缅北禁地

Her Excellency Dr. Gladys Mokhawa, Chairperson of the LLDCs 
Excellencies, 
Distinguished Delegates,

I would like to extend a warm welcome and congratulations to Her Excellency Dr. Gladys Mokhawa on her appointment as the Permanent Representative of Botswana and Chairperson of the Group of LLDCs. 

I commend the delegation of Botswana for its leadership to put the LLDCs’ priorities to the forefront of the 缅北禁地agenda, especially now when we are preparing for the 3rd 缅北禁地Conference of the LLDCs to be held in Kigali, next year. I also appreciate the invaluable contributions of the other members of the Bureau to the promotion of the priorities of the Group. 

Today, I would like to update you on the organizational and substantive preparations for the LLDC3. I will try to be brief as I made a detailed presentation at the Organizational session of the PrepCom earlier this week. 

As you are aware, the 缅北禁地General Assembly in its resolution 76/217 designated my Office as the 缅北禁地system-wide focal point for the preparatory process of the LLDC3.  

This will be the first time that the 缅北禁地Conference on LLDCs will be held in Africa, home to half of the LLDCs. 

I thank the Government of Rwanda for offering to host the Conference. We must seize this opportunity to make this Conference a great success.

The Assembly also mandated that the Conference should be preceded by national and regional-level reviews, as well as thematic preparations. 
 
Accordingly, my Office, in collaboration with different stakeholders, has embarked on an extensive preparatory process at the national, regional, and global levels.  

I am pleased to inform you that that we already had three very successful regional review meetings. 

The Africa Regional review meeting was held in May 2023 in Gaborone, Botswana, where we adopted the Gaborone Outcome Document.  

The Latin America Regional Review meeting was held in Asuncion, Paraguay in July 2023, which adopted the Asuncion Call for Action. 

The Euro-Asia regional review meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand in August 2023, adopting the Euro-Asia Call for Action. 

The three outcome documents from the regional review meetings contain important recommendations; they reflect the challenges and priorities of the LLDCs and will serve as important inputs for the zero draft of the outcome document. 

All three meetings had very good participation not only from the LLDCs, but also transit countries and development partners, as well as regional and international organizations and 缅北禁地entities. 

Earlier this week, we successfully held the organizational session of the Preparatory Committee which elected the Co-Chairs and the Vice-Chairs of the Preparatory Committee Bureau and decided on some organizational issues of the PrepCom and the LLDC3.
 
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate H.E. Mr. Enkhbold Vorshilov, Permanent Representative of Mongolia for his election as a Co-Chair of the PrepCom. 

I also congratulate Bolivia, Burundi, Paraguay, and Zimbabwe for their election as the Vice-Chairs of the PrepCom. Botswana and Rwanda were also elected as ex-officio Vice-Chairs. 

I am confident that with their experience, expertise, and dedication, they will lead the PrepCom to a successful outcome. 

The LLDC ministerial meeting this year is especially significant as this will be the last meeting before the LLDC3. I understand the ministerial declaration is under consideration. 

However, the draft rightfully makes a strong call for strengthened partnerships between LLDCs, transit countries, and their development partners to address persistent challenges and to achieve the 2030 Agenda and SDGs. I look forward to seeing all your Ministers at the upcoming Ministerial meeting to be held on 21 September. 

Excellencies,

Let me now update you on thematic preparations, under which several events have already been held.  

The Ministerial Transportation Conference of LLDCs was held in August 2022 in Turkmenistan, adopting the Awaza Statement. I thank the Government of Turkmenistan for its generous support here.
 
In June, the World Export Development Forum (WEDF) hosted a daylong session dedicated to LLDC issues organized by the International Trade Center (ITC), the Government of Mongolia, and other partners. A meeting of the LLDC National Focal Points was also convened on the margins of the WEDF. 

We seized opportunities presented by the 2023 HLPF, the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework, and the Water Conference to host side events on important themes related to LLDCs priorities. We also plan to hold a side event on trade and digitization during the SDG Weekend on 17th September on the sideline of the high-level week of the upcoming 78th UNGA. 

My Office, in close collaboration with the Chair of the Group of LLDCs, is planning to organize focused side events during COP-28 in Dubai in December, the annual meeting of the WB Group and IMF in October, and the WTO MC13 in Abu Dhabi in February next year. 

In addition, I thank the Government of Armenia for offering to host a Ministerial-level Meeting focusing on connectivity in November 2023.

We also plan to convene a retreat for the Ambassadors of LLDCs later this year or in January. 

I have held a first round of consultations with the RCs based in LLDCs, and we will have a further meeting with them in the coming days.

Excellencies, 

My Office is engaging with 缅北禁地System entities on LLDC3 through the dedicated Interagency Consultative Group for LLDCs. The members of the IACG have been advised to provide inputs including in the form of thematic reports to serve as important background for the zero draft of the outcome document.  

We have also outlined detailed plans to engage the private sector, CSOs, and youth in the Conference and its preparatory process. We stand ready to facilitate meetings with them and the Co-Chairs.  

The GA in resolution 77/246 requested the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council to organize a half-day thematic event in the second half of 2023 to provide substantive input to the Conference. OHRLLS will work closely with the Offices of the PGA and the PECOSOC to organize this event.

Most importantly, we need to make the best use of the two sessions of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom), to be held from 5-8 February 2024, and 29 April to 1 May 2024 in New York, to negotiate and agree on the outcome document of the Conference.  

Earlier this week, the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of the VPOA was released, reflecting on its ten-year implementation.   

The report notes mixed progress in the six priority areas of the VPOA: the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and climate change made the situation worse for LLDCs. 

My Office is also in the process of finalizing a global report titled “An assessment of the cost of being landlocked and progress on the priority areas of the Vienna Programme of Action.” We are also preparing reports of the three regional review meetings as well as thematic reports on priority areas for LLDCs. 

These will all be important inputs for the outcome document. 

Excellencies,

The LLDC3 is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to bring about transformative changes to the lives of the 570 million people in the 32 LLDCs.  

We must seize this moment to demonstrate our solidarity and reaffirm our commitment to the LLDCs to help them not only recover from the effects of global crises but achieve the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. 

I share your views that the new POA should be ambitious and match the hopes and aspirations of the LLDCs with concrete targets, commitments, and deliverables, leaving no one behind. 

We need to start our work early; the Ambassadorial retreat will be a good opportunity to brainstorm and crystalize further the key deliverables that could be adopted at the LLDC3.  

It will be critical the POA is equipped with necessary means of implementation and a solid review and monitoring mechanism to translate the targets, commitments, and deliverables into action. 

I look forward to the LLDC3 Conference being a consultative, multistakeholder process that will harness the true power of global solidarity. 

I assure you, Madame Chair, Amb. Gatete, and all other partners to make the LLDC3 Conference a great success and a truly transformative one. 

In closing, allow me to make an early call to you all to ensure the highest level of participation from all LLDCs in LLDC3 in Kigali. I would echo my brother Amb. Gatete that Kigali is ready and keenly waiting to receive us in June 2024. 

I thank you.