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8 August 2025 – Awaza: The Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries wrapped up 8 August in Awaza, Turkmenistan with the adoption of a political declaration aimed at aiding sustainable development in 32 landlocked countries.
Known as the LLDC3, the four-day forum united Heads of State, senior UN officials, development partners, and private sector leaders to address the ongoing challenges experienced by landlocked nations, such as high trade costs and vulnerability to climate change.
Working from last year’s Awaza Programme for Action for 2024-2034, the updated ‘Awaza Declaration’ underscores collective action across five primary areas. These include:
- Structural economic transformation;
- Trade and regional integration;
- Transport and infrastructure;
- Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction; and
- Mobilizing finance and partnerships
In terms of investment and inclusion, the Declaration calls for increased investments from multilateral development banks, stronger South-South cooperation, and broader inclusion of landlocked countries’ interests in global grade and climate agendas. It also highlights the importance of ensuring these goals are implemented, ensuring that the nations involved lead the process.
The Declaration symbolizes a crucial step forward for land-locked countries: the movement to mobilize landlocked countries’ needs will continue to take form. Discussions surrounding these nations will occur at the 2025 UN climate conference in Brazil (COP30), the next meeting of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the 2027 Global Mountain Summit in Kyrgyzstan.
For more information, read here.