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Innovation for structural transformation in Least Developed Countries – LDC Future Forum
5-7 March 2024, Helsinki, Finland and online
Innovation for structural transformation in Least Developed Countries – LDC Future Forum
The second LDC Future Forum takes place 5–7 March 2024 in Helsinki, Finland. The event is live streamed.
The world is far off track from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the least developed countries (LDCs) are in danger of being left even further behind. With seven years left to 2030, we must urgently develop new ways to accelerate the needed transformations. Making better use of science, technology, and innovations is key in this task.
To support the LDCs to reach the SDGs, the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and the government of Finland are organizing a series of LDC Future Forums to gather different actors regularly.
Building on the first LDC Future Forum in Helsinki in 2021 and its session Deploying Digital: Leveraging STI and emerging digital technologies for sustainable development, the second Forum will focus on the role of innovation for structural transformation. The panel sessions cover key sectors, including education, job creation, agro-processing and e-commerce.
The LDC Future Forum brings together policymakers and researchers from LDCs and their development partners, permanent representatives to the UN of the LDCs, as well as civil society and the private sector. The objective is to share ideas and lessons learned, and draw evidence-based policy recommendations.
As with the first LDC Future Forum, UNU-WIDER is a partner in organizing the event. Other supporting partners include OECD Development Centre, Foundation for studies and Research on International Development (FERDI), UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, and the UN Technology Bank for LDCs.
LDC5 Monitor – Defining its scope and uses
On 7 March UNU-WIDER, in collaboration with OECD Development Centre and FERDI, organises a special session on the LDC5 Monitor. The monitor is a support tool to i) monitor critical indicators related to vulnerabilities and to production transformation, ii) accompany targeted LDCs in their policy implementation to address these challenges, and iii) provide suggestions on how international support measures (ISMs) and partnerships should be adapted to better support LDCs.
Outcomes
A report with key findings as well as policy briefs with policy recommendations are published on the LDC Future Forum website after the event. The Forum also feeds into the 2024 UN Summit of the Future as well as the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3), making recommendations for the Pact for the Future and the new programme of action for the landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), with half of the LLDCs being also LDCs.
About the Future Forum
The LDC Future Forum provides a platform for the LDCs and their partners to to discuss and share innovative solutions on different themes. The objective of the multi-year event series is to support the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA), to facilitate the graduation of LDCs from the category. The themes of each Forum are based on the DPoA priority areas.The Forums will also contribute to other UN processes to foster the achievement of SDGs in LDCs.
