{"id":272579,"date":"2023-09-21T14:39:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T18:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/78\/?p=272579"},"modified":"2023-09-21T14:39:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T18:39:05","slug":"pga-remarks-at-the-annual-ministerial-meeting-of-the-group-of-lldcs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/78\/2023\/09\/21\/pga-remarks-at-the-annual-ministerial-meeting-of-the-group-of-lldcs\/","title":{"rendered":"PGA remarks at the Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of LLDCs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Remarks by the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Dennis Francis,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

at the Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of LLDCs<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

[As Delivered]<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

21 September 2023<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Your Excellency, Dr. Lemogang Kwape,\u00a0<\/i>Foreign Minister of Botswana and Global Chair of the Group of LLDCs,<\/i><\/p>\n

Your Excellency, Rabab Fatima,\u00a0<\/i>Under-Secretary-General and High Representative,<\/i><\/p>\n

Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the outset, let me tender my profound apologies for not being able to join you at the very beginning due to other competing engagements; but I am so delighted that I made it before you concluded this important annual Ministerial Meeting.<\/p>\n

\n

I thank the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries for their kind invitation and commend Dr. Kwape for his able chairmanship of the Group.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I also recognize the proactive leadership of the Government of Rwanda for hosting the upcoming Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries Conference (LLDC3), in Kigali next year.<\/p>\n

\n

And I commend the ongoing spirited efforts of our Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for LDCs LLDCs and SIDS \u2013 a dear friend and colleague USG Rabab Fatima \u2013 for her invaluable work on this important agenda.<\/p>\n

\n

Excellencies,<\/i><\/p>\n

Coming from a Small Island Developing State, I am acutely aware of the context-specific challenges facing countries in special situations, which, of course, include LLDCs.<\/p>\n

The lack of territorial access to the sea restricts progress in trade, transportation, and infrastructure. As a result, LLDCs must pay more than twice what transit countries pay in transport costs, not to mention the longer time to send and receive merchandise and essential commodities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This has knock-on effects on social services, including healthcare and education, and has clear implications for jobs, livelihoods, and economic growth.<\/p>\n

Added to this is the fact that LLDCs have been disproportionately affected by the 3Cs:\u00a0 COVID-19, Conflict, and Climate Change, with a fourth \u2013 the Cost of food and fuel \u2013 stemming from each.<\/p>\n

While COVID-19 did the larger damage, the reality is that even before the pandemic, many LLDCs were already off track on the SDGs.<\/p>\n

The pandemic and subsequent crises have only pulled the curtain back on the inequities that existed and exacerbated their impact.<\/p>\n