Senior Bangladeshi diplomat named UN envoy for poorest nations

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has appointed a new special envoy to act as a focal point in UN efforts to support the world’s poorest countries, a UN spokesman announced today.

Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, who until recently served as Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was named the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, the spokesman said.

The UN currently designates 49 nations as so-called LDCs, or Least Developed Countries, which account for 610.5 million people - equivalent to 10.5 per cent of world population. These States receive special attention from UN programmes dealing with development.