Armed conflicts, political unrests, pandemics, and environmental degradation have impeded efforts by the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) to reach the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Thongloun Sisovlith told the United Nations General Assembly today.

Ahead of Monday’s presidential swearing-in, the Afghan Foreign Minister today outlined his country’s achievements in the past year as Afghanistan is on the eve of a “transformative decade” with the transfer of security responsibilities from an international coalition force to the Afghan community by the end of this year.

In his address to the General Assembly today, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh of Viet Nam called on the United Nations and its Member States to lay a firm and long-term foundation for peace, security and development, adding that only peace and development together could put the international community on the path towards a prosperous world.

Sustainable development must go “hand in hand” with democracy, human rights, and peace and security, Deputy Prime Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn of Thailand told the United Nations General Assembly today while adding that ensuring human security should be at the heart of each nation’s sustainable development programme.