LDC Portal - International Support Measures for Least Developed Countries - COVID-19

UN: No more excuses; Guterres calls for ‘revolution of support’ to aid world’s least developed countries

MTAVARES1 — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:00:00 +0000

5 March 2023. "Three years after the world began its epic struggle against COVID-19, the least developed countries (LDCs) – already grappling with severe structural impediments to sustainable development and highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks – have found themselves stranded amid a rising tide of crisis, uncertainty, climate chaos and deep global injustice.

“Systems are stretched or non-existent – from health and education to social protection, infrastructure, and job creation. And it is only getting worse,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, known as LDC5, taking place in the Qatar capital from 5 to 9 March.

He said that the global financial system, created by wealthy countries to serve their own interests, is extremely unfair to LDCs, who must pay interest rates that can be eight times higher than those in developed countries. “Today, 25 developing economies are spending over 20 per cent of government revenues solely on servicing debt,” said the UN chief.

In the face of such deep challenges, the UN chief stated that the LDCs “need a revolution of support” across three key areas." Read more here: No more excuses; Guterres calls for ‘revolution of support’ to aid world’s least developed countries | UN News

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LDCs in an "Accord for a Healthier World"

MTAVARES1 — Thu, 26 May 2022 13:00:00 +0000

26 May 2022. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has launched an initiative called "An Accord for a Healthier World" whereby it has committed to provide its patent-protected medicines and vaccines available in the United States or European Union on a not-for-profit basis to 45 countries of the world's poorest countries and work with local officials to ensure regulatory, infrastructure, capacity and other aspects are addressed to ensure these products to reach those most in need . Thirty-eight of the 46 LDCs are considered in the accord, along with seven other countries that are not LDCs. Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal and Uganda are the first five countries to commit to join the Accord.

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From the WTO: DG Okonjo-Iweala calls on LDCs to focus on most pressing priorities for MC12

MTAVARES1 — Mon, 16 May 2022 13:00:00 +0000

wto_fifth_south_south.jpg

WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala calls on LDCs to focus on most pressing priorities for MC 12

WTO

Photo: WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala calls on LDCs to focus on most pressing priorities for MC 12. 16 May 2022: "Delivering the opening address at the “South-South Dialogue on Least-developed Countries (LDCs) and Development” on 16 May in Geneva, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stressed the need to deliver tangible outcomes for LDCs at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) to be held on 12-15 June. “Trade is part of the solution to the challenges that LDCs confront,” she said." See the WTO news article here.

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From the WTO: WTO members look at how trade can help LDCs recover from COVID-19

MTAVARES1 — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 14:00:00 +0000

"WTO members noted the sharp decline in least-developed countries’ (LDCs) participation in world trade since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at a meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs on 16 February. The chair, Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi (Finland), underlined the need for the international community to work together to promote trade opportunities in LDCs." More at WTO | 2022 News items - WTO members look at how trade can help LDCs recover from COVID-19

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Structural Transformation in LDCs in times of COVID-19 at WTO Public Forum

MTAVARES1 — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Thursday, 30 September 2021 - 9:30am

More information: WTO Public Forum working session - Structural transformation in the time of COVID-19 | UNCTAD

tags:

Structural transformation

WTO

COVID-19

Trade

ESCAP: Special Body of LDCs, LLDCs and Pacific Island Developing States

MTAVARES1 — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Wednesday, 28 April 2021 - 9:00am

28 April 2021. In the context of UNESCAP's 77th Commission Session, this meeting will "bring forth policy messages that are specific to LDCs, of which 5 are also small island developing States (SIDS) and 4 are landlocked developing countries (LLDCs). The Commission is invited to deliberate on the policy priorities highlighted in Document ESCAP/77/4, Summary of the Asia-Pacific Countries with Special Needs Development Report 2021: Strengthening the Resilience of LDCs in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and provide further guidance to the secretariat as to which of these should be explored further, with a view to implementing them at the country-level. This would facilitate the secretariat in giving shape to its forthcoming analytical work, and more importantly, in planning and formulating technical assistance and capacity building projects for LDCs." More information here.

