The first ever LDC Future Forum took place from 5-7 October 2021, virtually and in-person from Helsinki, Finland.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed in a brutal fashion just how interconnected the world has become, and how no country will truly recover until every country has been supported through this crisis.
To tackle the unprecedented confluence of the COVID-19, climate, and economic crises, innovative thinking and new solutions based in research are desperately needed. With this in mind, the first ever LDC Future Forum was held online and in-person from 5-7 October 2021 in Helsinki, Finland.
The ideas and recommendations of the Forum fed into the Fifth United Nations Conference on LDCs (LDC5), which was due to take place in Doha, Qatar in January 2022 (but was subsequently postponed to March 5-9, 2023). It sought to provide evidence-based policy recommendations that can support LDCs in achieving the SDGs, build their ability to compete in the global economy, and eventually move towards convergence with other more developed economies.
The forum was organized by the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (), in collaboration with the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), with support from the Government of Finland.
The event brought together the academic community, policy-makers and practitioners. Various authors who were selected through a competitive process presented their research findings on issues affecting LDCs. in addition, several world-renowned academics as well as high level representatives from LDCs and their development partners also participated.
Presentations by the selected authors were organised along the following eight (8) broad thematic area:
- Poverty, hunger and agriculture
- Wellbeing (addressing health, education, inequalities, etc)
- Rethinking structural transformation
- Mega trends impacting sustainable development
- Building resilience and sustainability
- Increasing LDCs’ share in global trade
- Building peaceful, just and inclusive societies
- Mobilising resources for sustainable development
This document (pdf) is a selection of the best and boldest ideas to come out of the forum.
