– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly

26 September 2018

Annual Ministerial Meeting of Least Developed Countries

Your Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Fabiano, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Malawi and Chairperson of LDCs,

Your Excellency, Mr. Md. Shahriar Alam, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates, Panelists and Guests,

 

Thank you for the invitation to speak this morning.

I would like to congratulate Your Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Fabiano, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Malawi, on assuming the leadership of LDCs and to commend Your Excellency, Mr. Md. Shahriar Alam, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, for your successful tenure.

I commend Bangladesh for its leadership for the agreement to establish the Technology Bank for LDCs. This initiative is sure to support efforts by LDCs to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Colleagues, in the interest of time, I will keep my remarks brief and focus on three key points: the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action; synergies with the Sustainable Development Goals; and, finally, my vision for the 73rd Session.

On the first point, progress in the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (2011-2020) has not been as extensive as anticipated.  Only two countries – Equatorial Guinea and Samoa – have ‘graduated’ from LDC status, despite the high hopes at the adoption of the IPOA.

The decade is still two years out and implementation is very much still underway. Faster progress within the time left means we must do everything in our power to mobilize the required political will and international cooperation and support. The General Assembly offers a forum for advancing the interests of LDCs and I look forward to working you all to achieve the ambitious targets of the Programme of Action.

Friends, the evidence shows that the Programme of Action has helped to fuel development gains across the spectrum. So while it is true that the rate of graduation is not what we envisaged 8 years ago in Istanbul, there is progress nonetheless and reasons to be optimistic: several countries are nearing graduation status, while the recently launched technology bank will help track progress towards development goals.

We look forward to working with you to promote capacity building and knowledge sharing; as well as access to skills, resources and new and emerging technologies. The upcoming BAPA+40 Summit in Buenos Aires will be an important opportunity for expediting this through South-South cooperation.

Similarly, and this brings me to my second point, both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Nationally Determined Contributions – or climate targets – of the Paris Agreement offer countries an opportunity to fast track progress.

For LDCs, aligning development plans against the priorities of funding mechanisms specifically designed to support SDGs and/or climate action is a win-win.

The General Assembly should continue advocating and working in partnership with the international financial institutions and other partners to ensure predictable, adequate, and sustainable financing.

Friends, my priorities for the 73rd session of the General Assembly aimed at ‘Making the UN Relevant for All People’ provide an opportunity to advance the LDC agenda and leave no one behind.  A United Nations that works for all people cannot tolerate having 51% of the population in LDCs (954 million) living on less than $1.25 per day.

I look forward to working with you to achieve the goals and targets for which we strive.

Thank you very much.