Sisi: Africa has 71% of least developed countries worldwide
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Monday 6/3/2023 that Africa has 71 percent of the world’s least developed countries.
In a speech read out on his behalf by Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al Mashat at the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Doha, the president added those least developed countries face development challenges.
President Sisi thanked Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the president of the conference, president of Malawi Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera who chairs the group of the least developed countries and United Nations Secretary General António Guterres for attending this edition of the UN-sponsored five-day gathering.
The president called on the international community to support the least developed countries to face the challenges, build new regional and international partnerships and create more chances for achieving development.
The president hailed the role played by the UN Secretary General to promote development work at the regional and international levels and the support of the UN agencies that help developed countries to face the challenges and achieve sustainable development.
President Sisi said the least developed countries face problems such as food insecurity as a result of the geopolitical crisis in east Europe, which caused food shortage in many countries because of imbalance in food supply.
He added that Egypt was keen to launch a national strategy for food and nutrition as part of presidential initiatives to invest in food security and general health.
The president said that Egypt intends to promote future cooperation with African countries through the secretariat of the African Union Development Agency to drum up support for resources and infrastructure to achieve the AU development agenda 2036.
The president said that Egypt seeks to expedite achieving the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to realize economic integration into the world economy and create more job opportunities.
He said that Egypt contributed to a number of development projects in Africa including Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere Hydroelectric Power Project (JNHPP), undertaken by a consortium of Egyptian companies.
Speaking about Decent Life presidential initiative, the president said such initiatives would achieve integrated development in rural areas, help eliminate poverty in Egyptian villages and provide basic commodities.
He stressed the importance of providing basic services in the fields of health, education, jobs, food and housing, which are a basic right to all citizens.
President Sisi said the Egyptian government works on providing a decent life for its citizens through applying the national strategy for human rights and the internationally-agreed upon principles to secure prosperity for peoples in the aftermath of economic risks.
The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to accelerate sustainable development in the places where international assistance is needed the most – and to tap the full potential of the Least Developed Countries helping them make progress on the road to prosperity.
This year’s theme is From Potential to Prosperity where over five days of the LDC5 Conference in Doha, world leaders gather with the private sector, civil society, parliamentarians, and young people to advance new ideas, raise new pledges of support, and spur delivery on agreed commitments, through the Doha Program of Action. It is expected that at the Conference, specific initiatives and concrete deliverables will be announced that will address LDC-specific challenges including the climate crisis and environmental degradation.
