5 March 2023. "Three years after the world began its epic struggle against COVID-19, the least developed countries (LDCs) – already grappling with severe structural impediments to sustainable development and highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks – have found themselves stranded amid a rising tide of crisis, uncertainty, climate chaos and deep global injustice.
26 May 2022. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has launched an initiative called "An Accord for a Healthier World" whereby it has committed to provide its patent-protected medicines and vaccines available in the United States or European Union on a not-for-profit basis to 45 countries of the world's poorest countries and work with local officials to ensure regulatory, infrastructure, capacity and other aspects are addressed to ensure these products to reach those most in need . Thirty
Photo: WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala calls on LDCs to focus on most pressing priorities for MC 12. 16 May 2022: "Delivering the opening address at the “South-South Dialogue on Least-developed Countries (LDCs) and Development” on 16 May in Geneva, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stressed the need to deliver tangible outcomes for LDCs at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) to be held on 12-15 June.
"WTO members noted the sharp decline in least-developed countries’ (LDCs) participation in world trade since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at a meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs on 16 February. The chair, Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi (Finland), underlined the need for the international community to work together to promote trade opportunities in LDCs." More at WTO | 2022 News items - WTO members look at how trade can help LDCs recover from COVID-19
28 April 2021. In the context of UNESCAP's 77th Commission Session, this meeting will "bring forth policy messages that are specific to LDCs, of which 5 are also small island developing States (SIDS) and 4 are landlocked developing countries (LLDCs).
21 April 2021. From the WTO: "An analysis of least-developed countries’ (LDCs) trade flows in 2020, presented to WTO members at a meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs on 19 April, revealed that the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade was worse for LDCs than for the world as a whole.
"The COVID-19 crisis urges us to rethink the economic vulnerability of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and developing countries more generally. The crisis is putting to a test international support measures and in particular their capacity to adequately respond to countries’ needs. LDCs exhibit significant vulnerabilities that can be overlooked by the current mechanisms of financing for development. At the same time, those vulnerabilities contribute to the slow gains in structural transformation and productive capacity.
22-26 February 2021. The Africa Regional Review meeting is expected to review the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) in the region, as 33 out of 46 LDCs are located in Africa. They face multiple challenges in achieving the goals and targets of the IPoA, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as Agenda 2063. Their structural constraints are compounded by new and emerging challenges, including those posed by ongoing conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19 and their devastating impacts.
The graduation of the LDCs is expected to mark a significant achievement in their development path. However, despite new prospects, LDC graduation also present some challenges in meeting the demands of a successful transition to the next stages of socio-economic development. Upon the graduation, LDCs will lose a number of support measures after specific transition periods.
