President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), says the economies of Least Developed Countries have been under attack by climate change events happening in quicker succession than ever before.
Speaking in New York before the first part of the fifth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on behalf of all the 46 members, Chakwera said Malawi suffered deep wounds in 2019 at the hands of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, and while those wounds are still fresh, it was attacked again by Tropical Storms Ana and Gombe in the last seven weeks leaving a trail of destruction and death.
“For starters, our societies and economies have been under attack from climate change events happening in quicker succession. My own country of Malawi is a case in point, for it suffered deep wounds in 2019 at the hands of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth.
“And while those wounds are still fresh, we have just been attacked again by Tropical Storms Ana and Gombe in the last seven weeks, leaving a trail of destruction and death. And if climate change is doing this to Least Developed Countries that are inland, imagine what it is doing to coastal, like Mozambique, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Comoros, Haiti, and Myanmar,” said the Malawi leader.
He said Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as a global community and are living at a time of great consequence that demands great courage, saying a confluence of global forces is marching against humanity at a frightening speed and pushing them towards calamity.
Chakwera said the suffocating onslaught is happening while Least Development Countries are already choking from the unsustainable debt burden racing towards the $1 trillion dollar mark.
President Chakwera said the current global context demands a collaborative, collective, and courageous response, saying it requires the adoption of the Doha Programme of Action, for it is a recovery path for the world’s most vulnerable countries.
Chakwera, on behalf of all 46 Least Developed Countries (LDCs]), thanked partners for their support, giving them confidence that the best is yet to come as they are looking forward to the adoption of the Political Declaration in Doha next year.
He called upon the United Nations Development System to support efforts to implement the programme at all levels and development partners to go beyond fulfilling their commitment and be responsive to the pressing needs created within Least Developed Countries [LDCs] by unforeseen events.
The President also called on the entire United Nations System for support which must be rendered coherently and consistently, including the support of United Nations Resident Coordinators and Country Teams in the countries where the target populations are domiciled.
“I call upon the UN leadership to strengthen the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, for not only has this office been instrumental in driving the progress we have made,” said President Dr Chakwera.
The Malawi leader said for the Doha Programme of Action to succeed in achieving this goal, it needs implementation and implementation, and the implementation may take over the next ten years, along with solid monitoring mechanisms at global and regional levels foundational and critical.
