During the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) High-Level Segment in New York on Monday, Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Finance and Planning Adviser, Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, presented the LDC Group’s priorities and cautioned that rising debt, climate shocks, dwindling fiscal room, and falling development aid are jeopardising sustainable development.
Representing the 44‑member LDC Group, Dr. Titumir warned that progress toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains “alarmingly off track,” with the LDCs bearing the heaviest challenges.
The group’s primary demand is a substantial boost in predictable, affordable concessional financing to tackle mounting debt vulnerabilities and to fund education, health care, productive capacity, resilient infrastructure, job creation, poverty reduction, social protection, and essential services.
Second, he calls for reforms of the international financial architecture to better accommodate LDCs’ structural vulnerabilities, including expanded access to concessional resources, debt‑suspension mechanisms, sustainable debt solutions, and more equitable financing arrangements.
Third, Dr. Titumir stresses that climate finance must be predictable, accessible, and proportionate to countries’ vulnerabilities, while also advocating for stronger support for adaptation, resilience‑building, the energy transition, the Loss and Damage Fund, and greater investment in clean energy and resilient infrastructure.
Fourth, the LDC Group urges the international community to preserve and expand market access for LDC exports by rolling back protectionist policies and establishing transparent, simplified, and development‑friendly rules of origin.
Fifth, Dr. Titumir underscores the need for stronger international cooperation to bridge digital and technological divides through enhanced technology transfer, capacity‑building, and digital transformation.
He reaffirms the group’s commitment to implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA), which he described as the principal frameworks for advancing sustainable development and facilitating a smooth graduation from LDC status.
He warned that persistent structural vulnerabilities, worsening climate change, widening digital divides, and limited access to affordable finance continue to impede development across the LDCs, threatening the DPoA’s goal of enabling more countries to achieve sustainable and irreversible graduation by 2031. He noted that 14 LDCs are currently at various stages of the graduation process and still need sustained international support.
Bangladesh and Nepal, he said, have requested a three‑year extension of their preparatory period for graduation until November 2029, citing unprecedented political, macroeconomic, environmental, and external shocks.
He described next year’s Mid‑Term Review of the Doha Programme of Action in Doha as a critical opportunity to accelerate the implementation of global commitments, urging heads of state and government, ministers, international financial institutions, and development partners to ensure the meeting yields “transformational and implementable outcomes.”
“The LDC Group stands ready to work with all partners to ensure that the Mid‑Term Review becomes a turning point—one that restores momentum, rebuilds trust, and delivers on the promise of sustainable development, leaving no one behind.”
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