At the 2020 Plenary the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) finalized its multi-year programme on the comprehensive review of the LDC criteria. While confirming the basic concept of the criteria, it simplified their structure, expanded their coverage of structural impediments to sustainable development and strengthened their individual components. The refined criteria will be applied at the 2021 triennial review of the list of LDCs, utilizing the established graduation and inclusion rules. The Committee also strengthened the application of the criteria, including by expanding the additional information it uses before making recommendations for graduation. In the view of the Committee, the outcome of the review will contribute to shifting the graduation debate beyond a country classification exercise towards a discussion of how a country can further its momentum towards sustainable development with the support of the international community.

The outcome and impact of the comprehensive review is consolidated in the "Outcome of the comprehensive review" paper, available for download here.