New York - Angola reaffirmed on Thursday, in New York, United States of America, its commitment to the implementation of the Doha Action Program for the Least Developed Countries (LDC).
The commitment was made official by the minister of Economy and Planning, Mário Caetano João, who said that a strategy is underway to respond to this program, approved by the UN General Assembly for the period 2022-2031.
The Doha Program of Action incorporates renewed and strengthened commitments between Least Developed Countries and their development partners, including the private sector, civil society and governments.
This will allow us to return to a path to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, facing the challenges of climate change and making progress towards a sustainable and irreversible graduation.
These commitments are based on the global objectives of achieving a rapid, sustainable and inclusive recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, eradicating extreme poverty and strengthening labour markets, promoting the transition from informal to formal employment.
The Angolan minister, who was speaking at the Annual LDC Group Ministerial Meeting, pointed to the “Kwenda” Social Protection Strengthening Program as a demonstration of Angola's commitment.
According to the government official, Kwenda allowed monetary transfers to around 600 thousand families, with a forecast of reaching one 1 600 000 families by 2024.
Additionally, said the official, measures were implemented in the economic domain that allowed the economy to resume its growth trajectory, as well as the Informal Economy Reconversion Program was launched.
He explained that the Informal Economy Reconversion Program was created to give labour dignity to more than 8 million Angolans in the informal economy sector with the potential to expand the tax and contributory base.
In the institutional domain, Mário Caetano João highlighted the implementation of measures that have made it possible to combat corruption and impunity practices, the purpose of which was to strengthen the democratic State and the rule of law.
Despite the reforms implemented and the creation of essential conditions for sustainable development, he highlighted the fact that Angola has experienced a period of five consecutive years of economic recession, negative effects of health crises and geopolitical tensions that have deteriorated its socioeconomic indicators.
For this reason, he recalled, the Government was forced to review its development strategies, which is why, for the next National Development Plan 2023-2027, three fundamental areas were prioritized: Development of Human Capital, Expansion and modernization of infrastructures and Diversification of the economy.
The plan, he explained, brings innovation in the sense of not only financing and implementing projects, but, mainly, questioning the sustainable socioeconomic impact.
According to Mário Caetano João's forecast, the projects should directly impact these two pillars of development, as well as a set of transversal development filters to respond at all times to the desires of youth, gender equality and vulnerable communities, improve the environment business, bring more tax revenue, among others.
In another area, the minister recalled that before the current cascading crises, the group of countries was already facing challenges in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union's 2063Agenda.
He lamented, on the other hand, the fact that the global energy and food crises are affecting countries, with unprecedented increases in food and energy prices, stifling a continent that is already fragile and devastated by the negative impacts of climate change.
The Annual Ministerial Meeting of the LDC Group took place within the framework of the General Debate of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, which ends on the 26th of this month, in New York.
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