Follow-Up to the 2nd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries

A/RES/70/217View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 23bFollow-up to the 2nd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, published in 2015.

What other versions does this mandate have?

11 versions · 2016–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/151

2025A/RES/80/151Follow-up to the 3rd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing CountriesLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/219Follow-up to the 3rd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing CountriesCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/163Follow-up to the 2nd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing CountriesCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/77/246Follow-up to the 2nd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing CountriesCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/217Follow-up to the 2nd United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing CountriesCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Follow-Up Procedures Landlocked Developing Countries Programme Implementation Transit Countries Transport Facilitation Transport Infrastructure

What does this mandate say?

32 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024;

Welcomes the recognition of the special needs and challenges of landlocked developing countries in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and affirms that the effective implementation of those outcomes, together with the six priority areas of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024, can drive the social and economic progress of landlocked developing countries and assist in their transformation from landlocked to land-linked countries;

Recognizes that landlocked developing countries face specific challenges in their efforts towards the eradication of poverty and pursuit of sustainable development, and in this regard underscores the importance of continued international support to complement the efforts of landlocked developing countries;

Invites the landlocked developing countries, transit countries, their development partners, the United Nations system and all other actors to implement at all levels the actions that have been agreed upon in the Vienna Programme of Action in its six priority areas, namely: fundamental transit policy issues; infrastructure development and maintenance; international trade and trade facilitation; regional integration and cooperation; structural economic transformation; and means of implementation; in a coordinated, coherent and expeditious manner;

Invites Member States to mainstream the Vienna Programme of Action into their national and sectoral development strategies in order to ensure its effective implementation;

Invites development partners to provide targeted technical and financial support, as appropriate, towards the implementation of the specific actions listed in the Vienna Programme of Action;

Calls upon the relevant organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, and invites international organizations, such as the World Bank, the regional development banks, the World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization, the Common Fund for Commodities, regional economic integration organizations and other relevant regional and subregional organizations, to integrate the Vienna Programme of Action into their programmes of work, as appropriate, within their respective mandates, and to support landlocked and transit developing countries in their implementation of the Programme of Action in a well-coordinated and coherent manner;

Appreciates the efforts made by Member States and other development partners, including the governing bodies of the Economic Commission for Africa, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, inter alia, to mainstream the Vienna Programme of Action;

Stresses that the harmonization, simplification and standardization of rules and documentation should be promoted, including the full and effective implementation of international conventions on transport and transit and bilateral, subregional and regional agreements, stresses also that cooperation on fundamental transit policies, laws and regulations between landlocked developing countries and their transit neighbours is crucial for the effective and integrated solution of cross-border trade and transit transport problems, and underlines that this cooperation should be promoted on the basis of the mutual interests of both landlocked developing countries and transit countries;

Underlines that infrastructure development plays a key role in reducing the cost of development for landlocked developing countries and that the development and maintenance of transit transport infrastructure, information and communications technology and energy infrastructure are crucial for landlocked developing countries in order to reduce high trading costs, improve their competitiveness and become fully integrated in the global market;

Welcomes the call in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for the establishment of a new global infrastructure forum, building on existing multilateral collaboration mechanisms, led by the multilateral development banks, and underlines that this forum will encourage a greater range of voices to be heard, particularly from developing countries, to identify and address infrastructure and capacity gaps, including in landlocked developing countries;

Stresses that the magnitude of the resources required to invest in infrastructure development and maintenance remains a major challenge and requires forging international, regional, subregional and bilateral cooperation on infrastructure projects, allocating more from national budgets, effectively deploying international development assistance and multilateral financing in the development and maintenance of infrastructure and strengthening the role of the private sector, and recognizes that both public and private investment have key roles to play in infrastructure financing, including through development banks, development finance institutions and tools and mechanisms such as public-private partnerships, blended finance, which combines concessional public finance with non-concessional private finance and expertise from the public and private sector, special-purpose vehicles, non-recourse project financing, risk mitigation instruments and pooled funding structures;

Encourages multilateral development banks, including regional banks, in collaboration with other stakeholders, to address gaps in trade, transport and transit-related regional infrastructure, including by completing missing links connecting, inter alia, landlocked developing countries within regional networks;

Underlines that greater integration of landlocked developing countries into world trade and global value chains is vital for increasing their competitiveness and ensuring their economic development;

Calls upon members of the World Trade Organization to fully and expeditiously implement all the decisions of the “Bali package” of the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, held in Bali, Indonesia, from 3 to 6 December 2013, and to expeditiously ratify the Agreement on Trade Facilitation;

