缅北禁地

A message from the High-Representative

As we put together the final preparations for the LDC5 conference next January, which is growing more necessary and relevant by the day, the Least Developed Countries are on a precipice. Global responses to COVID-19 and the climate emergency show just how far we have to go to build the global solidarity they need. Incremental change is no longer enough.  

That’s why at UN-OHRLLS we are investing heavily in building new plans and new alliances to work for transformational change in the LDCs. At the first ever LDC Future Forum in Helsinki (and online) next week, we will bring together the best global minds in development to stimulate new ideas and approaches.

We have launched major campaigns for media and young people in LDCs that will empower civic action and solutions-driven journalism.

At the same time, in Doha we are planning forums with the private sector and civil society on important topics like south-south cooperation. We will celebrate the cultures and lives of the peoples of the LDCs and commit to transformative actions that will set the LDC agenda for the next ten years.  

Please enjoy this newsletter and visit our website to learn more about LDC5 preparations and the rest of our work. I encourage you to think about how you can get involved in LDC5, either in the preparation period or at Doha itself in January. 

We want to hear all ideas – the bigger and bolder the better. Get in touch!

E. Courtenay Rattray 

From October 5-7 in Helsinki, Finland – with full interactive online participation – we are convening the first ever LDC Future Forum! For three days we will bring together some of the brightest minds in development academia with policymakers and practitioners to formulate new solutions to the most pressing problems faced by the Least Developed Countries. Their ideas will have the potential to transform the global development agenda as we approach the last decade of the Sustainable Development Goals.   

Featuring thought leaders including Professors Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz and Richard Jolly, the Forum will introduce bold and innovative solutions to preparations for LDC5 in Doha in January 2022.  

Visit the meeting website, where you can read the papers under discussion, learn more about the authors and other speakers, and register to join us online.

LDC5 will create a new plan of action that will shape the present and future of the world. This will have deep implications in the lives of young people in LDCs, and it is young people's right to be able to shape their own future by voicing their issues, solutions and commitment.

This month UN-OHRLLS has launched #ForAllGenerations, a series of consultations among young people in LDCs to develop a Youth Declaration to influence the new Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries.

#ForAllGenerations invites young people to voice their concerns and share their ideas on how they can achieve their own potential. UN-OHRLLS encourages young people to tell us directly through an online survey and host group consultations with their peers.

Collaborating on #ForAllGenerations are the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organisations () and the Major Group for Children and Youth () to capture the vision and initiative of as many young people as possible in the world’s 46 Least Developed Countries.

LDC5 Journalism Fellowship

LDC5 will be one of the biggest gatherings of world leaders in 2022. It aims to set a new and ambitious development agenda for the world’s most vulnerable countries. It needs to deliver on that aim, given that decisions made here could transform the lives of a billion of the world’s most vulnerable people. 

As we get closer to Doha, we are joining forces with the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) to launch a fellowship for journalists from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). 

The programme will select and train a cohort of selected journalists throughout the LDCs and support them to travel to Doha to report on them for their audiences at home. One of the fellows will be selected for a full scholarship to the Reuters Institute fort the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. 

We are calling on journalists from all 46 LDCs to apply for the fellowship so that people living in these countries are aware of global decisions being made on their behalf, can connect multilateral processes to their own lives and can hold decision makers to account. 

LDC5 will be a place where bold ideas are shared, networks are built and actions are agreed to support the people of the Least Developed Countries. To foster collaboration and showcase partnerships in support of sustainable development in the Least Developed Countries, we will have a dedicated exhibition space.  

Spaces are open to all stakeholders from governments and civil society, to inter-governmental organisations. The exhibition space will inform, inspire and engage participants to make impactful action towards a prosperous future for the Least Developed Countries. 

For enquiries and to express interest please email Damien Sass from UN-OHRLLS on sass@un.org. 

缅北禁地Photo/Jean-Mark Ferre'

The Least Developed Countries, including those that are Small Island Developing States, are among the nations which have contributed the least to the climate crisis. However, they stand to suffer the worst consequences. The upcoming COP26 climate talks in Glasgow (United Kingdom) will be a key moment to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement. For LDCs to effectively implement the outcomes of LDC5, UN-OHRLLS will be at COP26 calling for urgent climate action that equitably addresses the needs of these nations. 

 

We will be at COP26 advocating for the world’s Least Developed Countries and their urgent need for climate action. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels (,  and ) to find out more!

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