26 March 2012: The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) briefed the “Ad-hoc Open Ended Working Group to Further Study and Strengthen the Smooth Transition for the Countries Graduating from the Least Developed Country (LDC) Category” of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on the challenges of transitioning from LDC status, based on the CDP review of the existing smooth transition mechanisms.

During the briefing, which took place on 16 March 2012, CDP advised the UNGA that graduation from LDC status leads to discontinuity. Highlighting that development is continuous, CDP stressed that support to transitioning countries needs to evolve accordingly.

CDP noted that LDCs require assurances that they are not “left alone” by the international community post-graduation, and called for increased transparency, as well as stronger and more explicit commitments by donors and international organizations. CDP also recommended enhancing catalogues of LDC support such as the UN LDC portal, and establishing clear provisions on phasing-out of LDC-specific trade benefits under bilateral trade agreements and under the World Trade Organization (WTO).

According to the UN Office for the High Level Representative of LDCs, Land-locked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN OHRLLS), LDCs are classified on the basis of per capita gross national income (GNI), human assets and economic vulnerability to external shocks. To be eligible for graduation, a country must reach threshold levels for graduation for at least two of the aforementioned three criteria, or its GNI per capita must exceed at least twice the threshold level. To be recommended for graduation, a country must be found eligible at two successive triennial reviews by the CDP.

At the 2009 triennial review of the LDC list, the CDP recommended that Equatorial Guinea be graduated from the list of LDCs, owing to its high GNI per capita. Tuvalu and Vanuatu were considered eligible but not recommended for graduation due to doubts over the sustainability of their progress. Kiribati, which met the criteria for the first time in the 2006 review, was no longer found to be eligible. Samoa and Maldives, which were scheduled for graduation in December 2010 and January 2011 respectively, were found to have shown continued positive development progress. However, due to the devastating tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009, it was decided to postpone Samoa’s graduation, from December 2010 to 1 January 2014. [UN DESA Press Release] [CDP Issues Note] [CDP Vice Chair Presentation] [CDP Plenary Session Agenda] [Publication: Report on the 14th Session]