Supporting education at LDC5

We’ve helped keep education on the agenda at the UN Least Developed Countries conference

Team AMS is proud to be part of accelerating sustainable development in the places where international assistance is needed the most.

This week we’ve been living and breathing LDC5: the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. These conferences come around only once or twice a decade – what an honour to be involved.

For me personally, it was fun to be in an international and diplomatic arena again. My first(ish) career was with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. I had the honour to work with many LDC delegates as a UK negotiator on Macroeconomics and Development at the UN General Assembly in New York in 2009.

Fast forward to 2023, and the digital element of such conferences is front-and-centre.

So our team has been able to work remotely to support our counterparts and partners on the ground in Doha.

What are the LDCs?

LDCs are an official category of countries designated by the UN General Assembly. LDC might sound like a depressing label, but it works in countries’ favour because it attracts special international support – like tariff-free trade.

Here’s a brilliant UN podcast with info and first-hand stories about how the LDCs came about, and where they’re heading.

And here’s a video explainer:

“Least” for now, but not forever

The idea is that LDCs will increase their income, GDP and human assets, and decrease economic and environmental vulnerability – and then they can ‘graduate’ out of the category.

Sometimes it can feel like we make zero progress on global issues. But poverty IS decreasing and of around 50 LDCs, there are already 13 graduates and prospective graduates:

Since 1994, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Maldives, Samoa, Equatorial Guinea and Vanuatu have graduated.

Bhutan is scheduled to graduate in 2023, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe and Solomon Islands are due to graduate in 2024, and Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Nepal are scheduled to graduate in 2026.

Might seem small BUT this really does mean gains in these countries for millions and millions of people. I’ll take it!

AMS’s role at the conference: bringing a global community ‘into the room’

Team AMS has been supporting the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) in sharing education news and events from the conference to engage a global activist community.

We helped communicate EAA’s incredible range of education work, including:

• partnerships to get millions of children into school
• committing to advocate with UNESCO for refugees’ education certificates to be globally recognised
• raising voices of young people for climate change action
• exchanging education best practice with ministers from Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Liberia, Malawi, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal…

… and very much more.

Digital and media communications across 46+ countries

Working together, Education Above All’s work secured media coverage in hundreds of outlets across Africa, Asia, the Middle East +++

Digital content from the conference has gained hundreds of thousands of impressions, views and engagements – and is still ongoing.

Most importantly, we helped raise the voices of people working with EAA and its comunity, to genuinely create impact for sustainable development. It’s been rewarding and fun, and the impact is real. Congratulations to EAA on their hard work; it’s been an honour to help and support it.

What’s next..?

To learn more about Education Above All Foundation at LDC5 and beyond, check out their Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

If your organisation would like to work with the brilliant AMS team on digital, media, PR or other projects, please get in touch.