5th UN Conference on LDC5: Highlights from High-Level Roundtable discussions at LDC5

This GPW Round Up - 5th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5): Highlights from High-Level Roundtable discussions at LDC5 - features a selection of perspectives from different groups of participants at the LDC5 Conference held in March 2023.

LDC5 was the first major high-level event of 2023, a crucial year of decision-making at UN headquarters. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said that "the 2030 Agenda will fail if we fail least developed countries”. The principle of Leaving No One Behind is being tested as the negative impacts of delayed progress on the implementation of SDGs are compounded in LDCs. The conference itself had to be held in two parts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a reminder of the external vulnerabilities every country faces, and especially damaging to LDCs. The Doha Programme of Action (DPoA) was adopted at UN headquarters in March 2022 and the main conference held in Doha, Qatar in March 2023.

According to the Secretary-General, some of whose conference remarks are included in the Round Up, the September 18-19 SDG Summit is the "centrepiece moment to demonstrate a global commitment for action”. Ground-breaking commitments made at the Summit will have multiple benefits including for the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action for LDCs.

This Round Up #5 features statements from Member States, UN agencies, and intergovernmental organizations, as well as from the CSOs. The selection is focused on the economic and sustainable develoment challenges in LDCs, with emphasis on the systemic hindrances and the difficult path to graduation from the LDC category.

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This Round Up has been prepared by GPF in collaboration with students from Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs at The New School.

Source: 5th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5). Highlights from High-Level Roundtable discussions at LDC5 Global Policy Watch (GPW).