Follow-Up to the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

A/RES/73/242View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 23a Follow-up to the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, published in 2019.

What else is in this group?

15 documents · 2013–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/150	Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries	9,145	–
2024	A/RES/79/218	Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries	7,441	–
2023	A/RES/78/233	Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries	6,939	–
2022	A/RES/77/177	Follow-up to the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries	5,661	–
2022	A/RES/76/216	Follow-up to the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries	6,097	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports · 2019–2021

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2021	A/76/271	Implementation, effectiveness and added value of smooth transition measures and graduation support report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/73/242
2019	A/74/69	Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/73/242

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Conferences Economic Cooperation Among Developing Countries Graduation Least Developed Countries Programme Implementation

What’s in this document?

57 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020⁹ and on the implementation, effectiveness and added value of smooth transition measures and graduation support;¹⁰

⁹A/73/80-E/2018/58.

¹⁰A/73/291.

Calls upon the least developed countries, their development partners, the United Nations system and all other actors to further strengthen the global partnership for development for the least developed countries in all priority areas of the Istanbul Programme of Action2 in order to ensure the timely, effective and full implementation of the Programme of Action during the remainder of the decade, in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,¹¹ the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development,¹² which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda, supports and complements it and helps to contextualize its means of implementation targets with concrete policies and actions, the Paris Agreement3 adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,4 the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–20307 and the New Urban Agenda;6

¹¹Resolution 70/1.

¹²Resolution 69/313, annex.

Invites the private sector, civil society, academia and foundations to contribute to the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action in their respective areas of competence, in line with the national priorities of the least developed countries;

Recalls the agreement contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that effective linkages will be made with the follow-up and review arrangements of all relevant United Nations conferences and processes, including on the least developed countries, underlines the importance of strong synergy in the implementation of the recently adopted agendas and the Istanbul Programme of Action at all levels, and encourages coordination and coherence in the follow-up of their implementation;

Reaffirms that the least developed countries, as the most vulnerable group of countries, need enhanced global support to overcome the structural challenges they face in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in this regard calls upon the international community to prioritize and strengthen support from all sources to facilitate the coordinated implementation and coherent follow-up and monitoring of the Istanbul Programme of Action, the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in the least developed countries;

Recognizes that significant additional domestic public and private resources, including at the subnational level, supplemented by international assistance and foreign direct investment, as appropriate, will be critical for the realization of sustainable development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda acknowledge the centrality of domestic resource mobilization, underscored by the principle of national ownership;

Also recognizes that, while the least developed countries have made considerable efforts to mobilize domestic resources and attract private investment, further progress is needed;

Welcomes the reversal in the decline of official development assistance to the least developed countries in 2017, while expressing its concern that bilateral official development assistance to the least developed countries remains far from the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income committed by many developed countries, as set out in the Istanbul Programme of Action and reaffirmed in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and expressing its appreciation to those few countries that have met or surpassed their commitments to 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to developing countries and the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to the least developed countries, urges all others to step up efforts to increase their official development assistance and to make additional concrete efforts towards the official development assistance targets, reiterates that the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments remains crucial, calls upon official development assistance providers to fulfil their respective official development assistance commitments to the least developed countries, and encourages official development assistance providers to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.2 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to the least developed countries, while reiterating that an important use of international public finance, including official development assistance, is to catalyse additional resource mobilization from other sources, public and private;

Is encouraged by those countries which are allocating at least 50 per cent of their official development assistance to the least developed countries;

Welcomes continued efforts to improve the quality, impact and effectiveness of development cooperation and other international efforts in public finance, including adherence to agreed development cooperation effectiveness principles;

Calls upon the developing countries, guided by the spirit of solidarity and consistent with their capabilities, to provide support for the effective implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action in mutually agreed areas of cooperation within the framework of South-South cooperation, which is a complement to but not a substitute for North-South cooperation;

Notes that exports of goods and services of the least developed countries increased by 13 per cent in 2017 after three years of continued negative growth, expresses its concern that the share of goods and services exports, which stood at 0.9 per cent in 2017, remains far from the target of 2 per cent of global exports called for in the Istanbul Programme of Action and target 17.11 of the Sustainable Development Goals, and calls upon the least developed countries and their development partners to take the measures necessary to further accelerate the progress, with a view to achieving the targets of the Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda;

Urges the least developed countries and their development partners to make use of existing initiatives and programmes, such as the relevant ministerial decisions of the World Trade Organization on duty-free and quota-free market access for the least developed countries and on preferential rules of origin for those countries, as well as aid for trade, reiterates its commitment to increase aid-for-trade support, in particular for the least developed countries, strives to allocate an increasing proportion of aid for trade to the least developed countries, in accordance with development cooperation effectiveness principles, welcomes additional cooperation among developing countries to that end, and encourages the least developed countries to mainstream trade in their national development plans;

