The Second UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries: Two Years in the Planning →
[The following was published in a UN - OHRLLS booklet for the 2014 Vienna Conference on LLDCs.]
A lot has changed since the 2003 Almaty Programme of Action (APoA). The average income per capita of Landlocked Developing Countries has grown 3.8 per year – well above the global average of 1.5 percent. Since 2000, the value of merchandise exports of LLDCs has also increased almost seven-fold. Nevertheless these states remain highly vulnerable to external economic shocks and climate change, two weaknesses that the Second UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries seeks to remedy.
From the 17 thematic meetings to the three regional reviews and the two ambassadorial retreats, it has taken more than two years and countless man-hours to organize the Conference held in Vienna. The Office of the High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDs has been designated as the system wide focal point for the event and worked alongside the hosts Austria, donor countries, international agencies and others in order to ensure a successful review of the 2003 APoA and a step towards the next 10 years of development for LLDCs.
■ September 2012
Almaty, Kazakhstan hosted the Fourth Meeting of Trade Ministers of LDCs, where the attendees adopted a Ministerial Declaration, which emphasized several issues, including: developing the productive capacities of LLDCs and promoting investment. A High-Level Thematic Meeting also provided recommendations on trade facilitation and aid for trade.
■ December 2012
December saw the General Assembly adopt Resolution 67/222, which addressed the specific needs and problems of LLDCs.
■ February 2013
This month saw the Road and Rail Financing Conference as well as Second Ministerial Conference on Euro-Asian Transport Links, held in Geneva, Switzerland.
■ March 2013
March was a busy month with the Euro-Asian Regional Review was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The regional review was one of three to come in 2013 with the objective of reviewing regional progress towards the APoA over the past decade. Also in March, OHRLLS-organized a Brainstorming Meeting on the Priorities for a New Agenda for LLDCs.
■ May 2013
Beijing hosted the Global Services Forum, where figures from governments, the business world and academia came together to promote growth in the trade of services and encourage sustainable development.
■ June 2013
The OHRLLS and World Bank partnered to organize the Transport Development and Trade Facilitation event in Washington, D.C. The meeting included the progress review in transit transport infrastructure and services within LLDCs.
■ July 2013
July saw the second regional review meeting. The Africa Regional Review Meeting took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and sought to review the implementation of the APoA in Africa.
In Geneva, Switzerland, the OHRLLS organized an ECOSOC side event called, Renewing Global Partnerships for Connecting LLDCs to the World Markets.
■ September 2013
Two high-profile meetings occurred in September. The first one dealt with the impacts of climate change, desertification, land degradation and drought, and was hosted in Windhoek, Namibia. The second was a High-Level Conference on Road Transport in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
■ October 2013
October was another busy month with two meetings in Kenya regarding technology and one in Geneva on transport logistics. Nairobi hosted the launch of the South-South Technology Transfer Facility for LLDCs as well as an event on enhancing ICT Development and Connectivity for LLDCs. ThelaunchoftheSouth- South Facility was co-hosted by
UNOSSC and OHRLLS, while UNCTAD organized the Expert Group Meeting on Transport and Logistics Innovation in Geneva.
■ November 2013
The Latin America Regional Reviewtook place in November in Asuncion, Paraguay. The last of the three regional meetings focused on the South American continent and the implementation – successes, failures and future challenges – of the APoA there. The meeting brought together stakeholders in Latin American LLDCs, transit countries, development partners, private sector and academia.
■ February 2014
In February of this year, the OHRLLS organized the Fourth Inter-Agency Consultative Group meeting in Geneva. Three others were held prior to this in 2013. Attended by USG Acharya as well as ambassadors from Lao DPR and Paraguay, among others, the meeting addressed the need for building the productive capacities of LLDCs. In particular, participants spoke about the importance of regional value chains and the need for product and trade diversification.
■ April 2014
In April the UN General Assembly, with Resolution 68/270, accepted Austria’s bid to host the Second LLDC Conference, setting the time as 3-5 November and venue in Vienna.
■ May 2014
New York hosted the first of two ambassadorial retreats on 9-10 May. The meeting was attended by 55 participants that included ambassadors and permanent representatives from LLDCs, transit developing countries, donor states and experts from the UN system. Participants came to the conclusion that the APoA did not do enough to address growth factors such as economic diversification, industrialization and job creation.
Effective monitoring and review emerged as an important point of any future LLDC conference. Ultimately the representatives pointed the Post 2015 Development Agenda toward a more holistic plan of action with accountability being a major factor in effectiveness. This month OHRLLS also organized a half day thematic discussion on the vulnerability of LLDCs to external shocks.
■ July 2014
The second ambassadorial retreat took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, a familiar place for LLDC discussions. The draft of the Outcome Document had its roots in this conference of ambassadors and delegates. Among the attendees were Kazakh Foreign Minister ErlanIdrissov, High Representative Gyan Chandra Acharya and representatives of international agencies such as UNCTAD and WTO. A topic of discussion was the review of the APoA. “It is gratifying that this document made it into the history of the UN and today we are actively preparing for the second United Nations conference for a comprehensive ten-year review of the implementation of the APA in accordance with General Assembly resolution 66/214. Kazakhstan, as the initiator of the process, is interested in the success of the meeting. That’s why we organized this retreat,” Idrissov said.
■ September, October 2014
The last two months have included the final preparations for the LLDC Conference in Vienna, including the invitation of participants, both from the private and public sectors. OHRLLS, the Austrian Government and support agencies worked together to ensure smooth operations in Vienna and a high-level meeting on investment in LLDCs organized by OHRLLS and UNCTAD in Geneva. Among the outreach programs, the OHRLLS organized a photo call for amateur and professional photographers to submit their shots from LLDCs to be exhibited in Vienna and published on the LLDC website. Some of these photos are also found in this magazine.
The beginning of October also included the Second Preparatory Committee Meeting for the 2nd UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries. This was one of the last steps leading up to the conference in Vienna. USG Acharya addressed logistics as well as his hopes for the conference in shaping the Post 2015 agenda of LLDCs.