The President Delivers An Address At the 5th UN Conference On the LDCs

On Sunday, 5^th March 2023- President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih delivered his address at the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar. The summit which is held once every 10 years is hosted from March 5^th-9^th, 2023.

Speaking at the conference, President Solih iterated that the graduation process makes scant regard for Small Island Developing States’ (SIDS) underlying vulnerabilities. On this note, he elaborated that although there is an improvement in general economic performance, vulnerabilities imposed due to geographical size, scatteredness and susceptibility to climate change as well as lack of economic diversification, inadequate access to development finance are often overlooked.

In this regard, the President noted that the Maldives had to exercise great effort to ensure that certain benefits and special considerations were still intact. Spotlighting climate change, President Solih stated that Least Developed Countries and SIDS are disproportionately affected by it due to limited access to adequate, sustainable and predictable finance to combat climate change. He stressed that such finance is needed to implement climate action and adapt to changing climate, offset emissions and strengthen resilience to climate change impacts.

Speaking further on this, the President called on the global community and developed world to fulfill their obligations in delivering the collective finance goal of $ 100 billion per year. He also emphasized the need to accelerate the establishment of the Loss and Damage fund as agreed at the COP 27 summit held last year. Reflecting on LDCs, President Solih advised them to build resilience via good governance and sustainable development and encourage equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of life.