Deliver on Sevilla Commitment, Empower Least Developed States ‘by Amplifying their Voices at Decision-making Tables’, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Ministers

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed's remarks to the annual ministerial meeting of least developed countries, in New York today:

Eight of your countries have graduated from least developed country status. Fourteen more are advancing.

This progress is real, but it is also fragile and it reminds us how far we still are from the tipping point of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

One third of workers in least developed countries still live in extreme poverty. Growth has not kept pace with needs, and your share of global merchandise trade remains marginal.

Though the world is firmly entrenched in the digital age, too many of your people are still being left behind in the digital revolution without the support or technology needed for social and economic development or job-creation.

Every day, your Governments are forced into choiceless choices: between paying creditors and feeding, housing, or protecting your people.

No country should face such impossible trade-offs. This is exactly why the Doha Programme of Action was designed: to change those odds and restore fairness. We commend the Government of Qatar for its generous offer to host this critical process.

The Programme of Action is our course correction. It puts resilience, food security, investment, skills and sustainable graduation at the centre.

I welcome the steps you have already taken to operationalize its actions: An online university for science, technology, engineering and mathematics to close the skills gap; a food stockholding mechanism to fight hunger; an investment support centre to unlock capital; early warning systems to save lives; a graduation support facility so that no country slides backwards.

But despite all of these steps forward, we cannot fully square the circle when climate pledges trickle in from bigger countries while their emissions rise at record speed. We cannot talk about opportunity while you remain stuck in a vicious cycle of exporting raw materials while others capture the value.

The Sevilla Commitment points the way: concessional finance scaled up, debt relief delivered, liquidity flowing and a financial system where you finally have the same muscle at the table when decisions are made about your future. That must be our shared resolve.

In the months ahead, the Summit for Social Development and thirtieth UN Climate Change Conference will be pivotal arenas to amplify your voices and anchor your priorities. As these global moments approach, we must also strengthen the institutions that carry this agenda every day.

I underscore the crucial role of the Office of the High Representative for Least Developed and Landlocked Countries, and Small Island Developing States. As the system-wide focal point, it drives alignment and accountability for the Doha Programme of Action, and so it must have the resources to match its mandate. The Secretary-General has been clear: this Office is protected, because the UN is standing firm with least developed countries.

Advancing the least developed country agenda is the measure of our values, a test of our solidarity and the strategy on which global resilience and prosperity will stand or fall.

The road to Doha in 2027 will test us. It will ask whether the world is serious about justice for the poorest and most vulnerable. We cannot afford another broken promise.

So, my ask today is simple: deliver, protect, empower. Deliver on the Sevilla Commitment - so finance flows where it is most needed. Protect the Programme of Action deliverables - so resilience is built before crises strike. Empower least developed countries by amplifying their voices at the decision-making tables.

The United Nations will walk with you every step of the way, but the steps must start now.