ZCZC
BSS-47
BANGLADESH-UN-LDC
Bangladesh-Canada leads a transformative agenda for LDC Conference
DHAKA, May 25, 2021 (BSS) – Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh
and Canada to the UN jointly convened the first session of the
Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting of the Fifth United Nations
Conference (LDC-5) on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the UN
Headquarters in New York today.
Ambassador Rabab Fatima, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to
the UN, and Ambassador Bob Rae, Permanent Representative of Canada to
the UN, jointly represented the respective countries in the meeting.
They were elected as the co-chairs of the PrepCom at its
organizational session in February 2021, said a press release of
Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN here.
The LDC-5 conference will be held in DOHA, Qatar in January 2022.
The LDC-V conference is envisaged to be one of the biggest UN
conferences in 2022.
The next programme of Action for the LDCs is expected to come up
with a new global compact to address both the immediate and structural
issues of the LDCs.
As a Co-Chair, Bangladesh will also have the opportunity to move
forward some of its key priorities including sustainable graduation
and international support measures for graduation. Notably, UN
recommended Bangladesh to graduate from the LDC category in February,
2021.
The President of the Republic of Malawi Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera
joined the meeting virtually as a keynote speaker in his capacity as
the global Chair of the LDCs.
As the host of the LDC-5 conference, State Minister for Foreign
Affairs of Qatar Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi also delivered a keynote
speech.
Among others, President of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir,
President of the ECOSOC Munir Akram, UN Deputy Secretary-General Ms.
Amina J. Mohammed OECD Development Assistance Committee Chair Ms.
Susanna Moorehead, and USG, OHRLLS Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa Utoikamanu,
spoke at the meeting.
The General Debate was addresses by a large number of Member States
including important development partners, who highlighted serious
consequences facing LDCs due to the pandemic and expressed solidarity
and partnership towards an ambitious 10-year Programme of Action for
the LDCs.
Highlighting multidimensional challenges posed by the COVID-19
pandemic to the LDCs, Ambassador Fatima identified access to COVID-19
vaccines as the top priority for the LDCs.
She said: “If this issue is not addressed immediately, LDCs will
face serious humanitarian and economic misery for years to come.”
She stressed the need for an incentives-based graduation package
for the graduating and graduated countries from LDCs as they are at a
high risk of sliding back-both by the COVID-19 impact and the loss of
LDC specific support measures.
Among other things, she also underscored the multidimensional
challenges and vulnerabilities faced by the LDCs in the areas of
poverty and inequality, trade, climate change, external debt,
migration and remittances.
This meeting sets in motion the substantive work for the LDC5
Conference to be held in Doha, Qatar in January 2022.
It will continue through the week. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr.
A. K. Abdul Momen and Information and Communication Technology Affairs
Adviser to the Prime Minister Sajeeb Wazed Joy are expected to
participate in different thematic sessions of the meeting later this
week.
BSS/PR/MKD/MRU/2013hrs