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Asia-Pacific

UN-ESCAP

COVID-19

WTO members discuss downturn in LDC trade, role of trade in eradicating poverty

MTAVARES1 — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

21 April 2021. From the WTO: "An analysis of least-developed countries’ (LDCs) trade flows in 2020, presented to WTO members at a meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs on 19 April, revealed that the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade was worse for LDCs than for the world as a whole. In addition, delegations discussed preparations for the Fifth 51�Թ� Conference on LDCs as well as the latest research on LDCs carried out by the 51�Թ� Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)." More information here.

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Side-event at financing for development forum: How can development finance address the vulnerability challenge in LDCs and other vulnerable countries? Improving allocation and supporting structural transformation

MTAVARES1 — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Monday, 12 April 2021 - 9:00am

"The COVID-19 crisis urges us to rethink the economic vulnerability of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and developing countries more generally. The crisis is putting to a test international support measures and in particular their capacity to adequately respond to countries’ needs. LDCs exhibit significant vulnerabilities that can be overlooked by the current mechanisms of financing for development. At the same time, those vulnerabilities contribute to the slow gains in structural transformation and productive capacity. On the road to LDC5, this event will make proposals to bring forward new financing policies that would better address vulnerabilities of LDCs and other vulnerable developing countries by channeling increased assistance to the most vulnerable countries and stimulating their economic activity both for better recovery and sustainable development." More information and registration here.

tags:

Structural transformation

Africa Regional Review ahead of LDC5

MTAVARES1 — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Monday, 22 February 2021 - 9:00am to Friday, 26 February 2021 - 6:00pm

22-26 February 2021. The Africa Regional Review meeting is expected to review the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) in the region, as 33 out of 46 LDCs are located in Africa. They face multiple challenges in achieving the goals and targets of the IPoA, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as Agenda 2063. Their structural constraints are compounded by new and emerging challenges, including those posed by ongoing conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19 and their devastating impacts.

More information here.

tags:

LDC5

Africa

COVID-19

Istanbul Programme of Action - IPoA

Webinar: Asia Pacific LDCs’ graduation, trade and pandemic

MTAVARES1 — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Wednesday, 27 January 2021 - 9:00am

The graduation of the LDCs is expected to mark a significant achievement in their development path. However, despite new prospects, LDC graduation also present some challenges in meeting the demands of a successful transition to the next stages of socio-economic development. Upon the graduation, LDCs will lose a number of support measures after specific transition periods. These support measures include market access privileges, various special and differential treatment provisions with respect to trade, concessions and priority access to development financing, and other modes of developmental support. Therefore, to address loss of access to support measures, graduating LDCs require strategies for sustainable development during and after the graduation process.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its pervasive socio-economic impacts may have detrimental effects on graduation planning and preparations, with LDCs with inherently weaker coping capacities projected to have disproportionately larger impacts. The destruction and uncertainty caused by the current crisis, the full extent of which is yet to be understood, is likely to worsen pre-existing LDC vulnerabilities and slow down their recovery. In the graduation processes and timelines, this unprecedented situation needs due consideration, allowing sufficient flexibility and additional transitional support as needed by graduating LDCs to resolve the challenges faced by the pandemic.

Against this backdrop, this session focuses on Asia-Pacific LDCs’ graduation and trade in the times of pandemic. The structure of the session is as follows:

Opening remarks: Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ʻUtoikamanu, Under-Secretary-General and the 51�Թ� High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (recorder-message).
Keynote address: Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh and a Member of the Committee of the Development Policy, 51�Թ�
Remarks: Mr. Taufiqur Rahman, Head, LDC Unit, Development Division, WTO (on Trade impacts of COVID-19 and evolving discussion in WTO)

Roundtable

Panellists:

H.E. Ms. Mere Falemaka, Ambassador, Permanent Delegation of the Pacific Island Forum to the World Trade Organization and the 51�Թ� in Geneva

Dr. Paras Kharel, Research Director, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)

Dr. Selim Raihan, Executive Director, South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM)

Ms. Christine Bowers, Head of Project at GIZ, Cambodia

Ms. Su Thet Hninn, Assistant Director, Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar

Moderator: Dr Mia Mikic, Director, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, ARTNeT Coordinator, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

More information at Webinar: Asia-Pacific LDCs’ graduation, trade and pandemic | ESCAP (unescap.org) or watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-n5pPZi1ZdY

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