CSOs urge the govt to implemnt strategy to graduate from LDC

Lalitpur, Aug. 21: Civil society organisations (CSOs) Monday urged the government to implement the national strategy and constitutional values to graduate Nepal to the status of 'developing nation' from its current status of ‘Least Developed Country’ (LDC).

In a national consultation programme on Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category, organised by the LDC Watch and Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN), representatives of the CSOs  urged the government to implement the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“All the stakeholders need to work to reduce corruption, and establish political stability and good governance if we are to graduate to the status of the developing country by 2022,” they said in a joint communiqué.

The government has planned to graduate the country from the LDC club by 2022 and make it a middle income nation by 2030.

International Coordinator of the LDC Watch Gauri Pradhan said that to graduate to the developing nations'  status, Nepal should achieve remarkable progress in the economic and social development sectors.

Joint-Secretary at the National Planning Commission Lal Shankar Ghimire said that of the three thresholds set to graduate to the status of developing nation Nepal was unlikely to meet the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita target of 1,242 USD.

Nepal is one of the 47 LDCs with per capita GNI 862 USD.

However, it’s likely to meet Human Assets Index (HAI) and Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI).

Vice-president of the Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal stressed the need for employing private investment and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to meet the financing gap required for the successful implementation of the IPoA and SDGs.

Similarly, president of NGO Federation of Nepal Gopal Lamsal said that there was a need for good governance and increased policy space for CSOs at provincial and local levels of government in the implementation of the SDGs and IPoA.

The consultation came up with a declaration which called on the line ministries to mainstream the SDGs and IPoA into the planning mechanisms at the new local and provincial level under the federal setup.