development partners to genuinely encourage and engage CSOs, including national parliaments, in the planning, policy-making and implementation of the IPoA as well as other IADGs at all levels – local/national, regional and international – so that we engage in a truly co-ordinated and coherent partnership for development.

I am pleased to inform you that LDC Watch has already organised national and regional CSO strategy meetings towards implementation of the IPoA, in the past one year. We have held national strategy planning meetings in the DRC, Lao, Madagascar, Malawi, Myanmar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. In September of last year, we organised the Pacific LDC Civil Society Assembly in parallel to the Pacific Islands Forum. In May of this year, in collaboration with the ESCAP, UN-OHRLLS and the UN Millennium Campaign, we organised the Asia LDC Civil Society Assembly immediately prior to the 68th session of the ESCAP. Similarly, recently in June, just prior to the Rio+20, we organised the Africa LDC Civil Society Assembly in collaboration with the ECA, UN-OHRLLS and the UNCTAD. We aim to reach out to more LDCs and our constituency in order to consolidate our strategies towards regional and global interventions for effective implementation of the IPoA, particularly in the context of its global mid-term review in 2015 which is the next important milestone. We are also reinforcing our campaign NO MDGs without LDCs in the context of the global review of the MDGs in 2013 as well as vis-a-vis post-2015 development agenda.

I would now like to close, by seeking your genuine support and co-operation towards enabling us, LDC civil society, to effectively monitor the implementation of the IPoA and other IADGs, so as to ensure mutual accountability of development cooperation. This Development Cooperation Forum is also a key global accountability framework for the LDCs and therefore, it must be instrumental for the purpose. Let us collectively work towards a genuine, inclusive and integrated global partnership for development.

Thank you for your attention.