Follow-Up to the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

A/RES/71/238No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 22aFollow-up to the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, published in 2017.

What else is in this group?

15 documents · 2013–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

2025A/RES/80/150Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed CountriesCompare with earlier document
2024A/RES/79/218Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed CountriesCompare with earlier document
2023A/RES/78/233Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed CountriesCompare with earlier document
2022A/RES/77/177Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed CountriesCompare with earlier document
2022A/RES/76/216Follow-up to the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed CountriesCompare with earlier document

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What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Development Finance Development Strategies Disaster Prevention Economic Development Least Developed Countries Programme Implementation Risk Management Trade Promotion

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2017.

2017A/72/270Crisis mitigation and resilience-building for the least developed countries report of the Secretary-General
2017A/72/83Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

43 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020 and the report of the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, entitled “State of the Least Developed Countries, 2016”;

Calls upon the least developed countries, their development partners, the United Nations system and all other actors to further strengthen the global partnership for development for the least developed countries in all priority areas of the Istanbul Programme of Action2 in order to ensure the timely, effective and full implementation of the Programme of Action during the remainder of the decade, in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda, supports and complements it and helps to contextualize its means of implementation targets with concrete policies and actions, the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change3 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030;

Recalls the decision contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that effective linkages will be made with the follow-up and review arrangements of all relevant United Nations conferences and processes, including on the least developed countries, underlines the importance of strong synergy in the implementation of the recently adopted agendas and the Istanbul Programme of Action at the national and subnational levels, and encourages coordination and coherence in the follow-up of their implementation;

Reaffirms the lessons learned in the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action and the recommendations contained in the Political Declaration of the Comprehensive High-level Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020;

Recalls the objectives of the Istanbul Programme of Action of enhancing good governance at all levels by strengthening democratic processes, institutions and the rule of law, increasing efficiency, coherence, transparency and participation, protecting and promoting human rights, reducing corruption and strengthening the capacity of Governments of least developed countries to play an effective role in their economic and social development;

Recognizes that furthering participation, empowering civil society, youth and women and strengthening collective action will contribute to the eradication of poverty and the achievement of sustainable development;

Invites the private sector, civil society and foundations to contribute to the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action in their respective areas of competence, in line with the national priorities of the least developed countries;

Notes with appreciation that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda incorporate a number of key development challenges and priorities for the least developed countries;

Reaffirms that the least developed countries, as the most vulnerable group of countries, need enhanced global support to overcome the structural challenges they face in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in this regard calls upon the international community to prioritize and strengthen support from all sources to facilitate the coordinated implementation and coherent follow-up to and monitoring of the Istanbul Programme of Action, the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in the least developed countries;

Recognizes that significant additional domestic public resources, including at the subnational level, supplemented by international assistance as appropriate, will be critical to realizing sustainable development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda acknowledge the centrality of domestic resource mobilization underscored by the principle of national ownership;

Also recognizes that, while the least developed countries have made considerable efforts to mobilize domestic resources and attract private investment, further progress is needed;

Further recognizes that private business activity, investment and innovation are major drivers of productivity, inclusive economic growth and job creation, and that private international capital flows, in particular foreign direct investment, along with a stable international financial system, are vital complements to national development efforts;

Reiterates that an important use of international public finance, including official development assistance (ODA), is to catalyse additional resource mobilization from other sources, public and private;

Also reiterates that the fulfilment of all ODA commitments remains crucial and that ODA providers reaffirm their respective commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance (ODA/GNI) and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to the least developed countries;

Encouraged by those few countries that have met or surpassed their commitment to 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI and the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to the least developed countries, urges all others to step up efforts to increase their ODA and to make additional concrete efforts towards the ODA targets, and encourages ODA providers to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to the least developed countries;

Also encouraged by those who are allocating at least 50 per cent of their ODA to the least developed countries;

Welcomes continued efforts to improve the quality, impact and effectiveness of development cooperation and other international efforts in public finance, including adherence to agreed development cooperation effectiveness principles;