Recognizes that the least developed countries face significant infrastructure gaps, including in the areas of transport, energy and information and communications technology, and reaffirms the need to promote quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure and to enhance infrastructure connectivity with concrete actions, maximizing synergies in infrastructure planning and development;

Emphasizes that the acute energy gap faced by the least developed countries is a severe constraint on their structural transformation, and stresses that special attention should be given to the least developed countries, including throughout the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (2014–2024), with a view to ensuring the realization of the objective of access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 and to addressing the infrastructure needs of the least developed countries;

Recognizes the significant potential of regional economic integration and interconnectivity to promote inclusive growth and sustainable development in the least developed countries, and stresses the need to strengthen regional cooperation to improve connectivity and competitiveness, increase productivity, lower transaction costs and expand markets;

Also recognizes that maintaining sustainable debt levels is the responsibility of the borrowing countries, while acknowledging that lenders also have a responsibility to lend in such a way that does not undermine a country’s debt sustainability, recalls the need to strengthen information-sharing and transparency to make sure that debt sustainability assessments are based on comprehensive, objective and reliable data, encourages Member States to work towards global consensus and best practices on guidelines for debtor and creditor responsibilities in borrowing by and lending to sovereigns, building on existing initiatives, and underlines that the debt sustainability framework for the least developed countries should systematically take into account their structural constraints and longer-term investment requirements for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals;

Expresses its deep concern that a number of least developed countries are in debt distress or at high risk of debt distress¹³ and that the ratio of debt service to exports has worsened sharply, rising from 4.1 per cent in 2008 to almost 10 per cent in 2017, underlines the urgent need to address the debt problems of the least developed countries, and stresses the need for the international community to remain vigilant in monitoring the debt situation of the least developed countries and to continue to take effective measures, preferably within existing frameworks, when applicable, to address the debt problem of those countries, including through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief, debt restructuring and sound debt management, as appropriate, for the multilateral and bilateral debt owed by the least developed countries to creditors, both public and private, reiterates its commitment to work through existing initiatives, such as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, and reaffirms the importance of transparency in debt management;

¹³See International Monetary Fund, Debt Sustainability Analysis: Low-Income Countries.

Expresses its concern that foreign direct investment flows to the least developed countries contracted by 17 per cent in 2017 compared with 2016, with continued concentration on extractive and related industries, and underlines the need to take the measures necessary at all levels to further accelerate foreign direct investment in the least developed countries;

Encourages the least developed countries, in accordance with their national plans and priorities, and with the full support of their development partners, to develop their capacities to track financial transactions, administer taxation and regulate customs and to redouble their efforts to substantially reduce illicit financial flows by 2030, with a view to eventually eliminating them, including by combating tax evasion and corruption through strengthened national regulation, and also encourages the United Nations and other relevant international bodies to help to support these efforts, in accordance with their respective mandates;

Recalls target 17.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, in which the General Assembly decided to adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries, and underlines the need for its early implementation, invites the Secretary-General, in his capacity as the Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to retain the issue of investment promotion regimes for the least developed countries in the agenda of the Board, with a view to enhancing the overall effectiveness of the support provided by the United Nations system to increase the flow of foreign direct investment to the least developed countries and the ability of those countries to attract such investment, and in that context takes note of the initiative of the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, jointly with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the International Labour Organization, the Enhanced Integrated Framework and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, to set up a capacity-development programme for the investment promotion agencies of the least developed countries, and calls for financial support to operationalize this programme;

Welcomes the operationalization of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries and the inauguration of its headquarters in Gebze, Turkey, which signify the achievement of the first Sustainable Development Goal target, target 17.8, takes note with appreciation of the contributions that Bangladesh, India, Norway and Turkey have made, as well as the pledges made by the Philippines and the Sudan, and invites Member States, as well as international organizations, foundations and the private sector, to provide voluntary financial contributions and technical assistance to the Technology Bank to ensure its effective operation;

Expresses its deep concern that, owing to significant capacity constraints, the least developed countries are disproportionately affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, including persistent drought and extreme weather events, sea level rise, coastal erosion, salinity intrusion, glacial lake outburst floods, ocean acidification and the rise in frequency, as well as the impact, of natural and human-made disasters, which further threaten food security, health and efforts to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development, and expresses its concern that women and girls are often disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change and other environmental issues;

