Mr. Leo Chen addresses the General Assembly High-Level Meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response

On 25 September 2026, Mr. Leo Chen, Member of the Youth Advisory Board of the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries (ITTLLDC), delivered a statement on behalf of the Think Tank, in his capacity as a youth delegate, at the High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, held during the High-Level Week of the Assembly’s eighty-first session.

Recalling the 2023 Political Declaration of the General Assembly High-Level Meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, Mr. Chen noted that Member States had recognised health as an outcome of economic, social and environmental conditions, and that the Declaration’s concern over inequality in access to vaccines between low-income and high-income countries underlines the role of economic conditions in the effectiveness of pandemic response. “This consideration applies particularly to the economic, social and environmental conditions of landlocked developing countries,” he said.

Pointing to steep geographical costs, infrastructure gaps and dependency on transit countries, Mr. Chen said that landlocked developing countries face structural constraints in mounting a full, effective and timely response to pandemics, inequities that deepen in times of crisis. Building on the Declaration’s call to support developing countries in strengthening local, national and regional research, innovation, manufacturing, production and regulation, he urged closer collaboration among landlocked developing countries on the exchange of best practices and knowledge, with a focus on economic opportunity given the particular geographical constraints of the Think Tank’s member States.

The Think Tank extended a call to advance pandemic preparedness through research, dialogue and exchange towards and among landlocked developing countries, and to Member States to advance the welfare of the most vulnerable populations.

The DMUN Foundation is the Technical Secretariat of the ITTLLDC Youth Advisory Board and supported Mr. Chen’s participation in the meeting, part of its work for the meaningful participation of young people at the United Nations.

This article is part of the Foundation’s public record of its engagements and programmes.

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