6 August 2025
Mr. President,
The Holy See would like to express its gratitude to the Government of Turkmenistan for hosting this important International Conference, and to H.E. Ms. Rabab Fatima, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, for her dedicated efforts in preparation for this gathering.
This Conference offers the international community an opportunity to reaffirm its support for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and to provide them long-term, tangible assistance that promotes integral human development. The adoption of the Awaza Programme of Action is an important step in this regard, but its implementation must be sustained and backed by concrete political will.
LLDCs, though diverse in their geographical, cultural and economic contexts, face the same systemic challenges, including unsustainable debt burdens, high transport costs and vulnerability to climate change and external shocks.
However, poverty remains the greatest and most urgent challenge for LLDCs. In many LLDCs, poverty is widespread and multifaceted. Not only does it hinder the economic prospects of LLDCs, it also undermines the God-given dignity of every human being by denying millions of their basic needs. Poverty is particularly acute in rural areas, where people often lack access to essential services and opportunities.
Poverty stems from various forms of cultural deprivation and the denial of cultural rights. The education and development of individuals must be a primary concern of all social action. Poverty is not inevitable; it is the consequence of unjust structures and policy choices, and therefore it can and must be overcome.
One systemic barrier to eradicating poverty for many LLDCs is unfair trade. “International trade – if properly oriented – promotes development and can create new employment possibilities and provide useful resources.”[1] However, for this to happen, trade must be shaped by the demands of justice and solidarity.
Trade must be founded on the principle of the universal destination of goods,[2] that is, “for every person and for all peoples the conditions necessary for integral development, so that everyone can contribute to making a more humane world.”[3]Countries penalized by unfair international trade rules often suffer from a scarcity of capital, which is frequently compounded by the burden of foreign debt. In such cases, intensive and excessive environmental exploitation is almost inevitable, leading to hunger and poverty.
Moreover, promoting development will not be effective if trade is reduced to the exchange of products. It is essential to encourage developing countries to become scientifically and technologically autonomous by promoting the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge and the transfer of technology.
Mr. President,
The human person must remain at the center of all development strategies. Trade and economic growth are not ends in themselves but rather means of promoting the integral human development of every person and the advancement of the common good.
As Pope Leo XIV has affirmed “the Holy See will always be at the service of concord among peoples and will never tire of cooperating for the common good of the family of nations, with special regard for the most afflicted human beings […] and also for those remote regions which cannot rise from their prostration because of the indifference of those for whom the exercise of unfailing solidarity should be an emblem of their lives.”[4]
Thank you.
[1] Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 364.
[2] Cfr. Ibid. 172.
[3] Ibid. 174.
[4] Pope Leo XIV, Message to participants in the 44th Session of the FAO Conference, 30 June 2025.
