Remarks for the Acting Permanent Representative at the Pre-Committee Meeting for the 5th United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries
8 February 2021 Agenda Item 6: General Statement
Distinguished Co-chairs,
Honourable President of the General Assembly,
Madam High Representative and Secretary-General of the LDC5,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the outset allow me to join others in congratulating Ambassador Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh and Ambassador Robert Rae of Canada on their elections as the Co-chairs of the Preparatory Committee Bureau for the Fifth UN Conference on LDCs. Many congratulations to the other members of the PreCom Bureau.
Pakistan aligns its statement with the statement delivered by the delegation of Guinea on behalf of the G77 and China.
The LDC-V is taking place at a critical time when the whole world is grappled by the catastrophic consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The world economy is hit at its core as the global contraction has reached around 5%. For small households there has been record loss in jobs. Around 100 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty with no signs of recovery in the near future.
While the virus knows no border, it is painfully obvious that poor and vulnerable countries especially the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have been hit the hardest because of drop in commodity prices, falling remittances, lack of tourism, and disruption in global supply chains.
Many of the small business in least developed countries have completely disappeared and some are struggling to keep afloat. The recession has made the achievement of the target of at least 7% growth for the LDCs a distant dream.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has also exposed the inherent vulnerabilities and inequalities of our global financial architecture. During the times of crisis the developing countries could not even manage to provide the estimated 2 to 3 trillion UDS fiscal stimulus for their economies in comparison with that of 13 trillion UDS provided by the advanced economies.
Excellencies,
We are also aware that even before the Pandemic we were off-track in achieving most of the goals and targets defined by the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA). The LDC-V should therefore build on the lessens learned from the IPoA and suggest comprehensive and action-oriented outcome to help LDCs in building back better without compromising on the achievement of the SDGs.
To this end we propose that the conference should focus on these key issues:
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First, it is crucial to ensure a viable framework for equitable and affordable distribution of COVID vaccine to the developing countries. The financing gaps in the COVAX facility must be filled. We must discourage and avoid advance purchase agreements.
- Second, it is imperative to find a long-term and comprehensive solution of the unsustainable debt problem for the LDCs. The Prime Minister of Pakistan in April last year proposed a Global Initiative for Debt Relief. Subsequently, several initiatives have been announced for providing debt relief such as G20 DSSI but these are visibly not enough. We need to find a permanent, comprehensive, and inclusive solution for this problem.
- Third, investments in infrastructures, impact 92% of the SDGs and is vital for the inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development of LDCs. Even before the Pandemic these investments were not up to the mark, however, there has been dramatic decline in infrastructure investments owing to the current crisis.Therefore, it is essential to establish a mechanism at the UN, which could help all developing countries especially the LDCs to bridge the current infrastructure gap.
- Fourth, Science technology and innovation especially digital technologies proved to be the lifeline for many households and businesses during the Pandemic. Today existence of individuals depends on their connectivity with the rest of the world. However, the current digital divide has the potential to turn into a development divide. Efforts must be taken to bridge the digital divide and to increase technical cooperation aiming at technology transfer for LDCs. We understand Technology Bank and Technology Facilitation Mechanism are already working on this. We need to address their shortcomings.
- Fifth, every year trillions of dollars are syphoned-off from the economies of many developing countries especially the LDCs as illicit financial flows. During the times of crisis allowing such flows to continue is nothing short of criminal. These flows have been the main reason of economic under performance of many developing countries. Pakistan has suggested a strong mechanism for international cooperation on illicit financial flows and unconditional and speedy return of stolen assets from the destination countries. It would be inconceivable if the LDC-V does not suggest actions to curb these flows.
- Sixth, climate change is an existential threat for many LDCs. It not only causing widespread devastation every year but increasing the development cost of many developing countries by stressing already meager development resources of these countries. The LDC-V should stress on fulfilling the existing commitments towards climate finance and ODA.
Excellencies,
If we are to build back better from the wreckage of the COVID-19 crisis it is imperative that majority people living in developing countries especially the LDCs are made part of it.
I thank you.