Press reports on Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya’s appointment to UN body on LDCs
On recommendation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in its recent session has appointed Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), to the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP). Dr Bhattacharya, in his personal capacity, will serve as one of the 24 CDP members for a three-year term (2019-2021).
Dr Bhattacharya is a globally recognised expert on LDC issues. He was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to WTO and UN office in Geneva and Vienna and the Coordinator of the LDC Group in UN system in Geneva. As an eminent economist, Dr Bhattacharya played leadership role in many high-level negotiations at the WTO. He has also been the Special Advisor on LDCs to the Secretary-General, UNCTAD and played an important role in organising the fourth UN Conference on LDC in 2011. Currently, he heads two international think tank networks namely LDC IV Monitor and Southern Voice on SDGs. He was also the President of the UNCTAD governing board. Dr Bhattacharya’s forthcoming edited book from Routledge (London) is titled Bangladesh’s Graduation from the Least Developed Countries Group: Pitfalls and Promises.
Earlier members to the CDP from Bangladesh were eminent economists Professor Nurul Islam, Professor Rehman Sobhan and Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud.
Established in 1965, the CDP is an independent body under the UN which advises on development cooperation policies in support of least developed countries (LDCs). Every three years, the CDP reviews the list of LDCs for inclusion in and graduation from the group. The current work programme of the CDP also includes rethinking of the criteria defining the LDCs and suggesting support measures for the graduating LDCs. The CDP will be also following Bangladesh’s progress in the context of its scheduled graduation in 2024.