Africa-Press – Angola. The fifth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries (PMD5) began this Sunday in Doha, capital of Qatar, under the theme “From Potential to Prosperity”, with the participation of the Vice-President of Angola, Esperança da Costa.
Vice-President Esperança da Costa will be the 24th to speak at the event, in a list of 165 interventions.
The opening ceremony was dominated by interventions by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Secretary-General (SG) of the United Nations, António Guterres, Csaba Korosi, President of the General Assembly, Lachezara Stoeva, President of the Economic and Social Council .
Also speaking were the Head of State of Malawi, Lazarus Mc Carthy Chakwera, as chairman of the Group of Least Developed Countries, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mevlut Çavusoglu, among other individuals.
Guterres said that the vacancy of Omicron, which suddenly canceled the holding of this event in January 2022, demonstrates that the world is subject to constant and unpredictable changes, noting that, since then, the world has seen the eruption of war in Ukraine, with an impact devastating in this country, but also in the less developed countries that now suffer from astronomical food and energy prices.
The UN SG said that global tensions are deepening and that there is perhaps no more important issue around which to turn the words of the Doha Program of Action into results.
“Less Developed Countries are getting lost in rising tides of crisis and uncertainty, climate chaos and profound global injustice, they are unable to keep up with extremely rapid technological changes and unemployment is growing, especially among young people”, he declared.
He lamented the fact that “the deeply dysfunctional global financial system has been sending LDCs the highest quotas, interest rates are up to eight times higher than in developed countries and things are likely to get worse”.
As I said, today 25 developing economies spend 20 percent of their national budgets, not on building schools, not on feeding their people, not on development opportunities for women and girls, but on paying down debt.
Guterres said LDCs need a supportive revolution in several key areas.
“We present to the G-20 a stimulus package to bring the world together and manage to deliver to the LDCs at least 500 billion dollars a year to the LDCs”, he underlined.
In turn, the host of the conference, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, announced, within the framework of the commitments of the State of Qatar towards the LDCs, a contribution of 60 million dollars, 10 million of which to support the implementation of the Action program of Doha, and 50 million to support the expected results.
As for the Head of State of Malawi, Lazarus Mc Carthy Chakwera, president of the Group of Least Developed Countries, there is a common global responsibility to face security challenges, the energy crisis, the debt crisis and find solutions through a collective commitment. .
There is a moral responsibility for the richest and most developed countries to contribute so that LDCs can win and overcome global challenges. “This is a responsibility and not a favour,” she asserted.
The conference program continued throughout the day, with the intervention of various individuals, including Heads of State or their representatives, as well as various international organizations.
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