Remarks by the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly,  

Mr. Dennis Francis,  

at the Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of LLDCs

[As Delivered]  

21 September 2023  

 

Your Excellency, Dr. Lemogang Kwape, Foreign Minister of Botswana and Global Chair of the Group of LLDCs,

Your Excellency, Rabab Fatima, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative,

Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen.

 

At the outset, let me tender my profound apologies for not being able to join you at the very beginning due to other competing engagements; but I am so delighted that I made it before you concluded this important annual Ministerial Meeting.

I thank the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries for their kind invitation and commend Dr. Kwape for his able chairmanship of the Group.

 

I also recognize the proactive leadership of the Government of Rwanda for hosting the upcoming Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries Conference (LLDC3), in Kigali next year.

And I commend the ongoing spirited efforts of our Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for LDCs LLDCs and SIDS – a dear friend and colleague USG Rabab Fatima – for her invaluable work on this important agenda.

Excellencies,

Coming from a Small Island Developing State, I am acutely aware of the context-specific challenges facing countries in special situations, which, of course, include LLDCs.

The lack of territorial access to the sea restricts progress in trade, transportation, and infrastructure. As a result, LLDCs must pay more than twice what transit countries pay in transport costs, not to mention the longer time to send and receive merchandise and essential commodities. 

This has knock-on effects on social services, including healthcare and education, and has clear implications for jobs, livelihoods, and economic growth.

Added to this is the fact that LLDCs have been disproportionately affected by the 3Cs:  COVID-19, Conflict, and Climate Change, with a fourth – the Cost of food and fuel – stemming from each.

While COVID-19 did the larger damage, the reality is that even before the pandemic, many LLDCs were already off track on the SDGs.

The pandemic and subsequent crises have only pulled the curtain back on the inequities that existed and exacerbated their impact.

    • GDP growth has dropped.
    • inflation has been on the rise.
    • debt sustainability is at risk.
    • food insecurity has worsened.
    • and climate-induced hazards and disasters are becoming more frequent and more virulent in their intensity.

In this context, there is a pressing need for better support for LLDCs. Development cooperation, including South-South Cooperation and triangular cooperation, must be ramped up.

In the remaining time before Kigali, we must work harder to accelerate implementation of the objectives in the Vienna Programme of Action and to strengthen collaboration and coordination amongst all stakeholders.

We must enhance international support and Official Development Assistance to countries and communities which need it most. This includes unlocking and leveraging investment, and reforming the international financial architecture to allow for better access to resources.

While we accelerate the Vienna Programme of Action, we must simultaneously put in place plans for its successor.

In that regard, I welcome the election of the co-chairs of the Preparatory Committee for LLDC3 –Mongolia and Austria– as well as the Bureau.

And I commend discussions today that aim to help identify appropriate policy measures and concrete action-oriented recommendations. This will help ensure that the next programme of action is a truly transformative one.

I look forward to continuing this discussion at the half-day joint GA-ECOSOC thematic event this year, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 77/246, to provide substantive input to the Third United Nations Conference on Landlock Developing Countries, to be held in Kigali.

In the meantime, I will continue to advocate on behalf of countries in special situations throughout the 78th session – and as I recently also indicated – I intend to launch a High-Level Advisory Group on LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. 

Excellencies,

Let me end by reassuring you that I have committed to prioritizing countries in special situations during my Presidency.

My Office stands ready to support you in your endeavors, as we are committed to supporting LLDCs in their effort to secure peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all of their citizens.

As I said at this week’s SDG Summit, as well as at the General Debate, we have no excuses, nor are we absolved of responsibility on fully achieving the SDGs by the set timeframe of 2030.

We owe it to the peoples of the world to deliver on these game-changing, LIFE changing goals.

The LLDCs agenda is a game-accelerator in that regard and will remain a priority of my Presidency.

I will ensure that the issues and priorities of LLDCs are duly integrated into the development-related agenda of the Assembly.

I thank you.