News
6 August: what is celebrated today
Today, 6 August: International Awareness Day for the Special Development Needs and Challenges of Landlocked Developing Countries. You probably did not have it on your calendar, but every 6 August is devoted to highlighting the difficulties faced by countries without access to the sea. The UN General Assembly established this date to remind us that, although it may seem like only a geographical detail, having no coastline makes things far more difficult.
No beach… so what?
The so-called landlocked developing countries (or LLDCs, by their acronym in English) are nations that depend entirely on their neighbours to move goods to ports. This brings several headaches:
Transporting is expensive and slow → Exporting or importing costs much more.
Total dependence → If relations with neighbouring countries are not good, trade slows down.
Weak infrastructure → A lack of railways, roads and efficient connections.
Fragile economies → They depend on few products and are vulnerable to crises.
An unhelpful climate → Droughts and natural disasters hit them hard.
Some examples
In South America: Bolivia and Paraguay.
In Africa: Niger, Chad, Ethiopia.
In Asia: Nepal, Mongolia, Afghanistan.
In total, we are talking about 32 countries in this situation, most of them in Africa and Central Asia.
Why is this day observed?
Because the idea is that the world should not forget them. The UN seeks to have more countries join in with financial, technical and political support, as well as facilitating transit routes and improving infrastructure. All this forms part of the 2024–2034 Programme of Action for LLDCs.
In short: it is a reminder that development should not depend on whether or not a country has a coast. Improving the situation of these countries does not only help them: it also strengthens the global economy, stability and international cooperation.