UN Press Conference: International Day of Awareness for Landlocked Developing Countries

Adoption of International Day for LLDCs

• 🗓️ The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution by consensus to establish the International Day of Awareness of the Special Development Needs and Challenges of Landlocked Developing Countries.
• 🗓️ This day will be celebrated annually starting August 6th.
• 🌍 The adoption is a significant milestone for the group of 32 landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), representing over 600 million people.

Challenges and Disadvantages of LLDCs

• 🗺️ Being landlocked presents a major disadvantage compared to coastal states, leading to difficult paths toward sustainable development.
• 📈 LLDCs face unique and persistent challenges, including limited access to global markets, higher trade costs, complex transit procedures, and inadequate infrastructure.
• 💰 The isolation imposed on some LLDCs, like Bolivia due to historical conflicts, results in significant development hurdles.

Goals and Future Outlook

• 🤝 The new international day aims to raise global awareness, mobilize political will, and promote stronger international cooperation and partnerships for LLDCs.
• 💡 It will serve as a platform for advocacy, dialogue, and coordinated actions to address the specific development needs of LLDCs.
• 🚀 The first celebration will coincide with the third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3) in AASA, Turkmenistan, from August 5-8, 2025.
• 🌍 The goal is to ensure that geography does not determine destiny and that no country is left behind in achieving sustainable development.

Specific Country Perspectives

• 🇧🇴 Bolivia emphasizes its right to sovereign access to the sea and seeks peaceful, mutually beneficial solutions with Chile.
• 🇱🇦 The Lao PDR is committed to transforming from a landlocked to a land-linked country by prioritizing infrastructure, trade facilitation, and regional connectivity.
• 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe highlights the need for scaled-up technical and financial support to accelerate the implementation of the AAMA Program of Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.