A United Nations conference aimed at helping the world’s poorest people opened on Monday with dire warnings about the threat of rising food and fuel prices to the vulnerable.There were also calls to seize investment opportunities in developing countries.U.N. Secretary—General Ban Ki—moon was among up to 8,000 delegates who converged on Istanbul for the conference on “least—developed countries,” which lists 48 members in its ranks. Thirty—three are in Africa, 14 are in Asia and one - Haiti - is in the Americas.
According to conference organizers, the group accounts for nearly 13 percent of the global population, but just one percent of world trade. They noted, however, that some least—developed countries, known as LDCs, have enjoyed relatively high growth rates in recent years.“Investing in LDCs is not charity. It’s an opportunity for all,” Mr. Ban said. “Investing in LDCs can provide the stimulus that can help to propel and sustain global economic recovery.”
The last such conference was hosted by the European Union in Brussels in 2001, and Mr. Ban said it was vital to ensure the long—term monitoring of any promises of assistance from developed and emerging economies.“We have received a lot of very generous pledges in the past, but not all of them have been delivered,” he said. “Therefore accountability will be very important.”
Turkey is paying for up to 11 delegates from each of the 48 poor nations to travel to Istanbul for the conference, which has also attracted aid organizations, parliamentarians, academics and business executives.
Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal of Nepal was among speakers who said soaring food and fuel costs were hurting the world’s poorest people, and that the impact of climate change in the form of droughts and floods was placing additional pressure on them. He cited the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas as one example, and noted Bangladesh was also susceptible to natural disasters.
Conflict is also an obstacle to advancement. The group of poor nations includes Afghanistan, where a U.S—led coalition is fighting Taliban insurgents, and Yemen, where the government has cracked down on protests aimed at ousting the president.
Since the United Nations introduced the category of least—developed countries decades ago, only Botswana, Cape Verde and Maldives have developed enough to be removed from the list.
Qualification for the list includes a per—capita annual income of less than $905, and assessments of malnutrition, child mortality and education levels, as well as an “economic vulnerability” rating based on population size, remoteness and instability in exports and production. The category does not include large economies, and the populations of its members must be below 75 million.
Former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn said governance in poor countries was critical to the good use of funds aimed at reducing poverty, and that “civil society” groups were often full of goodwill but failed to coordinate their many initiatives.He said that during his 10 years at the helm of the World Bank, he usually anticipated that corruption would reduce the efficiency of the bank’s projects by between five and 30 percent. Graft, Mr. Wolfensohn said, was still a taboo topic.“It exists and it gnaws at the effectiveness of what we do,” he said in a speech to delegates in Istanbul. “It has not been mentioned this morning for reasons that I don’t understand.”
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