Towards UN LDC5: Recovery from COVID-19

LDC visual

Tackling vulnerabilities and leveraging scarce resources

On the road to the Fifth United Nations Conference
on the Least Developed Countries (UN LDC5)

21 & 23 October 2020, 15:00 - 16:30 (CET)

Download the Agenda

First session: 21 October 2020, 15:00 – 16:30 (CET)

What does COVID-19 mean for LDC’s vulnerabilities and support measures?

The COVID-19 crisis is rolling back years of development progress. It urges us to rethink the economic vulnerability of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and of developing countries more generally. Vulnerability, one of the main criteria for including countries into the LDC list, has been measured by the economic and environmental vulnerability index (EVI), which captures the country’ structural vulnerability to economic and environmental shocks. However, growing concerns on exposure to international shocks, and the compounding of several risks, make it necessary to rethink how we measure vulnerabilities and how we help the LDCs address them. The first panel took stock of this debate to inform the preparations of the Fifth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC5), to be held in Doha, Qatar in January 2022. Click here for more information

Download the background note: The vulnerability of LDCs facing Covid-19

*15:00 – 15:15*	Welcome and expected outcomes Manuel ESCUDERO, Permanent Representative of Spain to the OECD (Chair of the 2020 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting), Chair of the Governing Board of the OECD Development Centre Keynote remarks Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘UTOIKAMANU, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States
*15:15 – 15:30*	Setting the scene: Measuring and addressing vulnerabilities Patrick GUILLAUMONT, President, FERDI
*15:30 – 16:15*	Panel discussion: What priorities for the LDC5 to tackle vulnerabilities? Myriam DOSSOU-D'ALMEIDA, Minister of Grassroots Development, Youth and Youth Employment, Togo Perks LIGOYA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations, Chair of LDC Group Susanna MOOREHEAD, Chair, Development Assistance Committee John LICHT, Ambassador of Vanuatu to the EU and France Nabila MUSLEH, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Women Affairs, Afghanistan Kunal SEN, Director, UNU-WIDER Moderator: Mario PEZZINI, Director, OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary General on Development
*16:15 – 16:25*	Q&A - Possible interventions from other partners Ali SABUNCU, Head of Economic and Social Development Research, Presidency of Strategy and Budget, Presidency of The Republic of Turkey
*16:25 – 16:30*	Closing remarks Patricia SCOTLAND, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth

Second session: 23 October, 2020, 15:00 – 16:30 (CET)

Financing the recovery in LDCs: what role for international co-operation?

In his latest report on the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA), which came out at the very outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Secretary-General had already stressed the uneven progress of LDCs, and the need to better support them beyond graduation point. Declining foreign direct investment, persistently low shares in world exports, slow gains in structural transformation and productive capacity, continued dependence on commodities and a worsening of undernourishment in the LDCs were all matters of concern on the eve of the major 2020 global economic crisis. This second panel discussed options for improving the mobilisation of global finance, its alignment with, and its impact on the recovery and sustainable development of LDCs.

Download the background note: Financing the recovery in LDCs: what role for international co-operation?

*15:00 – 15:15*	Opening remarks by partner institutions Ángel GURRÍA, Secretary-General, Organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD)
*15:15 – 15:30*	Presentation Jose Antonio OCAMPO, Chair of the UN Committee for Development Policy
*15:30 – 16:15*	Panel discussion: What priorities for the LDC5 to increase mobilisation, impact and alignment of Financing for Sustainable Development? Sileshi BEKELE, Minister of Water, Irrigation & Energy, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Isabelle DURANT, Deputy Secretary-General, UNCTAD (To be confirmed) Koen DOENS, Director-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission Khalifa bin Jassim AL-KUWARI, Director General, Qatar Fund for Development Sarah SSEWANYANA, Executive Director, Economic Policy Research Centre, Uganda, member of Southern Voice Ratnakar ADHIKARI, Executive Director, Enhanced Integrated Framework, World Trade Organization Matt REED, CEO Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), UK & Global Director of Institutional Partnerships for the AKF Moderator: Debapriya BHATTACHARYA, Chair of LDC IV Monitor, Chair of Southern Voice, Distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
*16:15 – 16:25*	Q&A Possible interventions from other partners
*16:25 – 16:30*	Closing remarks Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘UTOIKAMANU, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

Development Centre

Towards UN LDC5: Recovery from COVID-19