World leaders, policy makers and influential figures are in Doha to attend the five-day Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), which begins Sunday at the Qatar capital Doha.
Held every 10 years, the LDC5 will bring together 4,000-5,000 participants at the Qatar National Convention Centre to discuss the most pressing issues affecting least economically developed countries.
Bangladesh, which led the LDCs in different internation for a, is on its way to graduating from LDC status by 2026.
The conference with the theme ‘From Potential to Prosperity’, follows the adoption of the Doha Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031 (DPoA) during the UN General Assembly last year.
Previous host countries for the conference are Turkey, Belgium and France.
The LDCs are countries listed by the United Nations that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development across a range of indexes. All LDCs have a gross national per capita income (GNI) of below USD$1,018, compared to almost $71,000 in the United States, $44,000 in France, $9,900 in Turkey and $6,530 in South Africa, according to data from World Bank.
These countries also have low scores on the indicators for nutrition, health, school enrolment and literacy and high scores for economic and environmental vulnerability, which measures factors such as remoteness, dependence on agriculture and exposure to natural disasters.
There are currently 46 LDCs, the vast majority of which are in Africa. The list is reviewed every three years by the UN Economic and Social Council. Six countries have graduated from LDC status between 1994 and 2020.
The adoption of the DPoA was a crucial step in preparing to host the conference and is deemed to be another key chapter in Qatar’s ties with the intergovernmental organisation.
Leaders at the conference this year will hold various discussions on solutions for least developed countries, with several agreements expected to be signed on the matter.
The event is also the first to be held following the Covid-19 outbreak, which has significantly affected least developed countries.
Meanwhile, the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) will hold several panels and roundtable discussions at the LDC5 with the aim of tackling issues related to education.
The EAA will hold a roundtable titled “Out of School Children: Linking across Sectors for Success”, which will see the participation of numerous education officials from around the world, including Palestine, Liberia, and Pakistan.
