Secretary-General's Reports on Development Progress in Least Developed and Landlocked Developing Countries
On 8 October, the Second Committee took up Item 23: Groups of countries in special situations:
- Follow-up to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries and;
- Follow-up to the second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries.
USG 'Utoikamanu introduced the Secretary-General's reports on both these items in her statement.
Istanbul Programme of Action
On the Istanbul Programme of Action, notable progress has been made on access to electricity, ICT, and safe water and sanitation, as well as several key indicators on poverty, health and gender equality. However, the IPoA ambitions of achieving structural transformation and building productive capacity, and of combating poverty through high rates of economic growth and decent jobs powered by export growth, have not been realized. The impact of COVID-19 has also had a severe impact on LDCs, the extent of which has yet to be assessed. Meanwhile, the preparatory process for LDC5, which had been on standby due to the pandemic, is being relaunched with renewed momentum, on the road to new dates for LDC5 in January 2022, in Qatar. The report is available .
Vienna Programme of Action
On the Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA), until the end of 2019, landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) had exhibited mixed progress towards their socioeconomic development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Progress has been realized on some indicators including poverty and selected health and gender equality indicators. Food insecurity and employment exhibited a declining trend. Progress achieved in the implementation of VPoA priorities still falls short of achieving the targets set. LLDCs still fall below the world averages on trade, ICT, energy, transport infrastructure development and structural economic transformation. ODA and FDI flows to LLDCs continue to decline. The emergence and spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has an unprecedented impact on LLDCs and the implementation of the priority areas of the VPoA. The relevant UN system entities and other international and regional organizations developed a Roadmap for the Accelerated Implementation of the VPoA in the remaining five years. The Roadmap provides a detailed mapping of concrete activities and deliverables. The report is available .
Photo: Customers practising social-distancing outside a shop in Kampala, Uganda. The coronavirus pandemic threatens to reverse development progress around the world.
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