|
|
In 1981, ten years after the establishment of the "Least Developed Country" status, the United Nations held the first United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (Paris, 1-14 September 1981). This conference adopted the "Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries", which contained guidelines for relevant action by the LDCs and for further support to these countries by the international community. In 1990, in response to the increasing performance gap between the LDCs and the rest of the world economy, the United Nations decided to convene the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (Paris, 3-14 September 1990), which reviewed the socio-economic situation of the LDCs over the 1980s decade, and attempted to enhance the international support brought to these countries. Taking note of the increasing marginalization of the LDCs during the 1990s decade in the context of the accelerating globalization of the international economy, the United Nations decided that a Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (Brussels, 14-20 May 2001) should review the results of three decades of Least Developed Country status, revive the international community's willingness to prevent the marginalization of the LDCs, and enable them to play a fair role in the world economy. The Third Conference is expected to bring about a new range of benefits for the LDCs as a result of the vast sensitization which UNCTAD, as the organizer of the Conference, has orchestrated amidst the international community. The benefits relevant to the Least Developed Countries status demonstrate special efforts by the international community in favour of the LDCs. The effective impact of these advantages must be appreciated in comparison with the benefits that the recipient countries would receive if they were ordinary developing countries. The LDC-specific benefits pertain to the following three areas:
|
