Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States - Structural Economic Transformation

The Road to the 5th �山��Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5)

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 17:21:00 +0000

Wednesday, 21 October 2020 - 9:00am to Friday, 23 October 2020 - 10:30pm

As preparations get underway for the 5th �山��Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), OHRLLS is co-organising a high-level event to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on development in the LDCs.

The event was co-organised with the OECD Development Centre and the Foundation for studies and Research on International Development (FERDI). The summary of the event can be found here.

Aimed at tackling vulnerabilities and leveraging scarce resources to help LDCs in their recovery from COVID-19, the event was split into two sessions on October 21 and 23.

Speakers included:

Ángel GURRÍA, Secretary-General, Organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD)
Right Honorable Patricia SCOTLAND, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth
Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘UTOIKAMANU, �山��High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States
Ambassador Perks LIGOYA, Permanent Representative of Malawi to the �山��in NY and Chair of the LDC group

The agenda is here.

First session: 21 October 2020, 09:00 – 10:30 (EST)

What does COVID-19 mean for LDC’s vulnerabilities and support measures?

The COVID-19 crisis is rolling back years of development progress. It urges us to rethink the economic vulnerability of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and of developing countries more generally. Vulnerability, one of the main criteria for including countries into the LDC list, has been measured by the economic and environmental vulnerability index (EVI), which captures the country’ structural vulnerability to economic and environmental shocks. However, growing concerns on exposure to international shocks, and the compounding of several risks, make it necessary to rethink how we measure vulnerabilities and how we help the LDCs address them. The first panel will take stock of this debate to inform the preparations of the Fifth �山��Conference on the LDCs (LDC5), to be held in Doha, Qatar in January 2022.

To register for this session click here.

Second session: 23 October 2020, 09:00 – 10:30 (EST)

Financing the recovery in LDCs: what role for international co-operation?

In his latest report on the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA), which came out at the very outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the �山��Secretary-General had already stressed the uneven progress of LDCs, and the need to better support them beyond graduation point. Declining foreign direct investment, persistently low shares in world exports, slow gains in structural transformation and productive capacity, continued dependence on commodities and a worsening of undernourishment in the LDCs were all matters of concern on the eve of the major 2020 global economic crisis. This second panel will discuss options for improving the mobilisation of global finance, its alignment with, and its impact on the recovery and sustainable development of LDCs.

To register for this session click here.

NEWS

Tackling Vulnerability on the Road to LDC5

The event was co-organised by UNOHRLLS, FERDI and OECD Development Centre will take place in the framework of the LDC IV Monitor, a consortium which also includes the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD, Bangladesh), in collaboration with the Southern Voice network of think tanks, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) and the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER).

tags:

Least Developed Countries

OECD Development Centre

FERDI

Istanbul Programme of Action

Vulnerability

Economic Aftershocks

Structural Economic Transformation

Categories:

Events

LDCs

Landlocked Ministers at General Assembly Call for Enhanced Support to Respond to COVID-19

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 19:02:00 +0000

zimbabwe_kb_mpofu_ilo.jpg

A Zimbabwean detergent manufacturing company has started making hand sanitising gel to protect against COVID-19.

KB Mpofu / ILO

NEW YORK 24 September 2020 – Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) met virtually on the margins of the �山��General Assembly on September 23 and expressed concern about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their countries.

Meeting under the theme, “Partnering for accelerated implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action and achieving sustainable development in LLDCs in the era of COVID-19,” they also pointed out major challenges yet to be addressed in their development progress.

The Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA) is an ambitious plan agreed in 2014 to help LLDCs increase connectivity, expand trade and structural transformation, and enhance competitiveness in pursuit of development goals. However, during a review at the end of 2019, it was found that LLDCs are off track to achieve the programme’s goals by the ten-year deadline in 2024.

Ministers also stressed that the implementation of the VPoA needs to be anchored in efforts to combat COVID-19 and called on all concerned parties to support them through the pandemic and beyond. Their key allies in this response include their neighbours, on whom access to sea ports is dependent; the private sector; and the international system itself.

�山��Secretary General, Mr. António Guterres spoke at the meeting and reminded ministers to

“keep our focus on stopping the pandemic. The availability of future vaccines to all developing countries, including the Landlocked Developing Countries, is fundamental to any sustainable global recovery.”

At the meeting, ministers adopted a Declaration that addresses the structural challenges hampering development progress in LLDCs.

The Declaration calls for more investment in transport and energy infrastructure and digital connectivity, amongst other priority areas. It also requests further support to accelerate the implementation of the VPoA.

To renew efforts to meet the 2024 target, minister adopted an ambitious new plan, called the Roadmap for Accelerated Implementation of the VPoA, which identifies seven thematic priority action areas of critical importance to the sustainable development of the LLDCs. These are (1) Transit, trade and transport facilitation; (2) Energy and ITC; (3) Structural economic transformation; (4) Cooperation between LLDCs and transit countries; (5) Means of implementation and international support; (6) COVID-19; and (7) International Coordination.

H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Global Chair of the Group of LLDCs, said of the Roadmap, that

“it will help to join efforts of the �山��agencies and international organizations, transit countries, development partners, private sector and other interested stakeholders. We need to … ensure better practical results on the ground in the remaining five years.”

Ministers, senior government officials and experts from LLDCs, transit developing countries and development partners as well as heads of United Nations system and international organizations attended the meeting. President of the 75th Session of the �山��General Assembly, H.E. Volkan Bozkir was also in attendance.

Finally, ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations on its seventy-fifth anniversary and agreed their commitment to international cooperation and multilateralism.

United Nations High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, said

“Strengthening regional cooperation between LLDCs and transit countries, in particular on transit and transport along important corridors and promoting public and private partnerships is now more critical than ever.”

She concluded, “We all must come together and strengthen multilateral capacity to provide dedicated support to what is the most vulnerable group of countries and people.”

For further information on this meeting, please go here

Front Page Article:

Review of Progress Made in Structural Economic Transformation in Euro-Asian LLDCs (2019)

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 14:42:00 +0000

kazakhstan_photo_kubat_sydykov_world_bank.jpg

The picture of concrete production plant

Kubat Sydykov / World Bank

This paper reviews progress made by LLDCs in Asia and Europe in structural economic transformation (Priority 5 of the Vienna Program of Action - VPoA). It covers 10 Asian (Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Lao PDR, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and 4 European (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Republic of Moldova) LLDCs.

The development progress and challenges of the LLDCs are summarized and supported by publicly available data in terms of economic growth, trade and overall economic transition to market economy. The discussion covers sectoral production and employment shares and the deepening of manufacturing. In addition, related indicators of economic dynamism and competitiveness are presented. Furthermore, highlights on structural transformations in selected countries are provided. Based on available individual country reports, highlights on domestic policies for structural transformation are presented. More importantly, the report proposes an overall policy framework for structural transformation.

Full Report