Fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries

Pursuant to the General Assembly resolution 76/251, the first part of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC) was held today at United Nations Headquarter in New York. The second part will take place in Doha from 5 to 9 March 2023.

The conference unanimously adopted the decennial Doha Programme of Action (DPoA-A/CONF.219/2022/3) for LDCs from 2022 to 2031.

Addressing the conference, Ambassador Amrit Bahadur Rai stated that the adoption of the DPoA brings a ray of hope for the LDCs who are furthest behind in the tier of socio-economic development, and it is a demonstration of our collective commitments for sustainable development of the LDCs. To translate these collective commitments into results, we must gear up our collective efforts for its effective implementation, he stressed.

As a guiding document of the development trajectory of LDCs for the next decade, DPoA provides a clear pathway for both the LDCs and development partners to achieve accelerated economic development in LDCs in the true spirit of leaving no one behind, he said. We must remember that the LDCs are the battleground on which the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be won or lost, he added.

The DPoA includes Six key focus areas:

1) Investing in people in least developed countries; eradicating poverty and building capacity to leave no one behind,

2) Leveraging the power of science, technology and innovation to fight against multidimensional vulnerabilities and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,

3) Supporting structural transformation as a driver of prosperity,

4) Enhancing international trade of least developed countries and regional integration,

5) Addressing climate change, environmental degradation, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and building resilience against future shocks for risk-informed sustainable development, and

6) Mobilizing international solidarity, reinvigorated global partnerships and innovative tools: a march towards sustainable graduation.

Since the formation of the group of Least Developed Countries in 1971, only six countries have graduated from the LDC category. Currently, there are another 16 countries out of 46 LDCs at different stages of meeting graduation criteria. The DPoA aims to enable an additional 15 least developed countries to meet the criteria for graduation by 2031. Nepal has already entered the graduation process with a five-year preparatory period aiming for graduation from the LDC category by 2026.