Two years after the world began its epic struggle against COVID-19, the General Assembly met on 1 April to endorse a historic new compact to support the countries whose vulnerabilities it most exposed.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the 46 countries in the Least Developed Country (LDC) category have suffered through vaccine inequity, inadequate pandemic-fighting resources, and spiraling debt.
The new agreement, known as the Doha Programme of Action, aims to ensure that the most vulnerable states are firmly placed back at the top of the international agenda.
Agnes Mary Chimbiri-Molande, Permanent Representative of Malawi to the United Nations and Chair of the LDC Group, said the Doha Programme of Action was “the beginning of a decade to bring a transformative change in the lives of 1.1 billion people of the world”.
“It gives us hope that the most marginalized segment of the global community is not forgotten,” she said. “The international community has pledged in an unequivocal term to eliminate the sufferings of the poorest of the poor.”
Named after the host city of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031 (DPoA) commits the world to a new generation of renewed and strengthened commitments between the least developed countries and their development partners, as well as the private sector and civil society – and the entire UN system.
The conference met in New York on 17 March to adopt the DPoA and it will continue next March in Doha.
The split format ensures a safe, in-person gathering, while recognizing that the least developed countries cannot wait another year for the international support measures contained within the DPoA.
Part 2 will be a five-day conference of announcements, dialogues and commitments to deliver on the promise of the DPoA. Together with the Secretary-General, Heads of State and Government will gather to assess progress and agree new plans and actions.
Doha represents a litmus test for the progress promised. New initiatives to accelerate sustainable development will be announced.
The Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, the organising office of LDC5, has already started work on projects identified in the Programme of Action.
