LDC5 Civil Society Forum

The LDC5 Conference was held in two parts.  Part 1 adopted the new Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031 (DPoA) on 17 March 2022 at the UN headquarters in New York. Part 2, the main Conference was held in Doha, Qatar, from 5 to 9 March 2023.

The Civil Society Forum was organized by a Core Group of civil society organizations composed of LDC-WatchThird World NetworkSocial Watch and Global Policy Forum, in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries (UN-OHRLLS). The Civil Society Forum was held in Doha, Qatar, from 4 to 9 March 2023.

Read the final Report in English, FrenchSpanish or Arabic. Further information is available here and here.

Articles about each of the sessions can be found at:

Plenary 1: Taking stock: Multiple Crises and Challenges for LDCs (further information is available here)
Doha, 5 March 2023
Moderator: Gita Sen (DAWN)
Speakers: H.E. Cristina Isabel Lopes da Silva Monteiro Duarte (UN Special Adviser on Africa), Paul Akiwumi, Director for Africa and LDCs (UNCTAD), Cheikh Tidiane Dieye (ENDA-CACID, Senegal), Tetteh Hormeku (African Trade Network, Ghana), Lidy Nacpil (Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development, Philippines), Emilia Reyes, Equidad de Género, Ciudadania, Trabajo y Familia, México), Bright Thamie Phiri (Commons for Ecojustice and Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Malawi).

Plenary 2: DPoA: key for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Doha, 5 March 2023
Moderator: Chee Yoke Ling
Speakers: Ambassador Lachezara Stoeva (President of ECOSOC), Million Belay (African Food Sovereignty Network, Ethiopia), Maureen Penjueli (Pacific Network on Globalisation, Fiji), Dereje Alemayehu (Global Alliance for Tax Justice, Peru), María Graciela Cuervo (DAWN,Dominican Republic), Anita Gurumurthy (IT for Change, India), Chantal Umuhoza (RESURJ,Rwanda).

Round Table: Equity in Multilateralism: Peace, Sustainable Development and Human Rights
Doha, 5 March 2023
Moderator: Courtenay Rattray (Chef de Cabinet to the UN Secretary-General)
Speakers: Meena Raman (Friends of the Earth, Malaysia), Gita Sen (DAWN, India), Million Belay (African Food Sovereignty Alliance, Ethiopia), Kumi Samuel (DAWN, Sri Lanka), Deborah James (OWINFS), Asad Rehman (War on Want/UK), Diego Valladares (OHCHR).

Round Table: Digital economy and Sustainable Development - Issues at Stake
Doha, 8 March 2023
Organizer/Moderator: Anita Gurumurthy (IT for Change)
Speakers: Neth Daño, Asia Director (Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration - ETC Group); Torbjörn Fredriksson, Head of E-commerce and Digital Economy Branch (UNCTAD); Deborah James, Director of International Programs (Center for Economic and Policy Research and Coordinator, OWINFS network); Africa Kiiza (PhD Fellow at Hamburg University, Uganda); Tesfit Gebremeskel Gebreslassie (Europe External Programme with Africa, Ethiopia); Marina Durano (UNI Global Union); Maureen Penjueli (Pacific Network on Globalization).

Dialogue between UN Resident Coordinators (RCs) & civil society: Challenges and opportunities for implementation of the DPoA at country level
Doha, 8 March 2023
Moderator: Chee Yoke Ling (TWN)
Resident Coordinators’ panel: Hanna Singer-Hamdy, RC Nepal; Amanda Mukwash RC Lesotho; José Barahona, RC Djibouti Other RCs participating: Eric Overvest, RC Sao Tome and Principe; Karla Hershey, RC Bhutan; Jaap Van Hierden, RC Micronesia; Aminata Maiga, RC Senegal; Lila Pieters, RC Mauritania; Christine N Umutoni, RC Liberia; Sara Beysolow Nyanti, RC South Sudan; Beatrice Mutali, RC Zambia; Gwyn Lewis, RC Bangladesh; Issa Sanogo, RC Madagascar, Ulrika Richardson, RC and Humanitarian Coordinator, Haiti.

Closure of the Civil Society Forum
Doha, 8 March 2023
Speakers: Amina Mohammed (UN deputy secretary general) and organizers of the Civil Society Forum (Roberto Bissio, Social Watch; Barbara Adams, GPF New York and Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network).