Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS)

1. In the past year, has the governing body of your organization taken any decisions to advance sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and ensure that no one is left behind? If yes, please briefly mention these decisions taken by your governing body in 2024 and provide the respective symbols.

2. During 2024, what actions have your entities taken to improve coordination among UN system entities across policy and normative activities as well as with ECOSOC subsidiary bodies with a view to increase impact and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda? Please provide any relevant links. 

3. In the past year, has your organization organized any intergovernmentally mandated conferences, forums or events that contributed to the achievement of the SDGs, or has been in the process of planning and organizing any such mandated events to be held next year?  

4. In the past year, has your organization published or planned to publish any analytical work, guidance or reference materials, or toolkits to guide and support the implementation of SDGs at national, regional and global levels? Please select up to three to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs.  

5. The United Nations has defined six key transitions, or transformative entry points, that can have catalytic and multiplier effects across the SDGs and which have been guiding the UN development system work since the 2023 SDG Summit. In the past year, how has your organization contributed to  these transformative actions and how various actors are being rallied behind them to mobilize further leadership and investment to bring progress to scale? Please provide any relevant links.

2) Energy access and affordability

In 2024, OHRLLS continued to participate in the work of UN-Energy and SDG7 TAG to advance the implementation of SDG7 in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. In 2024, OHRLLS contributed to the Global Stocktaking after the completion of the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All to further accelerate the implementation of SDG 7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the SG report on ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, as all the new Programmes of Action for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS underline the importance of access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy. The Doha Programme of Action sets a target to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services by 2030 and double financing from all sources in support of clean and renewable energy and enhance capacities in energy production, trade and distribution. In the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), SIDS seek the support of the international community to foster sustainable energy transitions and energy efficiency and ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy, based on all energy sources, in particular renewable energy sources. Whereas the new programme of action for LLDCs emphasizes reliable and stable energy connectivity at the national, regional and global levels to advance economic integration and sustainable development in LLDCs and encourages efforts for resilient and secure cross-border energy infrastructure and energy connectivity.  

3) Digital connectivity

OHRLLS continues its collaboration with ITU to improve digital connectivity in LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS through initiatives like the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition, which promotes digital transformation globally, particularly for underserved communities in these three groups (ITU Partner2Connect Digital Coalition).

Ahead of the SIDS4 Conference in Antigua (May 2024), OHRLLS, ITU, and Microsoft hosted an event at the 2nd Preparatory Committee Meeting in New York, engaging government officials, P2C partners, and key private and civil society stakeholders to discuss partnerships for advancing digital connectivity in SIDS (see P2C at SIDS gathering during PrepCom 2 Meeting in New York). Additionally, OHRLLS and ITU are organizing a digital connectivity track for the LLDC3 conference.

Publications on digital development in these regions have been released, including ITU’s "Facts and Figures" reports on LDCs, SIDS, and LLDCs1, and case studies on digital progress in Kiribati, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, shared through stakeholder workshops. OHRLLS also participates in the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, where its USGs advocate for meaningful connectivity -- in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS -- with tech industry leaders (Home - Broadband Commission).

6) Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution

OHRLLS continued to undertake advocacy and outreach at the COP, including organizing events with key partners and stakeholders that aimed to advance climate action, including on scaling-up finance for ambitious action on early warning systems for adaptation. For the SIDS, events focused on strengthening partnerships for climate finance, including public-private partnerships for a green and resilient transition; enhancing policy coherence, through integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation perspectives and approaches; and bridging local and global action on loss and damage to support the empowerment of local communities.

Organized by OHRLLS, WMO, UNDRR, and ITU  

During past climate change COPs OHRLLS has been advocating for the inclusion of SIDS priorities in the global loss and damage agenda. In 2024, OHRLLS held a side event at SIDS4 co-organised with Climate Analytics to focus on SIDS priorities in light of the operationalization of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage at COP28. OHRLLS and Climate Analytics are currently preparing a technical paper on loss and damage in SIDS to be discussed with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) at a roundtable dialogue on 3 December 2024. 

6. Please provide strategies (policies, guidance, plan) and/or collective actions taken to implement the 2024 Ministerial Declaration of the Economic and Social Council and the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the Council. Please note any challenges foreseen and provide any relevant links.   

In implementing the mandate from the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries, para. 261, OHRLLS contributes to the implementation of para 85 of ECOSOC 2024 Ministerial Declaration. Based on a comprehensive feasibility study, it determined that the contribution of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the sustainable development of the least developed countries (LDCs) has yet to materialize, despite decades of commitments and a crowded field of investment-related technical assistance. A radical step change is needed. A transformational investment support centre should be established to realize unprecedented FDI outcomes for the 45 LDCs, by engaging them in long-term planning, coordination, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of a country’s tailored strategic FDI plan, comprising measures for direct pursuit of FDI and government capacity-building for better, more effective cultivation of FDI and its benefits towards SDG achievement. See OHRLLS Financing Policy Brief for FFD4. 

7. What collective efforts is your entity undertaking to support countries in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in the areas of Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), Goal 5 (Gender equality), Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal 14 (Life below water) and Goal 17 (Partnerships), which will go under in-depth review at the HLPF in 2025? Please note any achievements, challenges and gaps and provide any relevant links.