21 September 2021. A new group of LDCs have entered the graduation pipeline by meeting the CDP’s graduation criteria for the first time: Cambodia, Comoros, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia. They will be assessed again in 2024. The graduation process involves an analysis of potential impacts of graduation. This document presents a preliminary assessment of two areas of potential impacts: development cooperation and the support these countries receive for their participation in international forums.
STS Guidance Note_May-25-2021 rev
UNDESA/CDP Secretariat
ESCAP working paper: Structural Transformation in Graduating Pacific LDCs, March 2021
The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) held its triennial review of the LDC category in February 2021. The report is available in the six official UN languages here.
The results of the review are summarized in this presentation, delivered at a briefing held on Feburary 26: CDP work on LDCs (un.org)
Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Nepal were recommended for graduation. The Committee deferred decision on Myanmar and Timor-Leste to 2024. Five countries met the criteria for the first time and will be assessed again in 2024: Cambodia, Comoros, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia.
The European Commission commissioned an assessment of options for the upcoming review of the the EU generalised scheme of tariff preferences (GSP Regulation No 978/2012), which will expire at the end of 2023.
The interim report (November 2020), as well as the presentation of its results to civil society on 25 February 2021 are available here.
WTO: COVID-19 and Trade Trends in Graduating LDCs – February 2021
Health impact of COVID 19 pandemic on graduating LDCs – WTO EIF – December 2020
Trade impact of COVID19 on graduating LDCs – WTO and EIF-Dec 2020
See document here.
“LDC graduation: what you need to know about the CDP’s 2021 Triennial Review” on the LDC Portal (www.un.org/ldcportal)
Trade impacts of LDC graduation – Country-specific market access analyses, WTO and EIF, July 2020
Covid-19 and graduation from the LDC category – Statement by the CDP, 12 May 2020
Trade-impacts-of-LDC-graduation-FINAL, WTO and EIF, May 2020
The 2018 UN Committee for Development Policy LDC Handbook provides comprehensive information on the least developed country (LDC) category, including a description of procedures and methods used in the identification of these countries, and the support measures associated with it.
The following downloadable Word document, extracted from the 2018 LDC handbook, describes in detail the procedures for graduation from the LDC category as well as preparation for graduation and the concept of smooth transition.
Since 2007, the UN Committee for Development Policy Secretariat has prepared an ex-ante impact assessment of the likely consequences of graduation on economic growth and development after a country has been found eligible for graduation for the first time. The following link is to all the graduation impact assessments including the 2018 assessments for Bhutan, Kiribati, Nepal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.
August 2018 report by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly on smooth transition measures, including initiatives to support countries during graduation from the LDC category, as well as ways to support graduated countries.
The UNOHRLLS Guide to Least Developed Country Graduation (2019) provides a quick, comprehensive overview of the graduation process, including graduation criteria. It provides readers with sources of further information and support.
Using a range of scenarios, this paper estimates the number of LDCs likely to graduate by 2030 and works out how much progress will be needed if a substantial number of countries are to do so.
This Committee for Development Policy Note highlights the need for integrated policies across five broad policy areas: (i) development governance; (ii) policies for creating positive synergies between social outcomes and productive capacity; (iii) macroeconomic and financial policies that support productive capacity expansion and increase resilience to external shocks; (iv) industrial and sectoral policies; and (v) international support.
The Policy Note also stresses that the heterogeneity among LDCs requires different national strategies and different international support for various groups of LDCs. The Committee identified three different pathways towards graduation and highlights associated policies for each.
This guide from the Commonwealth Secretariat helps policy makers adapt to the loss of tariff rents induced by graduation. It does this through the integration of Global Value Chain analysis with conventional approaches towards tariff preference erosion.
A Guide to Leaving Least Developed Country Status: Sustaining Graduation with Momentum
The following informal note, prepared by the WTO, outlines the main WTO-related implications of leaving the LDC category, including special and differential treatment and preparing for smooth transition.
UNCTAD prepares a vulnerability profile after an LDC has been found eligible for graduation for the first time. The profile aims at assessing the extent of external economic and natural shocks on the economic performance and economic structure of the country under review. It might also include additional information, such as ecological fragility as well as structural handicaps not captured in the criteria used to designate LDCs by the Committee for Development Policy.
Surveillance of national trade policies is a fundamentally important activity running throughout the work of the World Trade Organisation. At the centre of this work is the Trade Policy Review Mechanism. All WTO members are reviewed, the frequency of each country’s review varying according to its share of world trade.
The UNCTAD Least Developed Countries Report provides a comprehensive and authoritative source of socio-economic analysis and data on the world´s most impoverished countries. The Report is intended for a broad readership of governments, policy makers, researchers and all those involved with LDCs´ development policies. Each Report contains a statistical annex, which provides basic data on the LDCs.
The UNCTAD Least Developed Countries Report provides a comprehensive and authoritative source of socio-economic analysis and data on the world´s most impoverished countries. The Report is intended for a broad readership of governments, policy makers, researchers and all those involved with LDCs´ development policies. Each Report contains a statistical annex, which provides basic data on the LDCs.