Istanbul to host UN meeting on least-develoed nations

The United Nations could accept a new 10-year action plan for the world's least-developed countries at a conference next year in Istanbul, a senior UN representative said Wednesday. Cheick Sidi Diarra, the UN high representative for least-developed countries (LDCs), told a press conference that the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs would be a milestone event. The conference will assess the implementation of the Brussels Program of Actions for LDCs for 2001-2010 and come to an agreement on a new generation of international support measures for LDCs. In order to properly support the conference, the UN secretary-general has appointed a commission to recommend international support measures to accelerate development in LDCs. Diarra said the commission would present a report to the secretary-general early next year on proposed solutions to the problems of the world's 49 least-developed countries.