Operating within the UN Convention on Climate Change (CMNUCC), the group aims to amplify its voices in global climatic conversations, where its different vulnerabilities have been overlooked for a long time.
Disproportionate climatic risks
Although the LLDCs represent approximately 12 percent of the world’s earth’s surface, they have experienced almost 20 percent of the world’s drought and landslides in the last decade, which underlines their disproportionate exposure to disasters related to the climate.
Lacking access to the sea, these countries depend largely on neighboring traffic states, which further increases their vulnerability to climate induced interruptions.
Awaza’s action program is not the first global framework to address LLDC’s development needs, but for the first time, this action plan includes a strong approach to adaptation to climate -related disasters.
A call to resilience and preparation
Natalia Alonso Cano, head of the Regional Office of the Disaster Risk Reduction Office (UNDRR) for Europe and Central Asia, emphasized this in an interview with UN news.
LLDCS, he said, face superimposed risks: more than half of their territory is classified as dry lands; Many are in mountainous regions; and some sit in seismically active areas.
“Coastal countries in general, suffer about three times economic losses compared to the world average,” he said. “In addition, mortality rates (when disasters attack these countries) are much higher than the global average. Such large differences can be explained by a combination of this vulnerability, but also a combination of exacerbating impacts.”
Limited capacity, growing challenges
Developing countries without a coast often struggle to respond to climatic challenges due to limited financial capacity, dependence on indifferent economies and based on basic products and weak governance. In 2024, a third of the LLDCs were in conflict or considered unstable.
The new 10 -year -old UN action plan aims to support LLDC in climatic adaptation, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction.
“We know that early alert saves lives. It is a fact,” said Mrs. Alonso Cano. “When you can communicate with the affected communities that something is going to happen and that must be prepared, to evacuate, for example, they must do certain things. If you know what they should do, that is part of the early warning system. Obviously, save lives and also save livelihoods.”
She gave an example of preparation for drought: “If there is (s) a systemic drought in an area, she works in preparation with communities, they can, for example, take certain measures, reduce perhaps the amount of cattle in the case of that, can congregate to water points, etc. There are a series of measures to address that.”
Mrs. Alonso Cano emphasized the need for long -term planning: “We need to take into account what will happen in 10, 20, 30 years. And climate change will become more extreme, we know it safely.”
Women and girls at the forefront
Within LLDCS, women and girls are particularly at risk, which makes the genre a key concern in Thursday’s events in LLDC3 in Awaza. The highlight was a forum of women’s leaders, opened by the UN under the general secretary Rababa Fatima, who emphasized that sustainable development cannot be achieved without the full participation of women and girls.
Mrs. Fátima, the high representative of the less developed countries, developing countries without coastline and small states in development of the islands, said progress in the last 25 years: women now occupy a third of parliamentary seats in LLDC, compared to only 7.8 percent in 2000.
“This is higher than the global average,” he said, adding that 11 of the 54 speakers of the world parliament come from LLDC.
Persistent gender gaps
However, there are challenges. “Progress is unequal and too slow. One in four women in LLDC lives in extreme poverty, that is, almost 75 million women; and almost half, approximately 150 million, face food insecurity.”
Employment statistics show broad gender disparities. While 80 percent of women in LLDC work informally, without contracts or protections, the global average is 56 percent. One in three girls in LLDC marries early, almost twice the global rate, and only one in three complete secondary education. In addition, only 36 percent of women in these countries have Internet access.
“That is why industrial and development policies that respond to gender are so important,” Fatima emphasized. “These policies must adapt to national contexts, and industrial development in rural areas, commercial support, employment formalization and strengthened associations must be priorities.”
Digital inclusion for women and girls
He also asked to improve Internet access and education for women and girls.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a UN specialized agency, is addressing these challenges.
Dr. Cosmas Luckysin Zavazava, director of the ITI Telecommunications Development Office, said UN news Although some regions such as CEI have achieved gender parity in Internet access, LLDC still face important barriers.
“That is why we have developed special programs for women and girls in this region,” he said. “It is not just about access, but also about building coding skills and introducing girls in fields such as robotics. Our programs aim to motivate young women and girls to follow careers in Stem sectors.”
Turning point for action
As Awaza’s conference approaches its conclusion, participants are expected to reaffirm their political commitment to Awaza’s action program, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2024.
The time has come for the implementation, or as Rababababa Fátima said, “that this forum is a turning point.