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Thank you, Madame Chair for the warm welcome. I am deeply honoured. I know that I am among friends in this group. I shall do my best to live up to the expectations of the Group. You can always count on my Office as your own Office. I thank you for giving me the floor to provide an update on DPOA implementation and elaborate on preparations for LDC5 and touch upon the High-Level Week preparations. Madame Chair, Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues, The world continues to face numerous overlapping crises. LDCs are bearing the major brunt of the impacts. We are still fighting with COVID-19; and vaccination rate in our countries remain worrying low. Furthermore, our economies are confronted with shocks in several fronts. The war in Ukraine, financial shocks, the food, fuel and energy insecurity and climate emergency-individually and collectively -have created serious pressure on our fiscal space. Years of development gains are imperiled, with growing risk of a serious slide-back. It was against this backdrop, that the Doha Programme of Action was adopted and endorsed by consensus. It is an ambitious and comprehensive document, and its full and timely implementation can bring transformative changes in our societies. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Chair of LDC Group and the entire membership for leading the process which has come up with this document. What is important now is to generate political momentum and rally necessary global support for the implementation of timely and effective implementation of the programme of action. This can help us recover from the impacts of the ongoing crises, build resilience against shocks and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The upcoming LDC5 Conference in March 2023 in Doha provides with a great opportunity to mobilize such global support and create widest possible coalition of global partnerships in support of LDCs. And we must make it a success. Success will be measured by: - participation at the highest level both from LDCs and development partners - maintaining and increasing resource flows to LDCs, and - accelerating the implementation of the DPOA through a collaborative framework Let me share with an overview of some key activities my office has started right after the adoption of the DPoA in March of this year. As called for in the DPOA, we have prepared a report on a food stockholding system for the LDCs. The report outlines the feasibility, effectiveness and administrative modalities of a system of stockholding for the LDCs on a regional and subregional basis. The report will be available shortly for consideration during the upcoming 77th session of the GA. We are exploring the possibility of an event with the participation of Member States, UN agencies, civil society and other stakeholders to have a dialogue on how to take forward the recommendations of the report in a set of concrete measures in support of the implementation of the DPoA. I also met recently with the PGA-elect, where I underscored the importance of maintaining and strengthening the Advisory Group on LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. He was very supportive and sought concrete ideas and recommendations. May I call upon you to reinforce this call in your own meetings with him. I have also suggested to him convening a joint high-level session on LDCs, together with ECOSOC, ahead of LDC5. I have broached the matter with the President of ECOSOC, who also appeared to be very positive. We are working on the Roadmap for the accelerated implementation of the DPoA with inputs from all stakeholders. The roadmap would outline specific actions and activities by all stakeholders towards implementation of the DPoA, as well as address gaps and challenges, if any, in achieving the main targets. It should be useful as a tool that encourages partnerships in alignment with LDC priorities. We expect to share a draft with the Member well before the Doha Conference. The roadmap will cover the first five years of the implementation of the DPoA and it is meant to be a living document, to be updated regularly to reflect progress in the implementation of the DPoA, as well new initiatives. In addition, we are working to mobilize the entire UN system through the Interagency Consultative Group on LDC to bring a strong set of announcements and deliverables in favour of the LDCs at the LDC5, by the principals of the UN entities and other organisations. The last meeting of the Interagency Consultative Group for the LDCs (IACG for LDCs) took place on 15 June 2022 and was well attended by all key UN agencies and beyond, including the IMF and OECD. The next meeting of the IACG for LDCs is expected to take place end of October, at the level of principals, and with the attendance of the Deputy Secretary-General. The Secretary General will also convene a meeting of the Principals in Doha. In early June 2022 we held the meeting of the National Focal Points of LDCs in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting focused on mainstreaming the DPoA into national development strategies. The meeting provided an opportunity for the NFPs to share experiences and best practices in mainstreaming previous programmes of action into respective national development plans, and to identify areas for tailored support and capacity building for the implementation of the DPoA. An information session on Partner-2-Connect Digital Coalition (P2C) was organized for LDCs on the side lines of the World Telecommunication Development Conference. P2C is a multistakeholder alliance to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation globally, with a focus on, but not limited to, hardest-to-connect communities in Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States. This session focused on how the Partner-2-Connect Initiative is being used as a tool for delivering some of the DPoA elements on digital transformation in LDCs. The NFPs also networked with representatives from the private sector after the meeting. My office also continues to advocate for the interest of the LDC group in different international forums. For example, on the margins of the Second UN Ocean Conference, OHRLLS together with other partners, organized a side-event to explore challenges, opportunities and best practices in ocean science and the role of partnerships to build resilience in the ocean economy in SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs. Also