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Aid Under Pressure: 3 Accelerating Shifts in Official Development Assistance
Foreword
Today the groups of countries in special situations – constituting the least developed countries (LDCs) the landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and the small island developing States (SIDS) – are home to an estimated 1.3 billion people representing 17 per cent of the world’s population. Even though these countries have made progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development they continue to face significant challenges on their path towards a prosperous equitable and sustainable future within a context of multiple and intersecting vulnerabilities and constraints.
Demographic change and its implications for policy priorities in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS
LDCs LLDCs and SIDS stand at the intersection of numerous opportunities and challenges for a sustainable and prosperous future. Progress toward the SDGs shows a mixed picture of both achievement and shortfalls and in some cases recent setbacks owing to the multifaceted impact of the COVID-19 pandemic conflicts disasters and displacement among others.
Demographic outlook for the least developed countries
In 2023 close to 1.2 billion people were living in the least developing countries (LDCs) accounting for about 14 per cent of the global population. More than two thirds were living in Africa and close to one third in Asia. The remaining LDCs which are located in the Pacific (Kiribati Solomon Islands and Tuvalu) and the Caribbean (Haiti) accounted together for only 1 per cent of the total LDC population. Three LDCs are among the 15 most populous countries in the world including Bangladesh (173 million) Ethiopia (127 million) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (102 million) (map 2.1).
Population prospects and sustainable development in countries in special situations: An overview
The 110 countries or areas constituting the groups of least developed countries (LDCs) landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS) face structural socioeconomic and environmental challenges in achieving sustainable development. Recently these challenges have been exacerbated by the impacts of climate change increased frequencies of environmental disasters public health emergencies conflicts and economic shocks. Most of these countries experience widespread poverty hunger and malnutrition along with limited economic diversification a lack of social protection and low human capital due to inadequate access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities. Additionally LDCs LLDCs and SIDS are especially vulnerable to and disproportionately affected by the adverse effects of climate change environmental degradation and other disasters (United Nations 2023c). Profound socioeconomic transformation will be crucial to address these challenges and increase the resilience and adaptative capacities of these vulnerable countries in the face of various socioeconomic and environmental shocks.
Introduction
At the halfway point of the 15-year period to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development the outlook is grim. Despite a period of notable progress in many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the convergence of multiple crises including climate change the COVID-19 pandemic violent conflicts and economic shocks is threatening to derail development and put further progress in peril for many countries (United Nations 2023a 2024). In recent years progress in key areas of development such as poverty alleviation reduced inequalities food security health and social protection has stagnated or reversed in many parts of the world (United Nations 2023b).
Demographic outlook for the small island developing states
The small island developing States (SIDS) are a heterogeneous group of islands and coastal states spread across the world. As of June 2023 the group is composed of 57 countries and territories with a combined population of 73.5 million. Twenty-nine SIDS are located in the Caribbean 20 in the Pacific and 8 in the Atlantic Indian Ocean and South China Sea (AIS) region. Of these 46 SIDS have small populations of less than 1 million inhabitants while Papua New Guinea and three of the Greater Antilles nations – Cuba the Dominican Republic and Haiti – are the only SIDS with more than 10 million inhabitants accounting for slightly over 60 per cent of the total population of the group in 2023.
Population Prospects of Countries in Special Situations
Tracking Demographic Change Among the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States
The report provides an up-to-date overview of major population trends in the least developed countries (LDCs) landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS) in connection with the critical development challenges they face. The groups of countries in special situations comprise 110 countries (45 LDCs 32 LLDCs and 57 SIDS) located in all regions of the world. The report focuses on differences and similarities in demographic characteristics between regional subgroups of the three categories of countries. It highlights levels and trends in population size structure and distribution mortality fertility and international migration from 2000 to 2050 while also discussing the implications of these demographic trends for achieving the relevant SDGs.
Acknowledgements
This report was prepared by Lina Bassarsky Danan Gu and Thomas Spoorenberg. The authors wish to thank John Wilmoth Bela Hovy and Karoline Schmid for their inputs in reviewing the draft.
Demographic outlook for the landlocked developing countries
Nearly 640 million people worldwide lived in countries or territories that lack territorial access to the sea in 2023. Most of them 577 million resided in landlocked countries located in the less-developed regions of the world accounting for 7 per cent of the global population in 2023. About two thirds of the population of these landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) lived in Africa and almost one third in Asia. The remaining 4 per cent were located in South America (3 per cent) and Europe (1 per cent). Ethiopia with more than one third of the African LLDC population is the most populous country among LLDCs followed by Uganda. Afghanistan is the largest LLDC in Asia followed by Uzbekistan and Nepal. The Republic of Moldova and the Plurinational State of Bolivia are the countries with the largest LLDC populations in Europe and South America respectively (map 3.1).
Acknowledgements
The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) are very grateful to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) for its financial support of the global data collection on voluntary sustainability standards and the production of this publication.
Selected commodities grew, but slowly
This chapter examines the harvested area and the production volume of the selected commodities on an aggregate level. As multiple certification remains an issue for some commodities global totals were computed by adding the country minimums (leading to a global minimum value for each commodity) the country maximums (leading to a global maximum value for each commodity) and the country minimum–maximum averages (leading to a global average value for each commodity).
Project partners
The International Trade Centre (ITC) founded in 1964 is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. Its aim is for businesses in developing countries to become more competitive in global markets to speed up economic development and to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.