Adopting 3 Texts, General Assembly Reschedules Least Developed Countries Conference, Allows Participation of Civil Society, Other Stakeholders in Stockholm+50 Meeting
The General Assembly today adopted without a vote two decisions that expand the involvement of non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders in a global environmental meeting in Stockholm this June while also adopting by consensus a resolution that reschedules the substance of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries to March 2023 in Doha.
With the adoption of draft decision A/76/L.37, the Assembly will allow the participation of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, indigenous peoples’ organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector and philanthropic organizations in the high-level meeting “Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all — our responsibility, our opportunity.”
With the second decision A/76/L.38, the Assembly decided to accredit the organizations that are identified in the annex to resolution L.37. Set to be held 2 June and 3 June in Sweden, Stockholm+50 will commemorate the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment and celebrate 50 years of global environmental action. It aims to act as a springboard to accelerate the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Assembly then turned its attention to draft resolution A/76/L.39, “Further modalities of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries”. The representative of Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, introduced the resolution, which would schedule the conference into two parts. Originally slated to be held in Doha in January 2022, the high-level meeting was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first part of the rescheduled conference will be held at United Nations Headquarters on 17 March and consist of one plenary meeting. The second part will be held in Doha from 5 to 9 March 2023.
The draft resolution includes new financial requirements of $171,500 for 2023, which will be included under Section two of the 2023 programme budget. An oral statement delivered by the Secretariat at today’s meeting indicated that $98,300, allotted for the January 2022 conference and not spent, will be surrendered in the financial performance report for 2022.
After the vote, the representative of Malawi, speaking for the Group of Least Developed Countries, thanked all Members States for adopting the resolution by consensus. The implementation of the outcome of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul came to an end in 2020 and effective preparation for the upcoming conference is urgently needed, she said.
The representative of Qatar welcomed the resolution’s adoption and its establishment of new dates for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. Qatar is honoured to host the conference and will work with the conference partners from 17 March onward to prepare, she said, expressing hope for the highest level of representation at the conference.