Stresses the importance, for the economic development of landlocked developing countries, of their increased participation in the multilateral trading system;

Also stresses that improved trade facilitation, including through further streamlining and harmonization of customs and transit procedures and formalities and transparent and efficient border management and coordination of agencies involved in border clearance, would help landlocked developing countries to enhance the competitiveness of their export products and services;

Calls upon development partners to effectively implement the Aid for Trade initiative, giving adequate consideration to the special needs and requirements of landlocked developing countries, including capacity-building for the formulation of trade policies, participation in trade negotiations and the implementation of trade facilitation measures, as well as the diversification of export products;

Stresses the need to promote meaningful regional integration to encompass cooperation among countries in a broader range of areas than just trade and trade facilitation, including investment, research and development and policies aimed at accelerating regional industrial development and regional connectivity, that this approach is aimed at fostering structural change and economic growth in landlocked developing countries as a goal, and also as a means of collectively linking regions to global markets, that this would enhance competitiveness and help to maximize benefits from globalization and that documentation and the sharing and dissemination of best practices are important to allow cooperating partners to benefit from each other’s experience;

Recognizes that the economies of many landlocked developing countries are still reliant on a few export commodities, which often have low value addition, stresses the need for renewed and strengthened partnerships for development to support landlocked developing countries in diversifying their economic base and enhancing value addition to their exports by entering and moving up global value chains through the development of their productive capacities, including through private sector involvement, and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, with a view to increasing the competitiveness of the products of landlocked developing countries in export markets, and welcomes the establishment of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda;

Underlines that, in order for landlocked developing countries to fully utilize their export and trade potential, it is important to undertake measures that promote structural economic transformation capable of reducing the negative impact of their geographical disadvantages and external shocks, creating jobs and ultimately leading to poverty eradication and inclusive and sustainable growth and development, stresses that each landlocked developing country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development and that the role of national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized, and in this regard stresses that the national development efforts of landlocked developing countries need to be supported by an enabling international economic environment;

Recognizes that landlocked developing countries remain highly vulnerable to external economic shocks and to the multiple other challenges faced by the international community;

Also recognizes the adverse impacts of climate change, land degradation, desertification and deforestation on the economies of landlocked developing countries, recognizes the potential benefits of mutually addressing these challenges, and calls upon the international community to continue to support the efforts of landlocked developing countries to address these challenges in an integrated manner, including through research on the impacts of climate change in landlocked developing countries, as appropriate;

Urges those landlocked developing countries that have not yet done so to ratify, at their earliest convenience, the Multilateral Agreement for the Establishment of an International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries in order to fully operationalize the think tank;

Invites developing countries, guided by the spirit of solidarity and consistent with their capabilities, to provide support for the effective implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action in mutually agreed areas of cooperation within the framework of South-South cooperation, which is a complement to, but not a substitute for, North-South cooperation;

Underlines the importance of increasing and using high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by sex, age, geography, income, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and other characteristics relevant in national contexts, and stresses the need to enhance capacity-building support for developing countries, including landlocked developing countries, for this purpose and to provide international cooperation, including through technical and financial support, to further strengthen the capacity of national statistical authorities and bureaux;

Also underlines the critical role of the private sector, including through foreign direct investment, in the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action;

Further underlines the prominent role that foreign direct investment plays in accelerating development and poverty reduction through employment, the transfer of managerial and technological know-how and non-debt-creating flows of capital, recognizes the considerable role and potential of private sector involvement in infrastructure development for transport, telecommunications and utilities for landlocked developing countries, encourages Member States to facilitate foreign direct investment flows to landlocked developing countries in this regard, and calls upon landlocked and transit developing countries to promote an enabling environment to attract foreign direct investment and private sector involvement;

Urges that effective linkages be made between the follow-up and review arrangements for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and those of all relevant United Nations conferences and processes, including the Vienna Programme of Action, in line with the 2030 Agenda;

Underlines the importance of successful implementation, follow-up and review of the Vienna Programme of Action at the national, subregional, regional and global levels;

Stresses that, in accordance with the mandate given by the General Assembly, the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States will ensure the coordinated follow-up to, effective monitoring of and reporting on the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action and will undertake advocacy efforts at the national, regional and global levels, and also stresses that the Office, in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders, should work on developing relevant indicators for measuring the progress on implementing the Programme of Action in landlocked developing countries, within their existing mandates;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session a report on the implementation of the present resolution, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-first session, under the item entitled “Groups of countries in special situations”, the sub-item entitled “Follow-up to the second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries”, unless otherwise agreed in the discussions on the revitalization of the Second Committee.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents