Lawmaker Surya Thapa at a United Nations conference has floated a proposal to develop a mechanism to monitor, evaluate and review the progress made on the Awaza Programme of Action (APOA) and encourage the governments to take concrete actions.

He drew international attention towards the fact that Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) are struggling to cope with the disproportionate impacts of climate change, emergencies and disasters despite their lower level of contribution to global climate change.

“I want to remind you of the commitments to the Vienna Programme of Action that aims to address the special development needs and challenges of LLDCs, we should translate our commitments into actions,” he said, addressing the parliamentary forum at the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries being held in Awaza, Turkmenistan, from Monday.

“The available evidence suggests that LLDCs have been facing a number of unique challenges in their development efforts,” he said, airing his views on the thematic session titled ‘Building peace, trust and accountable governance: Enablers of sustainable development in LLDCs.’

“High transportation cost, inadequate infrastructure, and limited access to the global market are hindering economic and social development.”

He also underscored the need for putting more effort towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the stipulated time. “The year 2030 is not far from us, the progress in achieving SDGs is challenging, especially in LLDCs,” he stressed.

He said the LLDCs need more data, voices and equity in resource allocation.

He was of the view that parliaments have a great role in building peace, trust and accountable governance.

“In fact, peace in the country, trust in the government and accountable institutions are crucial to achieve overall development of the countries, including SDGs,” he added.

Thapa, a lawmaker from the ruling party, the CPN-UML, informed the international community about Nepal’s endeavours towards achieving the SDGs.

“We are making our best efforts to achieve SDGs on time. Nepal is mobilising the whole of the government and the whole of society to achieve SDGs,” he said. “While we are on track to realise some of them, gaps and challenges are still persistent.”

For that, he stressed on enhancing cooperation and support from development partners.

“For an inclusive, accountable and transparent governance, the LLDC parliaments should ensure social cohesion, participative decision making, equitable distribution of resources and rule of law through policy as well as legal intervention,” Thapa said. “To strengthen peace, trust and cooperation among LLDCs and their neighbours, we should use the regional and global platforms like Inter-parliamentary Union and High-Level Political Forums.”