in June, OHRLLS signed a partnership agreement with the WTO aimed at strengthening cooperation to boost the participation of LDCs in the global trading system. On that occasion, the WTO DG Ms. Okonjo-Iweala said: “we are joining hands with the UN to give renewed hope to the most vulnerable group of countries of the international community — the LDCs, which have a special place in the multilateral trading system.” For the 2022 High-level Political Forum, OHRLLS as part of the Technical Advisory Group on SDG7 on Sustainable Energy developed a Policy Brief on the progress on implementation of the SDG7 in the LDCs. OHRLLS is working closely together with members of UN Energy to strengthen support of the UN system to the LDCs in their efforts to reach universal access and other SDG 7 targets including those of renewable energy. OHRLLS is also in the process of launching the “LDC5 Youth Mentorship Initiative” with an aim to build the knowledge and skills of youth in LDCs in the field of entrepreneurship, journalism, campaigning and public service. Finally, we are stepping up our support for graduation through the Inter- agency Task Force, which my office is chairing. We have come together to provide better coordinated UN System support to graduating LDCs. This has been recognised in the Doha Programme of Action. Last week a South-South exchange on preparing smooth transition strategies for Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Nepal was organised in Bangkok, in close collaboration with the Resident Coordinators, the CDP Secretariat of DESA and ESCAP. The meeting discussed strategies to prepare for graduation and needs for graduation support for countries in that region. Excellencies , The chair has highlighted, the UNGA high-level week is an especially important opportunity to spur momentum for Doha. We are seeking to do this through two separate events on 22nd September, as the Chair mentioned, the high-level luncheon and the annual LDC Ministerial meeting that same afternoon. We are grateful to the Mission of Qatar for hosting the high-level luncheon, where the Deputy Prime Minister is expected to speak. We are also expecting the presence of H.E. Mr. Lazarus Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi will deliver opening remarks. I would request you to let us know about the participation of your head of delegation at the earliest. My Office will make available an information package on LDC5 at those meetings. Microsoft as the co-organizers for the Private Sector forum will also organize events to explore how the private sector can best support investments and partnerships in LDCs during the high-level week. Excellencies, preparations for LDC5 are going well, and we will count on your support to have maximum participation. The host, as you are aware, is providing generous support to facilitate the participation of LDCs. We must make every effort to ensure attendance at the highest level at LDC5, of our own leaders, our development partners, and all other stakeholders. The Secretary-General has sent out invitation letters to the Heads of State or Government. The invitation from Qatar is also expected to be sent out soon. I shall also be sending a detailed note on the LDC5 soon. I have already started lobbying for participation at the highest level during my bilateral meetings, including with my counterparts in the UN, with the private sector partners, and others. We also must ensure that development partners renew their partnership with the LDCs and augment their support. This will not be an easy task as it comes against the backdrop of major competing claims for ODA triggered by the situation in Ukraine and its impacts. We are already seeing worrying signs of declining support, and even back-pedaling by some on existing commitments. Here the host country, Qatar, can play an important role. We are closely coordinating with Government of Qatar, and we expect them to continue to show strong support for the LDC Group, and hopefully set the tone for others to follow. I intend to undertake major advocacy efforts for increased resources with the Group of Friends of the LDCs, both as a group and in my bilateral meetings. We would like LDC Governments and development partners come to Doha with specific commitments. That would be the key message. Together, at Doha, we must be able to demonstrate tangible progress on the key deliverables agreed in the DPoA. We are working towards this goal in the different tracks that OHRLLS is organizing in Doha. The LDC5 Private Sector Forum, which we are co-organizing together with Microsoft will provide opportunities to build transformative partnerships and to mobilise long-term investment and finance to support the objectives of the DPOA. The Forum will be organized around five thematic areas of: sustainable agriculture, digital connectivity, sustainable energy, climate change and sustainable tourism. OHRLLS is working together with a wide range of partners to launch concrete and tangible initiatives and partnerships to deepen private sector engagement with the LDCs in support of sustainable development efforts. A ministerial meeting on South-South cooperation –“Empowering South- South cooperation in building a resilient and prosperous future for the Least Developed Countries” will be held during LDC5. The meeting aims to explore actionable and innovative solutions of SSC in support of deliverables of the DPoA. The Civil Society Forum will be an important place for representatives of civil society from LDCs, other developing countries and development partner countries to meet and make plans for implementing the Doha Programme of Action. It will also be an opportunity for civil society representatives from LDCs, to connect more meaningfully with civil society representatives globally, and to learn more about how they can be more involved with implementation of these UN processes in their country. The Youth Forum would be an exciting addition, and will feature the perspectives and ideas of young people on their countries’ priorities and global issues. In the run-up to the conference, youth ambassadors from each of the LDCs are meeting and collaborating on their vision for the next decade. Their concerns and ideas will be seen and heard in Doha. Leading up to Doha, my Office will arrange briefings on all these tracks and share more information. I shall rest it here Madame chair, and will be happy to answer any queries you may have.