A/76/PV.60 General Assembly

The General Assembly will now take action on the draft decisions contained in documents A/76/L.37 and A/76/L.38. We shall now proceed to consider draft decision A/76/L.37 and draft decision A/76/L.38. The Assembly will now take a decision on draft decision A/76/L.37, entitled “Participation of non-governmental organizations, civil-society organizations, indigenous peoples’ organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector and philanthropic organizations in the international meeting entitled ‘Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all — our responsibility, our opportunity’”. May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft decision A/76/L.37?

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft decision A/76/L.38, entitled “Accreditation and participation of intergovernmental organizations in the international meeting entitled ‘Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all  — our responsibility, our opportunity’ and its preparatory meeting”. May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft decision A/76/L.38?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 20.

The General Assembly will now take action on draft resolution A/76/L.39. I give the floor to the representative of Pakistan to introduce draft resolution A/76/L.39.

Pakistan, on behalf of the Group of 77 (G-77) and China, is introducing draft resolution A/76/L.39, entitled “Further modalities of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries”. The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, originally scheduled to be held from 23 to 27 January, was postponed owing to the outbreak of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease. The situation with the pandemic continues to evolve, and there remains a lack of clarity on how soon an in-person conference could be convened. At the same time, the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011- 2020 expired in 2020, and there remains a vacuum until the adoption of the Doha Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries, which had already been agreed and recommended by the Preparatory Committee for adoption at the conference. Therefore, after consultations with the Group of Least Developed Countries and the host country, the G-77 and China, through draft resolution A/76/L.39, is proposing that the conference be held in two parts. The first part would be held at United Nations Headquarters, in New York, on 17 March 2022. It would consist of one plenary meeting to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will consider, among other items, the draft Doha Programme of Action. The second part of the conference will be held in Doha from 5 to 9 March 2023. That arrangement will enable both the timely implementation of the Doha Programme of Action in 2022 and reinforce the political momentum next year, when the in-person conference will be held.

I give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat.

The present statement, pertaining to operative paragraph 1 of the current draft resolution, A/76/L.39, is made in the context of rule 153 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly. The present statement has also been distributed to member States via the e-deleGATE portal. It should be recalled that pursuant to operative paragraphs 1 and 2 of resolution 74/232 B, resource requirements in the amount of $158,700 were included in the programme budget for 2022, under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management. The request contained in operative paragraph 1 would constitute an addition to the meetings and documentation workload for the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management in 2023 and entail additional resource requirements in the amount of $171,500 in 2023. Detailed cost estimates and their underlying assumptions for the requirements are provided in the annex to this statement, available on the e-deleGATE portal. Accordingly, should the General Assembly adopt draft resolution A/76/L.39, additional resource requirements estimated in the amount of $171,500 under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management, would be included in the proposed programme budget for 2023 for the consideration of the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session. Unspent provisions in the amount of $98,300 from the amount that was included in the budget as approved for 2022 will be surrendered in the context of the financial performance report for 2022, to be presented at the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly. This statement and its annex have been posted on the e-deleGATE portal.

We shall now proceed to consider draft resolution A/76/L.39. The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/76/L.39, entitled “Further modalities of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries”. I give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat.

I should like to announce that since the submission of the draft resolution, and in addition to the delegations listed in document A/76/L.39, Canada has also become a co-sponsor of the draft.

May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/76/L.39?

Before giving the floor for explanations of position after the voting, may I remind delegations that explanations are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats.

On behalf of the Group of Least Developed Countries, I should like to thank all members of the General Assembly for adopting rescheduled resolution 76/251 by consensus. That paves the way for undertaking effective preparations for the two parts of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. As the Assembly is aware, the implementation period of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 came to an end in 2020. It is therefore urgent to adopt and kick-start the implementation of the new programme of action. We are keenly looking forward to the first part of the conference, to be held on 17 March 2022, for the adoption of the Doha Programme of Action for the Decade 2022 to 2031. We are grateful to all members for their support and constructive engagement in reaching consensus on the Doha Programme of Action. The Preparatory Committee, at its meeting on 21 December 2021, already recommended its adoption. We must thank once again the Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh and Canada for their strong stewardship in leading the work of the Preparatory Committee, especially in facilitating the negotiations of the Doha Programme of Action. We also reiterate our appreciation to our development partners and the members of the Group of 77 and China for their full support, substantive contributions and flexibility in finalizing the new Programme of Action for the least developed countries. The Programme of Action contains a number of commitments by least developed countries and their development partners that are expected to bring transformative changes to the lives of millions of people in those countries to fight the pandemic, build back better and be more resilient to shocks. The adoption of the Doha Programme of Action on 17 March will lead us to begin its implementation. As we have been struggling to cope with the impacts of the coronavirus disease as well as the financial and climate crisis, we need scaled-up support from the development partners, the United Nations system and other financial organizations more than ever. Let me also express our thanks and appreciation to the Government of Qatar for its continued support for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries and its preparatory process. Ambassador Alya Al-Thani deserves our particular appreciation for her strong personal commitment and support in all activities related to the conference. In closing, let me urge Member States, the United Nations system, international financial institutions and all other stakeholders to attend the first part of the conference at an appropriate level and to have representation at the Heads of State and Government as well as principals level at the second part of the conference, to be held in Doha from 5 to 9 March 2023.

At the outset, we thank you, Mr. President, for having convened this meeting. The State of Qatar welcomes the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 76/251, on the new dates for holding the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. The State of Qatar is honoured to be hosting that Conference and will spare no effort to prepare well for it, in cooperation with all partners, to ensure its success. We look forward to convening the first part of the Conference on 17 March and the adoption of the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries. In the light of the changing global scene and its increased challenges, the upcoming adoption of the Doha Programme of Action is extremely important because it will allow its implementation without further delay, given that this will be the first Programme of Action that addresses the challenges related to the consequences of the coronavirus disease for the least developed countries. The Programme of Action will also constitute a transformational means to achieve the desired change and build resilient societies, especially as it includes measures and initiatives as well as important and ambitious commitments by all actors. Needless to say, the success of the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries will require collective work and support by all international partners. The State of Qatar also looks forward to holding the second part of the Conference in Doha from 5 to 9 March 2023 at the highest level possible, including Heads of State and Government, while carrying out all activities planned for that part of the Conference. In conclusion, we stress that the State of Qatar is committed to meeting all the requirements for the success of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. We hope that it will make a difference and constitute a transformational event in supporting the expectations of the least developed countries in terms of achieving sustainable and comprehensive development. The State of Qatar will remain fully committed to playing a significant role in that important and vital world endeavour. We welcome all participants during the second part of the Conference in Doha, in 2023.

We have heard the last speaker in explanation of position after the voting. The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (a) of agenda item 23.