From 23 to 26 October the Secretariat of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) conducted the Expert Group Meeting (EGM) of the CDP Subgroup on least developed countries (LDCs) in Geneva, Switzerland to (i) discuss issues related to the review of the LDC criteria, a new programme of action for the LDCs and improved graduation support for LDCs, (ii) officially launch the Gradjet LDC graduation website and, (iii) conduct an interactive training workshop on Gradjet for attending LDCs.
The EGM brought together members from the CDP subgroup, stakeholders from relevant UN entities, international organizations and representatives from LDCs.
In multi-day sessions the experts assessed to which extend the LDC indicators reflect key global development agendas and discussed the way forward for the current comprehensive review of the LDC criteria. The participants also deliberated a possible input of the CDP to a new Programme of Action for the LDCs for the decade 2021-2030 as well as effective mechanisms to improve support for graduating LDCs.
Finally, on 26 October the CDP Secretariat officially launched the Gradjet LDC graduation website (www.gradjet.org), which helps government officials in LDCs understand what it means to leave the LDC category and to plot a course for future action. In connection with the launch an interactive training session on Gradjet was conducted, followed by a feedback session with concerned stakeholders to further expand and improve the content of the website.