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The
Criteria for the identification of the LDCs
In its latest
triennial review of the list of Least Developed Countries in 2003,
the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations used the following
three criteria for the identification of the LDCs, as proposed by
the Committee for Development Policy (CDP):
- a low-income
criterion, based on a three-year average estimate of the gross
national income (GNI) per capita (under $750 for inclusion, above
$900 for graduation);
- a human resource
weakness criterion, involving a composite Human Assets Index (HAI)
based on indicators of: (a) nutrition; (b) health; (c) education;
and (d) adult literacy; and
- an economic
vulnerability criterion, involving a composite Economic Vulnerability
Index (EVI) based on indicators of: (a) the instability of agricultural
production; (b) the instability of exports of goods and services;
(c) the economic importance of non-traditional activities (share
of manufacturing and modern services in GDP); (d) merchandise
export concentration; and (e) the handicap of economic smallness
(as measured through the population in logarithm); and the percentage
of population displaced by natural disasters. (E/2004/33)
To be added
to the list, a country must satisfy all three criteria. To qualify
for graduation, a country must meet the thresholds for two of the
three criteria in two consecutive triennial reviews by the CDP.
In addition, since the fundamental meaning of the LDC category,
i.e. the recognition of structural handicaps, excludes large economies,
the population must not exceed 75 million.
In the 2000
review, Senegal was included in the list of LDCs. Timor-Leste was
added to the list in 2003, bringing the total number of LDCs to
50.
With regard
to the 2003 triennial review of the list, the CDP concluded that
Cape Verde and Maldives qualified for graduation and recommended
that they be graduated from the LDC category. The CDP also concluded
that Samoa was eligible for graduation in 2006. Based on the CDP
report, the ECOSOC will make a recommendation to the General Assembly,
which is responsible for the final decision on the list of LDCs.
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