UNGA Preview

There is a widening gap between what is needed for the most vulnerable countries to achieve their development goals, and the available resources.

The Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States are in crisis – and while they are the drivers of their own development, they cannot do it alone.

During the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly, it is the mission of UN-OHRLLS to ensure that the needs and solutions of the most vulnerable countries are at the forefront of the global conversation.

For the Least Developed Countries, we will be mobilising all parts of the United Nations and wider international community to deliver the Doha Programme of Action – a transformative vision of hope for those left furthest behind.

The Doha Programme of Action offers hope for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and gives hope for a more prosperous future for millions of people. It contains strong commitments – already adopted by all – to get the LDCs back on track to achieve their development goals. We know that LDCs need that hope – and a plan – as they face up to worsening crises of climate, spiralling food prices and increasing debt.

And as we beat the drum for the LDC5 conference in March, we will also be advocating for the active participation of leaders of all types: heads of state and government, parliamentarians, youth, the private sector and civil society and more.

We also have a role to support the Small Island Developing States - in amplifying their voices, fighting for more resources and bringing the world’s attention to their needs.

UN-OHRLLS will continue to proudly partner with AOSIS to advance the work of SIDS to build resilience and champion solutions to existential issues like climate change and debt – which for SIDS especially are deeply intertwined.

At the highest levels we will continue to champion SIDS’ call for a new way to measure vulnerability so that they can better access international financing and respond to disasters. This Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, alongside the climate fight, represent some of the most technically and politically challenging issues that SIDS have faced. At high-level week, UN-OHRLLS will work with SIDS to create and advance solutions, as well as to help bridge gaps and build the political consensus needed for real progress.

The Landlocked Developing Countries, too, have their challenges. With a firm eye on the next UN conference on LLDCs in 2024, at high-level week we will present an overview of the progress made in the Vienna Programme of Action, agreed in 2014, and push for a final effort in that programme’s final two years.

Achieving these objectives is a huge challenge: LLDCs are experiencing the slow growth and have regressed in some areas. The current adverse global economic conditions are further constraining their ability to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It won’t be done through business as normal and we will need innovative ideas alongside the collective efforts and will of all stakeholders - LLDCs, their transit country neighbours, their development partners, the UN system and the private sector.

In support of the most vulnerable member states of the United Nations, UN-OHRLLS is organising three major conferences in the next two years: the Fifth UN Conference on the Least DevelopedCountries in March, 2023; the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries; and the Fourth UN Conference on Small Island Developing States, both in 2024.

These meetings offers us all an important opportunity to build back better, to learn from a decade of stunted progress, and to make sure the next decade is one of delivery for the most vulnerable countries in the world.

It is clear that they cannot do it alone. That is why at high-level week, we will build resolve, goodwill and new partnerships to help forge a new path to prosperity for all.