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¡®The time has come to do justice for the least developed countries,¡¯ says UN chief Guterres

Ahead of a major United Nations conference on the world¡¯s most vulnerable countries, Secretary-General Ant¨®nio Guterres on Saturday urged the international community ¨C particularly wealthy nations ¨C to step up and help the more than 1.1 billion people in those countries break out of ¡°vicious cycles¡± and lift themselves out of poverty.

¡°Countries with the least need support the most. And you need it now. You represent one in eight people on earth. But your countries are trapped in vicious cycles that make development difficult, if not impossible,¡± Mr. Guterres told the Summit of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), in Doha, Qatar

Today¡¯s Summit of Heads of State and Government from some of the world¡¯s poorest and most vulnerable countries is taking place just ahead of the opening of the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, known as LDC5, which will run in the Qatari capital from 5 to 9 March.

The LDC Summit is normally held every 10 years but has twice been postponed since 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the next five days in In Doha, government leaders and other stakeholders are set to assess the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action, adopted at a precursor UN conference held in the Turkish capital in 2011, and mobilize additional international support and action for the world¡¯s 46 least developed countries.

 

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