Developing countries’ finances, energy and food are trapped in paradoxes that hinder their sustainable development concluded the first plenary of the Civil Society Forum in Doha, March 2023, part of the Fifth UN Summit on Least Developed Countries (LDC5).

By Roberto Bissio^*

“The crises of COVID, Ukrainian war, debt distress, bankrupt treasuries, they are telling us in a very painful way that we have not built resilience. There are root causes before these crises, so let's not be distracted by them. Otherwise, if we start to focus on the crises and their impact, we might be pushed to short term solutions” said Cristina Isabel Lopes da Silva Monteiro Duarte, UN Special Envoy to Africa, as her key message to civil Society. The multiple global crises should not be blamed for all the negative impacts that the LDCs, of which a majority are in Africa, are suffering.

“The diagnosis is not good, but we try to keep the roadmap to development” summarized Ambassador Lachezara Stoeva, president of ECOSOC, in her dialogue with civil society at the Civil Society Forum of the Fifth LDC Summit. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the UN intergovernmental body in charge of overseeing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Statement by Roberto Bissio, on behalf of Social Watch, at the SDG Summit 2023 Informal Stakeholder Dialogue that was held virtually on 7 June 2023.

By Roberto Bissio^*

During the Summit on the Least Developed Countries (Doha, 5-9 March 2023), the UN convened a meeting of UN Resident Coordinators (RCs) of all 46 LDCs. UN reform measures to provide better in-country agency coordination and convening started with getting the RCs to report directly to the Secretary-General, DSG Amina Mohammed told the accompanying Civil Society Forum.

By Roberto Bissio^*

A reform in the international financial architecture is needed and urgent. High level UN officials and civil society agreed on that proposition during the UN Summit on the Least Developed Countries.

“The international financial architecture is absolutely no longer fit for purpose. It is morally bankrupt” said UN deputy secretary general Amina Mohammed in a candid dialogue with civil society organizations at the closure of the Civil Society Forum on the last day of the Summit on the Least Developed Countries held in Doha last March 2023.