Welcome to the United Nations
This session will address the challenges and opportunities faced by least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), middle-income countries (MICs), African countries, and countries in conflict and post-conflict situations in aligning their existing national priorities and plans to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
As stated in the 2030 Agenda, “Each country faces specific challenges in its pursuit of sustainable development. The most vulnerable countries and, in particular, African countries, LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS deserve special attention, as do countries in situations of conflict and post-conflict countries. There are also serious challenges within many middle-income countries.”
The success of efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda will be measured against the progress of countries in special situations. The theme of leaving no one behind effectively focuses the initial strategies and efforts of the international community to address the needs of the most vulnerable populations within these countries.
The discussion will examine how LDCs and LLDCs are working to build synergy and coherence between the 2030 Agenda and existing agreements, including the Istanbul Programme of Action for LDCs (IPoA) and the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs (VPoA).
The outcome of the recent Mid-term Review of the IPoA reported that “progress towards the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals was slowest in the least developed countries in conflict and post-conflict situations; those countries require context-specific approaches, including targeted national policies and international support.”
The unfinished business of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will also be addressed. In the 2030 Agenda, as Member States recommitted to “the full realization of all the MDGs, including the off-track MDGs, in particular by providing focussed and scaled-up assistance to least developed countries and other countries in special situations, in line with relevant support programmes.”
Possible questions for discussion:
- How can context-specific approaches, targeted national policies and international support be pursued to ensure that countries in special situations are not left behind? What efforts are needed to build national capacities and foster domestic resource mobilization?
- What are the key challenges to building capacity for effective data collection and analysis for monitoring and follow-up of the SDGs, which is a critical need for countries in special situations? How can these challenges be overcome?
- Countries in special situations are highly vulnerable to both internal and external shocks; how can we ensure resilience against various kinds of shocks and crises?
Chair:
- H.E. Mr. Hector Alejandro Palma Cerna, Deputy-Permanent Representative of Honduras to the UN and Vice President of ECOSOC
Moderator:
- Mr. David Steven, Senior Fellow and Associate Director at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University, USA
Roundtable members:
- Mr. Youba Sokona, Special advisor on sustainable development of the South Centre LDC Independent Expert Group, IPCC, South Centre
- Mr. Jean-Marc Châtaigner, Deputy Executive Director of the French Research Institute for Development (IRD)
- Ms. Marina Djernaes, Director of the EcoPeace Center of Environmental Peacebuilding, EcoPeace Middle East
- Mr. Claudio Huepe Minoletti, Professor and Coordinator of the Energy and Sustainable Development Centre, Universidad Diego Portales
- Mr. Stephen Chacha Tumbo, Founder of the Africa Philanthropic Foundation and member of Africa CSOs Working Group
