Context

• Recently, the United Nations (UN) warned in a statement that economic and social conditions in many landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) — often the poorest in their regions — are worsening rapidly due to COVID-19 lockdown measures and international restrictions on the movement of goods and people.
• The impacts of pandemic, global lockdown, and a global recession will likely halt or potentially even reverse LLDCs’ progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and the aspirations included in the Vienna Programme of Action for the LLDCs for 2014-2024.

About LLDCs & Vienna Programme of Action

• At present, 32 countries belong to the Group of landlocked developing countries (LLDCs): 16 are located in Africa, 12 in Asia, 2 in Latin America and 2 in Central and Eastern Europe.
• LLDCs include Afghanistan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Nepal, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. 
• The Vienna programme of action was adopted by the international community in recognition of the complex challenges facing LLDCs and their special development needs.