Recognizes that disasters, many of which are exacerbated by climate change and which are increasing in frequency and intensity, significantly impede progress towards sustainable development, and also recognizes the synergies between the implementation of the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, acknowledges the importance of continued support for and international cooperation on adaptation and mitigation efforts and on strengthening resilience, stresses the necessity of adequate and predictable financial resources from a variety of sources, including public and private ones, highlights the specific needs and special circumstances of developing countries, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, recognizes that effective disaster risk management contributes to sustainable development, and in this regard underlines the importance of strengthening disaster risk reduction and early warning systems in order to minimize the consequences of disasters;

Underlines the importance of peaceful and inclusive societies for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and recalls the objectives of the Istanbul Programme of Action of enhancing good governance at all levels by strengthening democratic processes, building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions and the rule of law; increasing efficiency, coherence, transparency and participation; protecting and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms; reducing corruption and curbing illicit financial flows; and strengthening the capacity of the Governments of the least developed countries to play an effective role in their economic and social development;

Recognizes the importance of developing domestic capital markets in the least developed countries, which can help to channel the growing pool of domestic savings towards productive investments, reaffirms the commitment to enhance international support in developing domestic capital markets in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries, and reaffirms its commitment to work to strengthen capacity-building in this area, including through regional, interregional and global forums for knowledge-sharing, technical assistance and data-sharing, on mutually agreed terms;

Reaffirms that achieving gender equality, empowering all women and girls and the full realization of the human rights of all people are essential to achieving sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth and sustainable development, and reiterates the need for gender mainstreaming, including targeted actions and investments in the formulation and implementation of all financial, economic, environmental and social policies in the least developed countries;

Recognizes that particular efforts are needed to ensure that all young people, including girls, enjoy access to lifelong learning opportunities and equal access to quality education at all levels, inclusive of early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as technical and vocational training, notes with concern, in this regard, the lack of progress in closing gender gaps in access to, retention in and completion of secondary education, recognizes the need to continue to provide and encourage, as appropriate, institutes of higher education to allocate places and scholarships for students and trainees from the least developed countries, in particular in the fields of science, technology, business management and economics, and to strengthen support for institutions in relation to gender equality and the empowerment of women at the global, regional and national levels, and recognizes that the least developed countries have the most to gain from sustainable development and utilizing the full skills and talents of their people, including women and girls;

Also recognizes that increasing participation, empowering civil society, youth and women and strengthening collective action will contribute to the eradication of poverty and the achievement of sustainable development;

Underlines the need to reduce the vulnerability of the least developed countries to economic, natural and environmental shocks and disasters, as well as climate change, and to enhance their ability to meet these and other challenges by strengthening their resilience, and in this regard stresses that it is important that all countries and other actors work together to further develop and implement concrete measures, on an urgent basis, at the national and international levels so as to build the resilience of the least developed countries to withstand economic shocks and mitigate their adverse effects, to withstand and overcome the adverse effects of climate change, to enhance sustainable growth and protect biodiversity and to withstand natural hazards in order to reduce the risk of disasters, as agreed upon in the Istanbul Programme of Action;

Also underlines the need to address the economic, social and environmental impacts of climate change, and emphasizes the need for national and international action to enhance efforts to build resilience, especially for the most vulnerable, including through mainstreaming resilience into investment decision-making, building resilience through sustainable management of ecosystems and value chains and building resilience to reduce the impact and cost of natural disasters;

Further underlines the importance of improving the coordination and effectiveness of resilience-building initiatives for the least developed countries by leveraging existing measures at the national, regional and global levels to respond to various types of disasters and shocks, as elaborated in the report of the Secretary-General on crisis mitigation and resilience-building for the least developed countries;¹⁴

¹⁴A/72/270.

Encourages countries to develop national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020, in accordance with target (e) of the Sendai Framework, recognizes the importance of promoting their alignment and integration with sustainable development and climate change adaptation strategies, recognizes that the development of climate change adaptation and national disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020 is an opportunity to maximize synergies across the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework, and in this regard calls for disaster risk reduction to be considered in the review of and follow-up to the Istanbul Programme of Action;

Reiterates the call to substantially enhance international cooperation to developing countries through adequate and sustainable support to complement their national actions for the implementation of the Sendai Framework by 2030;

Congratulates those countries that have met the criteria for graduation from least developed country status, notes with appreciation that several least developed countries have expressed their intention to reach the status of graduation by 2020, invites those countries to start the preparations for their graduation and transition strategy, and requests all relevant organizations of the United Nations system, led by the Office of the High Representative, to extend necessary support in this regard, in a coordinated manner;

Acknowledges that the graduation of a country symbolizes its considerable long-term socioeconomic progress, prevailing over the structural handicaps to socioeconomic development, and that it also presents many challenges for graduated countries, which continue to face vulnerabilities to various shocks and crises;

