Mr. President,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of a cross-regional group of countries. The full list of which will be posted on the extranet.

The second part of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) will take place in Doha, Qatar from 5 to 9 March 2023.

This conference will provide a once-in-a-decade opportunity to discuss and build effective plans and partnerships that would help the LDCs to overcome their challenges, meet their needs and priorities, and support their efforts towards realizing the right to development and achieving sustainable development goals during the next decade.

As the first conference to be organized following the Covid-19 pandemic, which has rolled back years of hard-won gains, and that greatly affected development efforts all over the world, especially in the least developed countries, the LDC5 conference will offer a unique platform to help the LDCs discuss their economic and development strategies that have encountered extraordinary challenges and difficulties because of this pandemic.

In this regard, we believe that the Doha Program of Action (DPOA), for the decade (2022-2031), is an ambitious, forward-looking and comprehensive document, the implementation of which would lay down a well-defined action agenda for LDCs and their development partners and will accelerate their effort to deliver the sustainable development goals by 2030.

The first pillar of the Doha Program of Action focuses on investing in people in least-developed countries, eradicating poverty and building the capacity to reach the furthest behind first. It provides concrete proposals to build universal health systems, to realize the right to education, health, water and sanitation, adequate housing, civil and political rights, the empowerment of women and girls, the young people, and the right to peace. All pillars of the action provide a path for the realization for the right to development in LDCs.

The LDCs need financial and technical support, both through multilateral and bilateral development cooperation in the spirit of just and true partnerships that would contribute to the structural transformation, and enable long-lasting achievement in sustainable development.

In fact, the pledge to “Leave no one behind” made by UN member States at the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development means that implementation of the SDGs should take into account the specific needs of vulnerable countries, including least developed countries, so that they can build sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economic development.

We look forward to the success of the LDC5 and we call on States and international organizations including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to consistently support the implementation of the Doha Program of Action in partnership with the LDCs so that this new Decade will culminate in the achievement of development Goals and the graduation of more LDCs by 2031.

Thank you Mr. President.