Chairs Underline Urgent Need to Bridge Digital Gaps in Sparking Opportunity, Driving Innovation, as Second Committee Takes Up Regional Commissions

Committee Also Discusses Challenges Facing Countries in Special Situations

As ongoing conflicts, economic volatility and gaping inequality shadow development prospects, regional commissions today highlighted in a joint meeting with the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) the urgent need to bridge digital gaps in sparking opportunity and driving innovation, with the Committee also discussing challenges hampering countries in special situations in a separate session.

Opening the meeting, Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), noted the challenges of her region ranging from ongoing conflicts to economic instability, which make discussions on digital transformation timely and urgent.  “In a world where access to digital services determines livelihoods and futures, the digital divide is no longer just a gap in connectivity — it’s a widening divide in opportunity,” she said.  In reducing the divide, ESCWA is fostering innovation and building trust as well as partnerships across the region.  Through platforms like the Arab International Digital Cooperation and Development Forum, it is also creating spaces where leaders from Governments, civil society and the private sector can exchange knowledge and strategies.

Javier Medina Vásquez, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Coordinator of the Regional Commissions, said his area “is facing three development traps”:  low capacity to grow; high inequality, low social mobility and social cohesion; and weak institutional capacity and ineffective governance.  Between 2014 and 2023, the Latin American economy grew by a meagre 0.9 per cent, which runs the risk of a third lost decade “as we had in the 1980s”.  Digital transformation offers a unique opportunity to overcome the region’s traps, he noted, although it faces a connectivity gap compared to Europe, especially in rural areas.  This limits the region’s ability to access essential digital services such as education, healthcare, social protection and e-government.

To progress, he said, Regional Commissions can apply international digital transformation discussions to local contexts, tailoring global commitments to regional needs and socioeconomic conditions.  They can further help countries develop digital agendas that align with national goals, and encourage cooperation on projects and agendas, including emerging technologies like 5G and artificial intelligence (AI).  The Commissions can also establish frameworks to measure digital progress, creating reliable and comparable indicators on access, usage and the impact of technologies on productivity and welfare, he said, as well as foster discussions on data protection, cybersecurity and harmonizing regulations.

Lin Yang, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), highlighted the digital divide in her region, pointing to significant gender, generational, disability and geographical gaps.  While 61.2 per cent of the region’s population is online, some areas still have digital literacy rates as low as 4 per cent.  With 1.3 billion informal workers and only 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) invested in labour market policies, millions lack the skills to thrive in the digital economy.  “Yet, the Asia-Pacific region is also a leader in digital innovation”, she said, accounting for a quarter of global digitally deliverable services in 2022.  Growing intraregional demand is the main driver of digitally deliverable service exports in the region, constituting 39 per cent of its exports in 2021. Digital finance is expected to grow by 70 per cent by 2026, benefitting micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those led by women.

Dmitry Mariyasin, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), said his region is largely off track on many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), requiring an urgent reversal. “And we are talking about the European region, which often is considered the most advanced when it comes to both development policies and data availability,” he stated.  While the region as a whole is ahead in terms of Internet users, there are disparities between urban and rural areas as well as by age.  Turning to digital regulations, he noted that the first ever UN directives on cybersecurity and automated vehicles have been put forward.  On digitalization decarbonization, sustainable mobility and urban development, he emphasized a raft of initiatives, with the ECE Decarbonization Strategy for Inland Transport covering road, rail and inland waterway transport.

Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said digital infrastructure is limited in her region — only 37 per cent of Africans have access to Internet and 28 per cent of rural Africa is covered by broadband.  It also has persistent digital and gender divides, as “32 per cent of African women use the Internet compared to 42 per cent of African men”.  She further noted that Africa struggles to fully leverage AI innovations, as the continent’s AI ecosystem is fragmented, with limited visibility and accessibility to groundbreaking projects and solutions addressing critical local issues. On future opportunities, she observed that Africa’s median age is 19 and that the continent will have over 500 million young people by 2030, representing a huge potential for innovation and economic growth.  Meanwhile, Africa’s digital economy will reach $180 billion by 2025, or 5.2 per cent of the continent’s GDP, and $712 billion by 2050, or 8.2 per cent of GDP.

In the afternoon session, the Committee held a discussion on countries in special situations.

Deodat Maharaj, Managing Director, UN Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, speaking on behalf of Rabab Fatima, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on “Follow-up to the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries” (document A/79/75).  Noting that such countries face “significant challenges across all SDGs”, he said the number of severely food insecure in least developed nations rose from 243 million in 2020 to 266 million in 2021.  Infant mortality remains high, with a rate of 45 per 1,000 live births, 62 per cent above the global average of 28.  Universal connectivity remains out of reach for many, as only 35 per cent of the population in these countries has access to the Internet.

The gender digital divide persists, with just 30 per cent of women online, compared to 41 per cent of men, he said. Access to electricity, vital for achieving the SDGs, stood at only 56 per cent in 2021, and 45 per cent in rural areas.  Lingering impacts of the COVID‑19 pandemic have further exacerbated financial challenges facing least developed countries, with 15 nations now at high risk of debt distress and six already there.  Noting that international response has been insufficient, he said official development assistance (ODA) to these nations dropped by over 7 per cent in 2022, amounting to only about $45 billion. He underscored the urgent need for coordinated action by all stakeholders to support these countries in recovering lost ground, which requires extending social protection systems and strengthening productive capacities.

