Mr. Chair, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates.
Let me begin by congratulating you as the Chair of the LDC Group and other members for their election.
I join others in thanking Nepal for sharing with us the strategic priorities of the group and providing updates on the calendar of events.
We also thank Undersecretary General Madam Rabab Fatima for her remarks assuring us of OHRLLS’s all-out support to implement the priorities of the group. OHRLLS’s support is very important at this critical time when the LDCs continue to remain marginalized on multiple fronts.
Mr. Chair,
We agree with you that implementation of the DoPA is critical. But the important question is how to accelerate the implementation. We know that the DPOA contains five concrete deliverables and six key focus areas. But we are already into the third year of the DPOA implementation cycle (2021-2030), without significant tangible progress on any of the deliverables and the priority areas.
We think that our group needs to be more strategic in pushing for and engaging with development partners and other stakeholders for progress on the priority areas and achieving the DPOA deliverables.
Now, again the question is how can we be strategic in promoting and protecting our interests? We think that there is a need for rethinking our approach as to how the group can maximize, not only its visibility but also its impacts, by actively engaging with the different processes.
Mr. Chair,
As the calendar of events shows, many important events and processes are either ongoing or scheduled to take place in the coming days. It is important that the group delivers statements at all these meetings and conferences. But the most important part is how we are taking part in the negotiations to protect the group’s interests.
We must raise our voices and bring our collective negotiating capacity to bear to make sure that the interests of the LDCs are well reflected in the outcome documents of these major meetings, conferences, and processes.
We know that the group has a significant capacity deficit to negotiate independently as a group and therefore participates in the various processes as part of the broader group of G77 and China. Since most of these negotiations are taking place in the format of G77 versus the partners, LDC countries should be more vocal and active within the G77, since there are not many opportunities to directly negotiate with the partners on the LDC issues per se.
Our group’s solidarity is very important as we have at times felt that there are some efforts within G77 to dilute the focus on the LDCs even on areas that have clear reference in the 2030 agenda.
Mr. Chair, my delegation would like to alert the group about two processes that are going to have lasting impacts on the LDCs, along with other vulnerable countries. One is the multidimensional vulnerability index for SIDS. Although it is supposed to be specifically meant for SIDS, there is a significant push to extend the scope to use the index for all countries. The second one is the ongoing discussion within the framework of the Summit of the Future on developing a measure that goes beyond the GDP. We need to be alert because both the MVI and the beyond GDP measure are going to affect how countries access development cooperation.
Mr. Chair,
We have been increasingly noticing the suggestions on the potential key roles to be played by private sectors/big corporations in various ongoing UN Prcesses. We think LDC should strategize how to get involved with them in influencing their priorities in LDC’s favor. We understand some initiatives have already been takn already. We should build on those and consolidate further.
Mr. Chair,
We believe that for the LDC group to deliver its mandate, the bureau, in particular the Chair, must be strengthened. But the problem is that all LDC Missions are understaffed. In Most LDC Missions, one delegate often deals with multiple committees including the entire second committee issues, and LDC matters. Therefore, although we are willing to share the burden, it is not always possible to meaningfully contribute.
Therefore, innovative approaches are needed to strengthen the LDC chair. Can we think of an LDC trust fund for strengthening the Chair? For example, the WTO Secretariat has two paid intern positions financed through voluntary trust fund contributions. Can we think of a similar mechanism?
Finally, Mr. Chair, given the complexity of the challenges and obstacles the LDCs face, I think the LDC Chair, the bureau and OHRLLS need to routinely sit together to deliberate on and work out the best strategy that may help the pursuit of the group’s priorities and implementation of the DPOA. As a member of the LDC bureau, Bangladesh reassures its fullest cooperation for your efforts to advance the interests of the LDCs.
I thank you.