Date: 4 - 8 March 2024
Place: UNHQ, New York, USA
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• Agenda
• Report of the Committee for Development Policy (E/2024/33, Supplement No. 13)
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The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) held its 26th Plenary meeting from 4 to 8 March at UN Headquarters in New York.

H.E. Mr. Robert Rae, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations and Vice-President of ECOSOC, and Mr. Li Jinhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, addressed the CDP members during the opening session.

The Committee addressed several issues related to the least developed countries (LDC) category, as well as the issue of innovation ecosystems for development, structural transformation and equity, as its contribution on the annual ECOSOC theme. The CDP further discussed linkages with the intergovernmental process and its work programme for the year ahead.

In its Triennial Review of the LDC category, the CDP agreed to recommend to ECOSOC the graduation of Cambodia, Djibouti and Senegal.  The Committee deferred the decision on Comoros and Myanmar to 2027, and found that Timor-Leste and Zambia, which had met the graduation criteria in previous reviews, no longer do so. Rwanda, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania met the graduation criteria for the first time and will be assessed for a possible graduation recommendation in 2027.

In its enhanced monitoring of countries that are graduating or have graduated from the LDC category, the Committee reviewed the development progress of three recently graduated countries (Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, and Vanuatu) and six graduating countries (Angola, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Nepal, Sao Tome and Principe, and Solomon Islands. It noted an overall advancement towards sustainable graduation, albeit amidst challenges stemming from various global crises, geopolitical tensions, and climate change, and calls for scaling up of international support. The Committee also found that Angola no longer meets the criteria for graduation and that its graduation process should be stopped.

The conclusions of the Plenary meeting are formally reported to ECOSOC in the CDP Report.

The CDP held an interactive session with the ECOSOC membership to report on the outcomes of the Plenary meeting. A briefing session was also held specifically for the LDCs to address issues of particular relevance to the LDC category. The Chair of the CDP, Professor Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, and other CDP members working on LDC-related issues, also participated in a meeting on LDC graduation with the Group of Friends of the LDCs.

Triennial Review of the LDC Category

• Infographic: LDC category at the 2024 triennial review
• LDC Data page
• Countries approaching graduation and already graduated - LDC Portal

Open Session/Development Policy Seminar - Innovation ecosystems: making intellectual property work for development, equity and structural change

• Link to the event page

Interaction with ECOSOC

Briefing to LDCs

• Opening remarks by Mr. Kaushal Kishore Ray (Deputy Permanent Representative for Nepal to the United Nations in New York and LDC Group Chair)