Windhoek
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and her delegation on Monday returned from an official visit to Antalya, Turkey, the office of the PM said in a statement yesterday.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and her delegation attended a three-day meeting, co-organised by the Government of Turkey and the UN, which reviewed progress made by the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs) since the adoption in 2011 of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA).
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila headed the Namibian delegation to the conference, accompanied by senior government officials.
The meeting, hosted in the coastal city of Antalya, brought together various participants including high-level UN officials and representatives from government, international and regional organisations, civil society and the private sector.
The High Level Mid Term Review Conference aimed at, among others, undertaking a comprehensive review of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action by least developed countries and their development partners. As well as to share best practices and lessons learned, identify obstacles and constraints encountered and actions and initiatives needed to overcome them, together with new challenges and emerging issues.
The meeting also focused on reaffirming the global commitment to address the special needs of least developed countries made at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.
Furthermore, the conference was also aimed at strengthening the global partnership for development for least developed countries in all priority areas of the Istanbul Programme of Action in order to ensure the timely, effective and full implementation of the programme of action during the remainder of the decade, while taking into account the post-2015 development agenda, the Addis Ababa Plan of Action, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
According to the statement, the conference noted the progress made by the LDCs in implementing the IPoA, despite the significant challenges and constraints posed by the slowdown of the global economy.
It was noted that most of the LDCs have increased domestic resources mobilization and use for sustainable development.
“The meeting welcomed the fact that many of the LDCs are meeting the criteria for graduation and many expressed their aspirations to graduate,” stated the media statement issued by her office.
Furthermore, the meeting’s emphasis was placed on the need for the international community and development partners to continue providing assistance to low and upper middle income countries to attain their developmental goals in the context of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, especially with regard to cross-border projects.
According to the statement, Namibia continues to provide necessary support to LDCs, particularly the landlocked LDCs in SADC, within the context of the Regional Indicative Development Strategic Plan through infrastructural development, availing dry ports, as well as access to sea routes.
Additionally, Namibia called upon the international community and development partners to continue supporting LDCs through official development assistance to complement domestic resources and national policies and programmes in addressing socio-economic challenges.
“To this end, the need to provide capacity building, technology transfer, infrastructural development, trade and investment was recognised as vital for the achievement of the development goals of LDCs and developing countries,” reads the statement.
Furthermore, Namibia recognises that the majority of people living in poverty are in developing countries and urged the international community to support developing countries to ensure the effective implementation of Agenda 2030 where no citizen of the world feels left out.