DOHA (TOP) – Three years after the world began its epic struggle against COVID-19, world leaders are gathering in Doha, Qatar, to deliver on a historic new compact to support the countries whose vulnerabilities it most exposed.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the 46 countries in the UN’s Least Developed Country (LDC) category have suffered through inadequate pandemic-fighting resources and spiraling debt, sending their development progress backwards.
“Least Developed Countries are being stranded amidst a rising tide of crisis, debt, climate chaos and deep global injustice,” said United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres.
The Fifth Conference on the Least Developed Countries is an opportunity for the world to step up. Countries with the least need support the most.”
At the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha from March 5-9, Heads of State and Government are gathering to ensure the LDCs’ needs are placed back at the top of the global agenda.
Leaders will agree on plans to deliver the Doha Programme of Action, a ten-year commitment for renewed and strengthened partnerships between the Least Developed Countries and developed nations, as well as the private sector and civil society.
For six days — from 4 to 9 March — there will be a slew of bold announcements, new partnerships and concrete commitments to deliver on the promise of the DPoA. Together with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, world leaders will usher in a new period of solidarity for the most vulnerable member states.
LDC populations have experienced a sharp decline in living standards and increasing inequality, while their current account balances have come under additional pressure from rising external debt payments and soaring international energy and food prices.
Many of the Least Developed Countries are already in or at risk of debt distress. Left unchecked, economic distress and vaccine inequity will make recoveries longer and more painful than necessary.
“The problems that keep us awake at night – be it climate change, COVID-19, or the spiraling prices of food and basic commodities – all of these problems are felt more keenly in the Least Developed Countries,” said Rabab Fatima, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.
“The LDCs are hit hardest by these shocks and are the least equipped to cope. At LDC5 the world is gathering to build a new model of partnership to help move the LDCs from countries with potential to countries that enjoy true prosperity for all.”
Doha Programme of Action
The Doha Programme of Action identifies five key deliverables that will assist the Least Developed Countries in removing a number of structural impediments to inclusive growth and sustainable development. They aim to close pervasive gaps in education, food security, investment for sustainable development and resilience to climate change. They also aim to support the LDCs to graduate out of the category to more fully integrate into the global economy.
The five deliverables are:
- ONLINE UNIVERSITY: To increase the provision of high-quality education, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and the diverse range of digital skills that LDCs need to cope with the demands of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The Online University can allow people in the LDCs to access educational opportunities that may not be available to them otherwise.
- SUSTAINABLE GRADUATION SUPPORT FACILITY (IGRAD): To ensure a smooth transition from the LDC category by assisting graduating countries to prepare for graduation and post-graduation sustainable development.
- FOOD STOCKHOLDING MECHANISM: To enhance LDCs’ capacity to address food security by providing a buffer against food shortages and price volatility, thereby helping to increase food security in LDCs.
- INVESTMENT SUPPORT CENTRE: To increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows towards LDCs, improving financing for sustainable development and bolstering the transformative potential of the private sector.
- RESILIENCE BUILDING MECHANISM: To increase LDCs’ resilience to climate change through adaptation, early warning system improvement, and multi-stakeholder resilience-building measures. Such measures will support the ability of individuals, communities, and systems to withstand and recover from adverse shocks; build long-term resilience; and safeguard hard-won development gains.
LDC5 represents a crucial litmus test for the progress promised in the Sustainable Development Goals – and the international community’s resolve to support the countries furthest behind in those commitments.
The LDCs are: Afghanistan; Angola; Bangladesh; Benin; Bhutan; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Central African Republic; Chad; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gambia; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Haiti; Kiribati; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mozambique; Myanmar; Nepal; Niger; Rwanda; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tuvalu; Uganda; United Republic of Tanzania; Yemen and Zambia. Vanuatu was the latest country to graduate from the category in late 2020.
