国产AV

His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
Mr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

I thank the Government of Uzbekistan for convening this timely and important International Forum on “Landlocked Developing Countries’ Food Security and the Sustainable Development Goals”.

I am delighted to be here and for this opportunity to build on the dialogue and cooperation initiated by the Samarkand Declaration on Food Security in 2023. I take this opportunity to congratulate Uzbekistan for the remarkable achievements made to ensure food security.

I further welcome this opportunity to deliver upon the call for action issued by the FAO High-Level Ministerial Event on “Transforming Agrifood Systems to Increase Resilience and Achieve the 2030 Agenda: Harnessing the potential of SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs” in June last year.

I thank FAO for keeping the priorities of the most vulnerable countries high on the agenda, as the UN’s High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS, it is a pleasure to work with DG Qu and his team. 

Allow me to express my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for the warm welcome and excellent hospitality extended to us in this beautiful and historic city of Tashkent. 

Our gathering in this city provides a unique perspective to reflect on the challenges of being landlocked.

Situated more than 1,700 kilometers from the nearest ocean, and surrounded entirely by other landlocked countries, Uzbekistan is one of only two “double landlocked” countries in the world. 

This has provided us an ideal setting to deliberate on the pressing challenges faced by the 590 million people living in the 32 LLDCs. 

Excellencies,

The LLDCs face disproportionate challenges, especially in the realm of food security.

In 2023, 102 million people in the LLDCs suffered from severe food insecurity. Another 190 million faced at least moderate food insecurity. 
This alarming situation has contributed to undernourishment among 111 million people in these countries – an increase by 15 million over the past five years.

Most LLDCs are situated in drylands, which cover 54% of their land, and are home to 60% of their population.

This includes parts of the 18 LLDCs located across the Sahel, the South American Gran Chaco, the Southern African drylands, and the extensive dryland belt of Eurasia, where we are today. 

These LLDCs face arid conditions, desertification, heatwaves, and droughts that are increasingly worsened by climate change.

With forest coverage at only 17 per cent, significantly below the world average of 31 per cent. further complicates efforts to combat desertification.

Other LLDCs, located in mountainous regions, are exposed to climate-related risks like melting glaciers, mudflows, avalanches, and flash floods, including catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods.

This includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, and Tajikistan.

Despite covering roughly 12 per cent of the world’s land surface, LLDCs have experienced more than 20 per cent of the total number of droughts and landslides over the last decade.

Their access to international markets is further hindered by complex transit routes, leading to higher transport costs, border delays and transit impediments, which in turn drive up prices for imported foods and agricultural inputs.

These vulnerabilities become critical during global crises, as we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic, when access to staple foods can be severely compromised.

This is particularly concerning for many LLDCs that rely heavily on food imports. In 15 LLDCs, imports account for more than a third of all available wheat, rice and maize supplies.

Excellencies,

The year 2024 is pivotal for the LLDCs. 

From 10-13 December, the third United Nations Conference on LLDCs will take place in Gaborone, Botswana. 
This once-in-a decade conference is dedicated to addressing the development challenges of LLDCs, offering an unparalleled opportunity to rally global support.

The new Programme of Action for the LLDCs, to be launched at LLDC3, will serve as a guiding framework for the UN system over the next decade.

Allow me to highlight some of the significant actions in the POA to support the agri-food systems and food security as critical enablers to achieve the SDGs.

First: the POA calls for the establishment of regional agriculture research hubs for LLDCs.

These hubs aim to harness cutting-edge solutions to enhance agricultural productivity, promote value addition, support capacity building, and improve agricultural practices. 

The administrative modalities for these hubs are to be considered by the Secretary-General and proposed to the next session of the UN General Assembly. We envisage FAO taking a leading role in this regard.

Second: the POA includes, for the first time, a dedicated priority area on climate change, resilience building and reducing vulnerability to climate change and disasters in LLDCs.

This includes support for the implementation of adaptation projects in LLDCs, development of climate-resilient infrastructure, multi-hazard early warning systems, and resilience-building measures.

More and better adaptation finance is also called for to respond to distinct disaster-related challenges.

My Office is supporting the Chair of the LLDC Group to establish the LLDCs as a negotiating group in the UNFCCC negotiating process to advance these goals and objectives.

I urge you all to support that process.

These actions are critical in drawing attention to, and addressing, the impacts of climate change on food security in LLDCs.

Third: international trade is one of the focus areas of the POA. 
It underlines the call of the LLDCs for a dedicated Work Programme on LLDCs under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.

This work programme would consider multilateral measures to address the special needs, challenges, and vulnerabilities of LLDCs in trade.

The POA also commits to supporting the six LLDCs that are in different stages of the process of acceding to the WTO.

Furthermore, the POA has placed renewed attention on the full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement for both LLDCs and transit countries. 

Over time, enhanced engagement of the LLDCs in the WTO and international trade is expected to contribute significantly to tackling many of the pressing issues related to agricultural trade, which is so crucial to ensuring food security in these countries.

Fourth: improving transport infrastructure is vital to address the estimated $510 billion transport infrastructure gap in LLDCs.
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To this end, the POA has identified a dedicated Investment Finance Facility as a concrete deliverable for the LLDCs’ infrastructure financing needs.

Robust transport infrastructure and enhanced connectivity play a crucial role in strengthening the resilience of food supply chains, reducing food waste, and ensuring market stability.

Fifth: the new POA has called on the UN Secretary General to establish a High-Level Panel on Freedom of Transit.

On average, LLDCs spend nearly two times more for the payment of transit, transport and insurance services than the average for developing countries, and three times more than the average of developed economies.

The High-Level Panel will examine the application of existing international laws and agreements on transit to identify constraints and opportunities to improve freedom of transit for LLDCs.

This can help reduce transit costs and improve the reliability of cross-border agricultural supply chains. 
Finally: the POA recognizes that gender gaps persist across all sectors, including agriculture.

Women make up a significant portion of the agricultural workforce, but often face limited access to productive resources, training and tools.

Raising women’s access to productive resources to the same level as men can increase farm yields by 20-30 percent.

We, therefore, need a gender-sensitive approach for inclusive agriculture development in LLDCs, ensuring equal access to resources such as land, credit, and technology for both men and women. This will require inclusive policies and targeted training and development programmes.  Addressing social and cultural barriers that restrict women’s equal participation is also crucial.

Excellencies,

Let me conclude by reiterating that the LLDC3 Conference in December gives us a once-in-a-decade opportunity to shape the sustainable development of the LLDCs.

I look forward to our discussions today, and your valuable inputs to the upcoming UN Conference on the LLDCs and the delivery of the new Programme of Action. 

The theme of the Conference is “Driving Progress through Partnerships”, and I count on your partnership and support to advance the LLDC agenda globally.  And I hope that you will ensure that by your participation at the Conference at the highest political level.

I thank you once again, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, for brining us together in the lead up to the LLDC3 Conference. Uzbekistan and this region have so much to share ad bring to the Conference on valuable experiences on food security and sustainable development for the benefit of all LLDCs and partners.

I look forward to welcoming you all in Gaborone, Botswana, in December.

I thank you.