Towards UN LDC5: Recovery from COVID-19

The event will serve as a contribution to the process leading to the fifth UN Conference on the LDCs (UN LDC5) which will be held in Doha, Qatar, in January 2022.

First session: What does COVID-19 mean for LDC’s vulnerabilities and support measures? 21 October 15-16:30 (CET)

The COVID-19 crisis presents a new risk for the economic vulnerability of LDCs and developing countries more generally. The 47 LDCs were facing growing challenges already before the COVID-19 pandemic reached them. The first day of this event aims to highlight emerging risks and discuss how to address the vulnerabilities and build resilience of LDCs. Kunal Sen, director of UNU-WIDER will join the panel discussion to share insights from the latest research on tackling COVID related vulnerabilities in low-income countries. The session will take place 21 October at 15-16:30 (CET).

• Recording of the session
• Programme

Second session: Financing the recovery in LDCs: what role for international co-operation? 23 October 15-16:30 (CET)

Financing the recovery during the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic poses additional challenges to already existing ones. The second session of this webinar will discuss what new approaches and tools could increase the mobilization, impact and alignment of financing for sustainable development in the LDCs. The session will take place 23 October at 15-16:30.

• Recording of the session
• Programme

As another input to LDC5 UNU-WIDER will be organizing, in collaboration with UN-OHRLLS and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), an academic conference on LDCs and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2021 in Helsinki, Finland.

UNU-WIDER's support to the LDCs

Creating knowledge and building capacities to support sustained, equitable and inclusive growth in LDCs is an important part of UNU-WIDER’s mandate and mission. Our country programmes in Mozambique, Myanmar and Tanzania concentrate on the role of private business sector and SMEs in development, on structural transformation and protection of vulnerable groups, and on supporting sustainable livelihoods and long-term macroeconomic balance in these countries.

Furthermore, UNU-WIDER serves the priority areas of UN’s support for LDCs by creating and sharing knowledge on LDCs’ situation vis-à-vis COVID-19, and on the productive capacities, commodities, employment and decent work, inequality, and good governance in fragile states. We have a separate programme to support mobilizing domestic financial resources for development.

Essential cross-cutting components of all our work are gender implications, improving socioeconomic information systems in the developing countries to gain up to date data for development, partnerships with researchers and policy makers around the world, and building the capacities of young scholars in the Global South.