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  4. Ensuring That No One Is Left Behind: Challenges of Countries In Special Situations

Ensuring that No One is Left Behind: Challenges of countries in special situations

In 2011, Member States adopted the Istanbul Program of Action on Least Developed Countries (LDCs). 2014 saw the adoption of the SAMOA Pathway for the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the Vienna Program of Action for Landlocked Developing States (LLDCs). In many ways these three outcome documents anticipated the vision and priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both in terms of the policy areas addressed and the underlying principle of the 2030 Agenda: leave no one behind.

Building on the two expert level sessions from week one, this Ministerial level session will offer perspectives on the challenges facing countries in special situations and will focus on concrete solutions and the means of implementing them.

This session will explore the synergies among these outcome documents and the 2030 Agenda, and will focus on the means of implementation. It will shine a spotlight on the concerns and challenges of these three categories of countries in special situations, as well as those middle income countries (MICs) and countries in conflict and post-conflict situations. Climate change, debt sustainability, economic growth and sustainable livelihoods, access to markets, and sustainable transport—these issues and others are all challenges for the world at large, but LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS, MICs, and conflict and post-conflict countries, with their structural vulnerabilities, feel these challenges especially acutely.

The progress of all these countries is crucial in its own right and also because it can serve as a bellwether for the overall success of the SDGs Because of this, though, they can also be drivers and incubators for innovative solutions to development problems, and they have much to teach the rest of the world.

Possible questions for discussion:

  1. What actions are countries in special situations taking to address their vulnerabilities and advance implementation of the 2030 Agenda in concert with the programs of action specific to their country groups?
  2. How can the international community complement these actions with meaningful support and partnership? What are the gaps and challenges in this regard? Are there any new entry points for partnership and support created in the 2030 Agenda?
  3. What are some “quick win” or “early harvest” areas for countries in special situations, areas where these countries themselves and their development partners can focus attention and resources in the next three to five years?

Chair:

  • H.E. Mr. Oh Joon, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN and President of ECOSOC

Keynote speaker:

  • Ms. Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman, Journalist, politician, and human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 2011

Moderator:

  • Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS

Speakers:

  • H.E. Mr. Alvaro Garcia, Member of the Presidential cabinet and Director of the Office of Planning and Budget of the Presidency, Uruguay
  • Ms. Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Chair of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG)
  • Dame Meg Taylor, Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

Lead discussants:

  • H.E. Mr. Ricardo Cardona, Minister of Social Development of Honduras
  • H.E. Ms. Karina Gould, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development of Canada
  • Ms. Shamshad Akhtar, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP