Economic Reporter :
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam has put emphasis on international cooperation to achieve the LDCs goal of graduation within the stipulated timeframe of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“In addition to efforts by least developed countries (LDCs), international cooperation is a must so that the LDCs could be able to meet the target of graduation within the stipulated deadlines of the IPoA and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he said.
Shahriar expressed this view while participating in a special thematic event on “Building synergy and coherence in the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Thursday.
The state minister delivered the keynote address at the event that was chaired by President of UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft, according to a message received here on Friday.
Erik Solheim, chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD, and My Gyan Chandra Acharya, UN under-secretary general, attended the function, while Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, also joined the event as a panelist.
Shahriar flagged the leading role played by Bangladesh as the current Chair of the Group of 48 least developed countries.
Referring to the midterm review conference of the IPoA that will take place in Turkey in May 2016, the state minister called for combined efforts to help the LDCs overcome the structural weaknesses that they suffer from. Shahriar also made interventions during the panel discussions of the special thematic event, where he shared the LDC perspectives on the issues of building synergy and coherence in implementation of the IPoA and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The state minister also stressed the need for strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for timely implementation of these programmes.
Shahriar addressed a seminar organized by the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) on the role of local finance solutions in rural transformation.
