Bangladesh urges UN Development System to provide more financial and technical support to the least developed countries

UsaNewsOnline.Com, New York : “The existing level of contributions for operational activities of the UN is far from adequate to support the developing countries in their development efforts. Prioritized allocation must be made to the LDCs to support them in implementing the SDGs,” said Mr. Muhammad Abdul Mannan, MP, State Minister for Planning and Finance of Bangladesh at the UN Headquarters in New York 2 March. Expressing his concern at the decline of the development related support to LDCs from 53 per cent in 2014 to 47 per cent in 2015, the State Minister emphasized on more core resources for the UN Development system so that it could support the LDCs in eradication of poverty and hunger, access to public health, education and other social services, combating climate change and building productive capacity. The State Minister added that the UN system needs to support LDCs in data, statistics, knowledge platforms and support for the national implementation of the Goals through monitoring and reporting. The State Minister was speaking as a Panelist at the “Integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda: the role of the UNDS in LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and countries emerging from conflict” in ECOSOC Segment on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR). Tanzania, Maldives, Paraguay also participated as panelists in this session while the interactive segment drew questions from many countries including the development partners. Citing Bangladesh’s commitment to implement its national development agenda ‘Vision 2021’ and its success in implementing the MDGs, the State Minister informed the global community that Bangladesh has integrated SDGs into its national development plans and would continue to move ahead in attaining the SDGs. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN is organizing this meeting to discuss the implementation of the QCPR resolution adopted last year by the UN General Assembly to give guidance to the UN Development System so that it can effectively support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The QCPR Resolution has requested the UN Development system to address the special challenges facing the LDCs. The State Minister of Bangladesh urged the UN to integrate the specific priorities of the LDCs into the respective strategic plans, operational activities and programmes of the UNDS.