Mr. Maharaj also introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the “Implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024” (document A/79/237).   The report provides an overview of the preparatory process for the third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3), to be held in Gaborone in December 2024.  It also highlights five priority areas set in the draft Programme of Action for the decade 2024-2034.  The first area, on structural transformation, calls for diversifying economies, reducing reliance on commodities and fostering productivity through investments in science, technology and innovation.   A second area, on trade facilitation and regional integration, aims to double landlocked countries’ share of trade, focusing on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement and boosting domestic value addition.

A third priority area, on transit, transport and connectivity, seeks to reduce trade costs by developing transport corridors, multi-modal systems and resilient infrastructure.  A fourth area, on climate change resilience, stresses the urgent need to support climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction, highlighting landlocked developing countries’ vulnerabilities, despite their minimal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.  Finally, means of implementation emphasizes the need for increased financial resources, including ODA, foreign direct investment (FDI) and climate finance, with an emphasis on South-South and triangular cooperation.

In the ensuing discussion, delegates highlighted challenges countries in special situations face, including rising debt, high transport and trade costs, limited trade access, climate change impacts and digital connectivity.  They stressed the importance of debt relief, equitable trade access, eliminating the digital divide and providing adequate climate financing and ODA.

Nepal’s delegate, speaking for the Group of Least Developed Countries, noted that about two thirds of the population in his bloc is offline, while their share of global GDP has remained stagnant at 1 per cent for decades.  Least developed countries’ share of global exports remains about 1 per cent, with a rising trade deficit and external debt expanding by nearly 5 per cent to $578 billion in 2023.  Further, these States face grave consequences of climate change, although they contribute only 3.3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Given an annual spending gap of 40 per cent of GDP to achieve the SDGs, he said development partners should realize the target of 0.2 per cent of gross national income as ODA, increase concessional financing and combat illicit financial flows.  With almost half of the countries in debt distress or at high risk, he called for urgent debt relief measures, including mechanisms like buybacks or debt-for-SDG swaps.  On climate, he stressed the need to double adaptation finance and capitalize the loss and damage fund.

Botswana’s delegate, speaking for the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries, said her bloc faces persistent infrastructure gaps, particularly in transportation and digital connectivity, which are critical for integration into global value chains.  Initiatives, including the Infrastructure Investment Finance Facility, are critical to ensure equitable participation in the global economy, by leveraging modern digital solutions and bridging the digital divide.

High transport and trade costs continue to limit the access of her Group to global markets, she said.  Supporting the diversification of their economies and value chains remains essential, as does ensuring access to fair and inclusive international trading systems. Stressing the need for strengthened efforts in trade facilitation, she underscored the need to formalize a dedicated work programme on landlocked countries within WTO.  Pointing also to climate change disruptions, she called for support in forming a negotiating group for these nations within UN climate conference processes.

Samoa’s delegate, speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States, noted that small island developing countries are not landlocked, but “the challenges faced by remoteness and limited connectivity are ones that we share and understand”.  Small island developing States that are also least developed countries face structural challenges on both sides of their categorizations — limited access to resources, exposure and vulnerability to climate change, export marginalization, climbing debt burdens and extreme poverty.

With the support of developed countries, her bloc of nations must overcome obstacles and ensure long-term progress, which is meaningless if a country moving from low-income to middle-income status is still open to global shocks.  The loss of preferential treatment and access to financing forces them to borrow at exorbitant rates to finance development, creating a cycle of unsustainable debt.

The representative of Uganda, speaking for the Group of 77 and China, said the international community must “get back on track” to support least developed and landlocked developing countries’ needs and challenges. He called on the global community to fulfil commitments to support these countries in achieving the SDGs and provide adequate means for implementing social programmes — an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

He underscored the importance of long-term financing, reform of the international financial architecture and an overhaul of the international tax system.  On climate change and disaster risk reduction, he underscored the need to build up the capacities of least developed and landlocked developing nations in responding to related impacts and challenges.

The representative of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, speaking for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said least developed, landlocked and small island developing States remain the most vulnerable in the current geopolitical and economic landscape. Their special development situations and unique challenges, combined with external shocks, have threatened to widen the gap between them and more developed countries.

The Pact for the Future, with concrete deliverables and ambitious actions, is instrumental in recalibrating collective efforts to address pressing needs of developing countries, particularly those in vulnerable situations, she said.  The Pact recognizes special attention is needed for countries in special situations, which require continued and increased assistance to bridge science, technology and innovation gaps.  The international community must ensure effective implementation of specific actions contained in the Pact.

Paraguay’s delegate said his Government has made major financial investments in connectivity, improving the density of paved roads, making the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway and bi-oceanic corridor possible, which will link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. However, he highlighted the need to ensure that countries have unhindered and effective access to and from the sea by all forms of transport.  He called the next UN conference on landlocked developing countries “an excellent opportunity to address the particular needs of our group of countries”.

The representative of the United States said his country championed the Group of Seven’s launch of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which intends to mobilize $600 billion by 2027 to help close the gap in low- and middle-income countries.  Continuing to lead efforts to reform multilateral development banks, he noted that over $200 billion will become available in new lending headroom over the next 10 years, with the capacity to unlock over $350 billion in total.  The United States is collaborating with African partners to unlock innovation and growth, he said, adding that it has spent $24 billion in ODA for least developed countries, more than $14 billion for landlocked developing countries, and almost $2 billion for small island developing States, with billions more mobilized from the private sector.