UN Secretary-General urges fairness in global development for landlocked countries – JURIST

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday called on the international community to “break down barriers and restore fairness in global development,” during opening remarks at the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3) in Awaza, Turkmenistan.

The conference, held from August 5 to 8, 2025, brings together representatives from the 32 landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), which together comprise over 500 million people. Despite this, the LLDCs account for only around one percent of global trade. In his address, Guterres warned that without bold reform, geography will continue to dictate who has opportunities:

Geography should never define destiny. Yet for the 32 Landlocked Developing Countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America, geography too often limits development opportunities and entrenches inequality. […] These inequalities are not inevitable. They are the result of an unfair global economic and financial architecture unfit for the realities of today’s interconnected world, compounded by systemic neglect, structural barriers – and in many cases, the legacy of a colonial past.

LLDC3 marks the beginning of the Awaza Programme of Action for LLDCs (2024–2034), which outlines development priorities over the next decade. The plan emphasizes climate resilience, connectivity, trade facilitation, and diversification, and calls on developed nations and international financial institutions to provide increased support.

The Secretary-General also urged reforms to the global financial architecture, including more equitable lending practices and debt relief for the LLDCs, which often pay some of the world’s highest borrowing costs. In a parallel session, several LLDC leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but stressed that international solidarity must be matched with action.

The LLDC3 Conference is the first of its kind since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. The Awaza Programme of Action, formally adopted by the UN General Assembly in late 2024, replaces the Vienna Programme of Action and is expected to set the tone for multilateral engagement with LLDCs into the next decade.

Guterres closed his speech with a call to action: “The success of LLDCs is essential to the success of the 2030 Agenda. We have the knowledge, and we have the tools. Together, we can write a new chapter in the history of landlocked developing countries – one of economic integration, resilience, and shared prosperity.”

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