Bangladesh and Canada elected Co-Chairs of LDC5 Preparatory Committee

The Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh and Canada to the United Nations have been elected as Co-Chairs of the LDC5 Preparatory Committee bureau, a key board that will lead preparations for the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5). 

LDC5, in setting the development agenda for LDCs until 2030, will be the most high-profile and comprehensive development conferences of the decade. 

Ambassadors Rabab Fatima and Bob Rae oversaw the session that also heard statements from Member States and observers about their ambitions and expectations from the LDC5 Conference.  

Ambitions expressed reflect the significant range of challenges facing the 46 Least Developed Countries. It was noted repeatedly that COVID-19, climate change and conflict reflect serious structural impediments to economic development.   

COVID-19 especially has been catastrophic for LDCs’ economies, collapsing commodity prices, disrupting manufacturing and virtually killing international tourism. The result has been a sharp reduction in GDP growth. Together with widening deficits,  escalating debt, and a drop in Foreign Direct Investment and remittances, the effects of COVID-19 will jeopardize LDCs’ progress towards sustainable development for years to come.  

With more than a billion people and a burgeoning youth population, it was also highlighted that LDCs can be the frontier market for global production and consumption.  

Speakers called for immediate increased global support to overcome the impacts of COVID-19 and to build back societies that are better, smarter and more resilient. It was agreed that LDC5 represents an extraordinary opportunity to agree on a new global deal for LDCs; a deal to achieve the SDGs and while leaving no one behind.  

The full list of statements made at the session can be found here. 

Supporting the Co-Chairs, the following countries were elected as Vice-Chairs of the bureau: Ethiopia and Uganda from the African States; Nepal from the Asia-Pacific States; Czech Republic from the Eastern European States; Haiti and Paraguay from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Turkey from the Western European and other States.   

Qatar, as host of LDC5 and Malawi, as Chair of the Group of LDCs, will also sit on the bureau. 

The next meeting on the LDC5 calendar will be the Africa Regional Review, which also covers Haiti, from 22 to 26 February 2021.  

OHRLLS is organising the meeting with the Government of the Republic of Malawi and the Economic Commission for Africa, in collaboration with various other UN agencies.