Calls upon the developing countries, guided by the spirit of solidarity and consistent with their capabilities, to provide support for the effective implementation of the Istanbul 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;

Urges the least developed countries and their development partners to make use of existing initiatives and programmes, such as the relevant ministerial decisions of the World Trade Organization on duty-free and quota-free market access for the least developed countries and on preferential rules of origin for those countries, as well as aid for trade, reiterates its commitment to increase aid-for-trade support, in particular for the least developed countries, and strives to allocate an increasing proportion of aid for trade to the least developed countries, provided according to development cooperation effectiveness principles, welcomes additional cooperation among developing countries to this end, encourages the least developed countries to mainstream trade in their national development plans, with this in mind welcomes the extension of the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries into phase two and, as the Enhanced Integrated Framework implements the reforms agreed as necessary for its continuation, urges members to contribute to the timely replenishment of the Enhanced Integrated Framework Trust Fund, for the effective implementation, without any disruption, of the Framework between 2016 and 2023;

Reiterates that more effective representation of the least developed countries in decision-making at the global level could improve the international environment for the development of the least developed countries, and also reiterates that the international economic system and architecture should be inclusive and responsive to the special development needs of the least developed countries, ensuring their effective participation, voice and representation at all levels;

Recognizes the significant potential of multilateral development banks and other international development banks in financing sustainable development and providing know-how to the least developed countries;

Recalls the decision contained in the Istanbul Programme of Action and reaffirmed by the General Assembly in its resolution 67/220 of 21 December 2012 to adopt, expand and implement investment promotion regimes for the least developed countries, and welcomes the decision contained in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda to adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for the least developed countries and the offer to provide financial and technical support for project preparation and contract negotiation, advisory support in investment-related dispute resolution, access to information on investment facilities and risk insurance and guarantees such as through the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency;

Reiterates its invitation to the Secretary-General, in his capacity as the Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to include the issue of investment promotion regimes for the least developed countries in the agenda of the Board, with a view to enhancing the overall effectiveness of United Nations system support that can contribute to enhancing the flow of foreign direct investment to the least developed countries and the ability of those countries to attract such investment;

Also reiterates its invitation to the Economic and Social Council, at its next annual forum on financing for development follow-up, to discuss adopting and implementing investment promotion regimes for the least developed countries, pursuant to the relevant resolutions on the matter, including General Assembly resolution 69/313 on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the mandate of the annual forum on financing for development follow-up set out therein, invites the President of the Council to include the outcome of this discussion in his summary of the forum on financing for development follow-up, and recalls that the intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations of the forum will inform the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the high-level political forum on sustainable development;

Expresses its deep concern that, owing to significant capacity constraints, the least developed countries are disproportionately affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, including persistent drought and extreme weather events, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, salinity intrusion, glacier lake outburst floods, ocean acidification and the rise in frequency, as well as the impact, of natural and man-made disasters, which further threaten food security and efforts to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development, and expresses its concern that women and girls are often disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change and other environmental issues;

Underlines the need to reduce the vulnerability of the least developed countries to economic, natural and environmental shocks and disasters, as well as climate change, and to enhance their ability to meet these and other challenges by strengthening their resilience, and in this regard stresses that it is important that all countries and other actors work together to further develop and implement concrete measures on an urgent basis at the national and international levels so as to build the resilience of the least developed countries to withstand economic shocks and mitigate their adverse effects, to withstand and overcome the adverse effects of climate change, to enhance sustainable growth and protect biodiversity and to withstand natural hazards in order to reduce the risk of disasters, as agreed upon in the Istanbul Programme of Action;

Recalls the decision contained in the Political Declaration of the Midterm Review to undertake an in-depth analysis on crisis mitigation and resilience-building for the least developed countries, at the national and international levels, with a view to building and further strengthening crisis mitigation and resilience in the least developed countries, and the request to the General Assembly to determine the parameters of this analysis at its seventy-first session, and decides that the analysis, to be submitted to the Assembly at its seventy-second session, should focus, inter alia, on the following issues:

Stocktaking of various shocks, including natural disasters, economic crises and health epidemics and their impacts on the sustainable development of the least developed countries;

