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DELIVERING RESULTS87Equally important is a strong enablingenvironment, national ownership, policycoherence and good governance in LDCs.Good governance at international level isalso essential to helping them derive duebenefit from globalisation.Successes and areas for focusSince Istanbul, there have been a numberof positive moves under various goals andtargets, but much more needs to be done.As a group, the LDCs experienced 5.6per cent growth in 2013 – up from the4.3 per cent recorded in 2012. While thispoints towards positive change, the growthrate is still far below the IPoA target of atleast seven per cent growth, and progresshas been highly skewed and unevenlydistributed.In LDCs as a whole, poverty levels havereduced from 65 per cent to 47 per centof the population. However, this rate ofprogress is limited compared to otherdeveloping countries. Looking ahead, thepopulation of LDCs is likely to nearlydouble to 1.67 billion between now and2050. With just 12 per cent of the world’speople today, they will account for almost40 per cent of global population growthduring the next 40 years. The need forimproved physical infrastructure, skilldevelopment, job creation and connectivitywill become even more pressing.LDCs have also made strides in areasincluding malaria, child and maternalmortality rates and gender parity inprimary education. Primary schoolenrolment rates across the LDCs increasedto 81 per cent in 2011/2012. However,they are not on track to achieve universalprimary education by 2015.A lack of adult literacy further hindersdevelopment of these countries with morethan 40 per cent of adults in LDCs unableto read and write. While their progressmust be seen in the context of the low basefrom which they started, they still have along way to go.Poor access to energy and water remainsa major impediment to further progress,exacerbating the vulnerability of thechronically poor and constraining theirproductive capacity. In LDCs, 79 per centof the population do not have access toelectricity, while 91 per cent have no accessto modern fuels. In 2011 only 65.1 per centof the population of LDCs were using safedrinking water.Furthermore, LDCs are disproportionatelyexposed to the impacts ofenvironmental degradation, climatechange and disasters, and remain the leastequipped to deal with them. They havea limited capacity for adaptation, andbuilding resilience for communities, whichrely on natural resources, is a key issuegoing forward.Growth on its own will not be enoughto meet such shortcomings. Economicopportunities must reach the mostvulnerable and marginalised groups. Anintegrated approach to poverty eradicationin the SDGs must address not onlyvarious aspects of deprivation, such asmalnutrition, lack of access to education,maternal health and water and sanitation,but also feature equity dimensions.We must ensure that theneeds and priorities ofthe LDCs are placed atthe core of the post-2015development agenda,simply because theyare at the bottom ofthe development ladderLDCs have tremendous humanresources and natural resources capital.Despite this, expansion of trade is currentlyslow and exports are dominated by primarycommodities, which accounted for 79 percent of LDCs’ exports of goods in 2012.The share of Aid for Trade going to LDCshas declined in recent years by two percent to 24 per cent. It is essential that weassist these countries with the necessarytools and technology, build capacity andensure resources to transform these assetsinto meaningful products. Similarly, theprotection of natural capital is a vital partof LDC planning for a sustainable future.LDCs have much to gain from conservingagricultural land, coastal areas, waterresources, forests and wetlands, as indeeddoes the planet as a whole.Post-2015 – a fast-track to graduationAs we embark on defining a reneweddevelopment agenda beyond 2015, wemust ensure that the needs and prioritiesof the LDCs are placed at the core of thepost-2015 development agenda, simplybecause they are at the bottom of thedevelopment ladder. LDCs and theirdevelopment partners – from the ‘North’and ‘South’ – should be encouragedto undertake a comprehensive level ofintervention to enable LDCs to meet thecriteria for graduation by 2020.The post-2015 development agendaneeds to support strong national leadershipand capacity building for sustainabledevelopment, while enhancing andconsolidating coherent and comprehensiveglobal partnerships in an integrated andholistic manner.These include strengthening North-South cooperation, South-Southcooperation and coherence among trade,investment and technology facilitation. Asthe agenda will be much wider and deeper,collaboration among all stakeholders, suchas civil society, private sector, communitiesand others, will be crucial.Transformative economic growth andpoverty alleviation must be an inseparablepart of the new development discourse.This should be further reinforced bybuilding resilience and the protection ofthe natural capital.In this age of immense progress andprosperity at the global level, we shouldnot resign ourselves to a situationwhere more than a billion peoplelive in abject poverty and hungerwith malnutrition, deprived of basicopportunities for gainful employmentand income-generating activities.Now is the time for the internationalcommunity to be ambitious. The IPoA canstrongly contribute to the articulation ofthe SDGs in order to achieve the futurethat LDCs deserve.GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS 2014