WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/31
7 August 2001
(01-3910)
Committee on Trade and Development
THIRD UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON THE
LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 14-20 MAY 2001
The following text reproduces the Political Declaration adopted at the Third UN Conference
on the Least Developed Countries which took place in Brussels from 14-20 May 2001 has been
received from the European Commission as Conference host with the request that it be circulated.
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DECLARATION
We, the Governments  participating in the Third United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries,
Gathered  here in Brussels in May 2001, the first year of the new millennium, to free our
fellow women, men and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty,
Determined  to make progress towards the global goals of poverty eradication, peace and
development for the least developed countries and their people,
Guided by the principles set out in the Millennium Declaration and its recognition that we
have a collective responsibility to uphold these principles of human dignity, equality and equity and to
ensure that globalisation becomes a positive force for all the world’s people, we commit to working
for the beneficial integration of the least developed countries into the global economy, resisting their
marginalisation, determined to achieve accelerated sustained economic growth and sustainabledevelopment and eradicate poverty, inequality and deprivation,
Recognising  that the goals set out at the Second United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries have not been reached and that  LDCs as a whole remain marginalised in the
world economy and continue to suffer from extr eme poverty, LDC progress has been undermined by
lack of sufficient human, productive and institutional capacity, indebtedness, low levels of domestic
and foreign investments, declining trends in ODA flows, severe structural handicaps, falling or
volatile commodity prices, HIV/AIDS and for some of them violent conflicts or post-conflict
situations,
Having  adopted a Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the
decade 2001-2010,
Declare  that:WT/COMTD/31
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1. We are committed  to the eradication of poverty and the improvement of the quality of lives
of people in LDCs by strengthening their abilities to build a better future for themselves and develop
their countries.
2. We believe  that this can only be achieved through equitable and sustained economic growth
and sustainable development based on nationally owned and people-centred poverty reductionstrategies. Good governance at the national and international level; the rule of law; respect for all
internationally recognised human rights, including the right to development; promotion of democracy;
security through preventive diplomacy and the peaceful resolution of armed conflicts; gender
equality; investment in health, education and social infrastructure; strengthening of productive
capacities and institution building are all essential in order to realise the vast and untapped human and
economic potential in LDCs.
3. We recognise  that the primary responsibility for development in LDCs rests with LDCs
themselves. But their efforts need to be given concrete and substantial international support from
Governments and international organisations in a spirit of shared responsibility through genuine
partnerships, including with the civil society and private sector.
4. We are particularly concerned  by the acute threat of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and emphasise
the need for the strongest possible measures to combat this and other communicable diseases,particularly tuberculosis and malaria.
5. We also emphasise  that improving the welfare of people is an indispensable requirement for
sustainable development. We have to strive to fully achieve the goals and objectives set out in the Rio
Declaration in particular, as regards combating desertification, preservation of biological diversity,
supply of safe drinking water and climate change in accordance with common but differentiatedresponsibilities.
6. We believe  that increased trade is essential for the growth and development of LDCs. A
transparent, non-discriminatory and rules-based multi lateral trading system is essential for LDCs to
reap the potential benefits of globalisation. The accession of LDCs to the WTO should be encouraged
and facilitated. We commit  ourselves to seizing the opportunity of the fourth WTO Ministerial
meeting in Doha in November 2001, to advance the development dimension of trade, in particular for
the development of LDCs. We aim at improving preferential market access for LDCs by working
towards the objective of duty-free and quota-free market access for all LDCs´ products in the markets
of developed countries. Measures will also be taken to address problems caused by supply-side
constraints. The crucial importance of trade and economic growth must be reflected in poverty
reduction strategies.
7. We recognise  that the most important financing of development comes from domestic
resources, and that foreign direct investment is  also an important source of capital, know-how,
employment and trade opportunities for LDCs. In this regard we emphasise the need for an enabling
environment for savings and investment, which includes strong and reliable financial, legal and
administrative institutions, sound macro-economic policies and the transparent and effective
management of public resources in order to help mobilise both domestic and foreign financialresources. We commit ourselves to seizing the opportunity of the Conference on Financing for
Development in March 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico for the mobilisation of resources for development,
in particular for the LDCs.
8. We affirm, also in this context, that official development assistance (ODA) has a critical role
to play in support of LDC development. We take upon ourselves not to spare any effort to reverse thedeclining trends of ODA and to meet expeditously the targets of 0.15 per cent or 0.20 per cent of GDPWT/COMTD/31
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as ODA to LDCs as agreed. We undertake to improv e aid effectiveness and to implement the OECD-
DAC recommendation on untying ODA to LDCs.
9. We are concerned  with the external debt overhang that affects most LDCs and remains a
main obstacle to their development. We affirm th e commitment to provide the full financing and the
speedy and effective implementation of the enhanced HIPC Initiative, which is essential for freeingdomestic budgetary resources for poverty reduction. We undertake to make expeditious progress
towards full cancellation of outstanding official bilateral debt within the context of the enhanced
HIPC Initiative. We also undertake to provide debt relief to post conflict countries within the
flexibility provided under the HIPC framework. The debt sustainability of LDCs, including non-HIPC
LDCs, will continue to be subject to review, and consideration may be given to granting a moratorium
on debt service payments in exceptional cases.
10. We stress  the critical importance of an effective follow-up to the Conference at the national,
regional and global level, and we commit ourselves to this end. We also ask the Secretary General of
the United Nations to ensure that the Conference be followed up in an efficient and highly visible
manner.
We reaffirm  our commitment to the development of the 49 LDCs and to the improvement of
the lives of the more than 600 million women, men and children living in those countries. Ourcommon efforts will be an important contribution to achieving the international development goals
and realising the universal aspirations for peace, co-operation and development.
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