Qatar will host the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, from 5 to 9 March, to discuss and build effective plans and partnerships to implement the Doha Work Program for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade (2022-2031).
The State of Qatar is considered one of the largest donors and supporters of the least developed countries, as the Qatar Fund for Development contributed $708 million over the past year, in total humanitarian and development aid, according to the Qatar News Agency. “Qena”.
And participating in the summit, which will be held in Doha, heads and government leaders from 33 African countries and 12 from Asia and the Pacific and Haiti, according to Al Jazeera Net.
What are the least developed countries?
Al-Jazeera Net explains that since 1971, the United Nations has recognized the least developed countries as a category of countries that are extremely disadvantaged in their development for structural, historical and geographical reasons, and that they face, more than other countries, the risks of extreme poverty and lack of development.
The Committee for Development Policy uses 3 criteria to determine the status of least developed countries:
1 – Per capita income (gross national income per capita).
2- Human assets (nutrition, health, school enrollment and literacy indicators).
3- Economic weakness (indicators of natural shocks that affect trade, physical and economic exposure to shocks…).
The current 46 least developed countries include about 880 million people, or 12% of the world’s population, and constitute the poorest and most vulnerable segment of the international community, representing less than 2% of global GDP and about 1% of international trade, according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).
What are the least developed Arab countries?
Classifies the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia “ESCWA” (ESCWA) Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Mauritania are less developed Arab countries, according to Al Jazeera Net.
The Qatar News Agency clarifies that the Committee for Development Policies reviews the list of least developed countries every 3 years, and in order for a country to be removed from the list, it must meet a number of criteria to raise its classification during two consecutive reviews. Istanbul in 2011, raising the rating of 3 additional countries, and is scheduled to raise the rating of 5 more countries by the year 2024.
A total of 15 countries have met the criteria for upgrading since 2011, indicating significant progress, although the approved target of having half of the least developed countries meet the criteria for upgrading by 2020 has not been achieved.
HE Mr. Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari, Director General of the Qatar Fund for Development, indicated in a statement to Qatar News Agency, the Fund’s commitment to financing development and relief projects around the world, as this had a great and direct impact on people’s lives, in more than 42 countries, during the past year.
The State of Qatar signed an agreement with the United Nations in October 2021 to host the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, and the conference culminated in the adoption of the Doha Work Program for the Least Developed Countries for the period 2022-2031, which would help these countries to face the challenges resulting from the pandemic. “COVID-19″as well as economic crises and climate change.
Shocking numbers and statistics:
And under the title “Summit in Doha to support it.. Learn about the least developed countries”Al-Jazeera Net presents shocking numbers about the countries included in the list:
- Since 1971 – the year of the announcement of the category of least developed countries “LDCS” (LDCs) – the number of these countries has doubled to 46.
The first United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries was held in Paris in 1981.
The average wage in Afghanistan does not exceed hundreds of dollars a year, while it exceeds $65,000 in the United States, according to World Bank figures.
Barely half of the poorest people in the world have access to electricity.
Only 1 in 5 people in poor countries has access to the Internet.
By the end of the decade, 1 in 5 children will be born in the least developed countries.
The number of people of working age will double over the next three decades to more than 1 billion in the least developed countries.