Reviewing the current national, regional and international landscapes to better equip the least developed countries against shocks and their effectiveness and identifying gaps;

Cataloguing and evaluating various risk-management mechanisms at the subnational, national, regional and global levels available to the least developed countries that combine ex ante preparations for risk with the ex post facto ability to cope with such risk and making recommendations for further actions to strengthen the resilience of the least developed countries;

Elaborating on how the international community, including developed and developing countries, the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, are supporting and can deepen support for resilience-building for the least developed countries;

Examining how the private sector, civil society, academia and other stakeholders, as well as local knowledge and community involvement, can contribute to resilience-building for the least developed countries through preparedness measures, the creation of employment, awareness-raising, the provision of insurance and other measures;

Congratulates those countries that have graduated from least developed country status, notes with appreciation that several least developed countries have expressed their intention to reach the status of graduation by 2020, invites them to start the preparations for their graduation and transition strategy, and requests all relevant organizations of the United Nations system, led by the Office of the High Representative, to extend necessary support in this regard, in a coordinated manner;

Reiterates its recommendation that the consultative mechanism specified in its resolution 59/209 of 20 December 2004 be established by the graduating country, in cooperation with its bilateral and multilateral development and trading partners, to facilitate the preparation of the transition strategy and the identification of the associated actions and the negotiation of their duration and phasing-out for a period appropriate to the development situation of the country, and that it be integrated into other relevant consultative processes and initiatives between the graduating country and its development partners;

Invites development partners to make available timely information about country-specific support measures and related smooth transition measures for the least developed countries in the areas of financial support, technical assistance and trade-related measures, including their time frames, characteristics and modalities;

Reaffirms its commitment to fully operationalize the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries by 2017, and welcomes the establishment of its multi-stakeholder governing council and trust fund;

Encourages the least developed countries, in accordance with their national plans and priorities and with the full support of their development partners, to develop their capacities to track financial transactions, administer taxation, regulate customs and redouble efforts to substantially reduce illicit financial flows by 2030, with a view to eventually eliminating them, including by combating tax evasion and corruption through strengthened national regulation, and also encourages the United Nations and other relevant international bodies to help support these efforts, in accordance with their respective mandates;

Recognizes that the activities relating to the least developed countries carried out within the Secretariat need to be further coordinated and consolidated in order to ensure the effective monitoring and follow-up of the Istanbul Programme of Action, led by the Office of the High Representative, and to provide well-coordinated support to realizing the goal of enabling half of the least developed countries to meet the criteria for graduation by 2020;

Takes note of the work of the Inter-Agency Consultative Group for the least developed countries, led by the Office of the High Representative, also takes note of the finalization by the Office of the High Representative of the toolkit for mainstreaming the Istanbul Programme of Action into the work programmes of the organizations of the United Nations system, which was considered by the High-Level Committee on Programmes and taken note of by the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, notes the steps taken by the Chief Executives Board and the High-level Committee in supporting the coordination and follow-up of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action on a system-wide basis, and reiterates its invitation to the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the Chief Executives Board, to include the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action in the agenda of the Board;

Underlines the need to give particular attention to the issues and concerns of the least developed countries in all major United Nations conferences and processes;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to include, as appropriate, the issues of concern to the least developed countries in all relevant reports in the economic, social, environmental and related fields, in order to support the implementation of the goals set out in the Istanbul Programme of Action;

Strongly encourages Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, major groups and other donors to contribute in a timely manner to the Trust Fund in Support of Activities Undertaken by the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States to support the implementation, follow-up and monitoring of the Istanbul Programme of Action and the participation of the representatives from the least developed countries in the annual review meeting on the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action by the Economic and Social Council as well as in other relevant forums, and in this regard expresses its appreciation to those countries that have made voluntary contributions to the Trust Fund;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session a report on the implementation of the present resolution and the Istanbul Programme of Action and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-second session, under the item entitled “Groups of countries in special situations”, the sub-item entitled “Follow-up to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries”, unless otherwise agreed.

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