High-Level Euro-Asia Regional Review Meeting of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024

Bangkok, Thailand

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in its resolutions 76/217 and 77/246, decided to convene the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) in 2024. The Conference aims to undertake “a comprehensive review of the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs for the Decade 2014-2024 (VPoA) and to formulate and adopt a renewed framework for international support to address the special needs of LLDCs and to strengthen partnerships between the LLDCs and transit countries and their development partners”.

The General Assembly also decided that the Conference shall be preceded by national and regional-level reviews, as well as thematic preparations. In line with the decision of the General Assembly, the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) jointly with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) are organizing the High-level Euro-Asia regional review meeting of the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs (VPoA) to be held on 23 and 24 August 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. The outcomes of the Regional Review Meeting will feed into the preparatory process of the Third United Nations Conference on LLDCs.

Documents

• Concept Note
• Information Note
• Executive Summary of the Background report
• Executive Summary (Русский)
• Outcome Document
• Delegates' Contributions
• Official report of the Meeting (PDF)

Objectives

The objectives of the Euro-Asia regional review meeting of the VPoA are to:

• Undertake a comprehensive review of the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action in Europe and Asia region, including identification of the achievements, constraints, emerging challenges and opportunities for achieving sustainable development and the SDGs in LLDCs;
• Identify alternative and innovative sources of finance (including trade finance) that could be leveraged and used for carrying forward the unfulfilled agendas of VPoA and provide guidance on how the LLDCs can access the resources;
• Share best practices, experiences and innovative approaches for tackling the lingering impacts of COVID-19 and other overlapping crises and achieving sustainable development of LLDCs, and
• Identify appropriate policy measures and concrete action-oriented recommendations at the national, regional and global levels for making the next programme of action for LLDCs a truly transformative one, especially for contributing to the acceleration of the achievement of the SDGs in the LLDCs in Europe and Asia.

The meeting will adopt an outcome document with recommendations that will form substantive inputs into the preparations of the Third United Nations Conference for LLDCs and will serve as an important background for the Preparatory Committee Meetings to be held in New York in early 2024.

Participation

The meeting will bring together ministers and senior government officials from Ministries dealing directly with the implementation of the VPoA and related issues of transit, trade, infrastructure development (ICT, Transport and energy), structural economic transformation and finance, from the Europe and Asia, as well as representatives of transit countries from the region and development partners. The United Nations system, relevant regional and sub-regional organizations, other international organizations, regional and international financial institutions; and the private sector will also be invited to attend.