Invites the least developed countries and development partners to integrate graduation and smooth transition strategies into their respective national development and aid strategies, as appropriate, including capacity-building and technical assistance to diversify sources of financing;

Notes with appreciation that some development partners have extended some of the benefits specific to the least developed countries to countries that have graduated, taking into account the challenges they continue to face, and invites all development partners to strengthen their support for graduation and smooth transition so that graduating and recently graduated countries can minimize disruption in their development trajectory;

Invites countries that are found eligible for graduation to establish a consultative mechanism, in line with General Assembly resolution 67/221, to prepare the transition strategy as early as possible, engaging all relevant donors and stakeholders;

Recognizes that the activities relating to the least developed countries carried out within the Secretariat need to be further coordinated and consolidated in order to ensure the effective monitoring and follow-up of the Istanbul Programme of Action, led by the Office of the High Representative, and to provide well-coordinated support to realizing the goal of enabling half of the least developed countries to meet the criteria for graduation by 2020;

Takes note of the work of the Inter-Agency Consultative Group for the least developed countries, led by the Office of the High Representative, notes the steps taken by the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination and the High-level Committee on Programmes in supporting the coordination and follow-up of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action on a system-wide basis, and reiterates its invitation to the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the Chief Executives Board, to include the implementation of the Programme of Action in the agenda of the Board;

Recalls paragraph 157 of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020 on holding a Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in order to make a comprehensive appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action and to decide on subsequent action, and decides to convene the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries at the highest possible level, including Heads of State and Government, in 2021 for a duration of not more than five working days, with the following mandate:

To undertake a comprehensive appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action by the least developed countries and their development partners, share best practices and lessons learned and identify obstacles and constraints encountered as well as actions and initiatives needed to overcome them;

To identify effective international and domestic policies in the light of the outcome of the appraisal as well as new and emerging challenges and opportunities and the means to address them;

To reaffirm the global commitment to addressing the special needs of the least developed countries made at the major United Nations conferences and summits, including in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework;

To mobilize additional international support measures and action, in addition to domestic resources, in favour of the least developed countries and, in this regard, to formulate and adopt a renewed partnership between the least developed countries and their development partners, including the private sector, civil society and governments at all levels;

Decides to convene, towards the end of 2020 and/or early in 2021, an intergovernmental preparatory committee, which would hold no more than two meetings of no more than five days each;

Also decides to take a decision on the organizational aspects, date and venue of the Conference and on the venue, duration and dates of the preparatory committee meetings at its seventy-fourth session;

Further decides that the meetings of the preparatory committee will be preceded by two regional preparatory meetings, each no longer than three days, one in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa and the other in collaboration with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, in the context of the regular annual session of each Commission, with those regional meetings to be supported by broad-based and inclusive country-level preparations;

Emphasizes the importance of country-level preparations as a critical input to the preparatory process for the Conference and in the implementation of and follow-up to its outcome, and calls upon the Governments of the least developed countries to submit their reports in a timely manner;

Stresses that the Conference and the preparatory activities should be carried out within the budget level proposed by the Secretary-General for 2020 and 2021 and should be organized in the most effective and efficient manner possible;

Decides that the Office of the High Representative will be the focal point for the preparations for the Conference, in accordance with mandates given by the General Assembly in its resolution 56/227 of 24 December 2001, to ensure that those preparations are carried out effectively and to mobilize and coordinate the active involvement of the entire United Nations system;

Encourages the organizations of the United Nations system, including the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the regional commissions, the specialized agencies, the funds and programmes, the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and other relevant international and regional organizations, within their respective mandates, to provide necessary support and to contribute actively to the preparatory process and the Conference itself;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, as appropriate, the full involvement of resident coordinators and country teams in the preparations for the Conference, in particular in the country-level and regional preparations;

Strongly encourages Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, major groups and other donors to contribute in a timely manner to the trust fund in support of activities undertaken by the Office of the High Representative to support the implementation, follow-up and monitoring of the Istanbul Programme of Action and the participation of the representatives from the least developed countries in the high-level political forum on sustainable development of the Economic and Social Council as well as in other relevant forums and the preparatory process of the Conference, and in this regard expresses its appreciation to those countries that have made voluntary contributions to the trust fund;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution and the Istanbul Programme of Action, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-fourth session, under the item entitled “Groups of countries in special situations”, the sub-item entitled “Follow-up to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries”;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session a progress report on the implementation, effectiveness and added value of smooth transition measures covering both graduating and recently graduated countries, including new and dedicated support measures to graduated countries in moving forward on their development path and initiatives taken by the United Nations system to support countries during their graduation from the least developed country category.

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