Least Developed Countries Category

The Report of the Committee for Development Policy (E/2017/33, Supplement No. 13) on its 19th plenary session held from 20-24 March 2017 is now available in all six official languages. The report addresses the six themes discussed by the CDP during the ...

Professor Jose Antonio Ocampo, Chair of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP), participated as panelist at the ECOSOC Integration Segment on 10 May 2017. The session under the theme "Bringing the ECOSOC System Together" featured representatives of ...

This paper examines the process of building productive capacity in Ethiopia over the past two decades and the roles played by the state, government, the private sector, foreign firms and development partners.

In a special briefing on 21 March 2017, during the 19th Plenary Session of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP), Professors Tea Petrin, Dzodzi Rsikata, Keith Nurse and Rashid Hassan briefed delegates on lessons learned in building productive capacity in least developed countries (LDCs) – those who have graduated and those in the process of graduating.

Join us on Tuesday, March 21, from 1:15 pm to 2:15 pm at UNHQ New York Conference Room 6 for a panel discussion on “Developing Productive Capacity for Sustainable Development: Lessons learned from Least Developed Countries”. Members of the CDP will present the results of a detailed review of the experiences of 14 LDCs and highlight which factors and policies have been successful in moving countries towards graduation and sustainable development and how countries can sustain their development gains.

Some countries have graduated from the LDC category or made progress towards graduation not through progress in all three LDC criteria but by specializing in a few economic activities while at the same time investing in human capital. Bhutan falls within this latter category given that it specializes in natural resource based activities (hydropower generation) and tourism, with some manufacturing.

  Government policymakers from 16 least developed countries (LDCs) and one graduate, Samoa, will gather in Beijing, China, from 10-12 November to discuss strategies needed to successfully graduate from LDC status and to achieve the Sustainable Dev ...

On 16 March 2016 the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) organized a panel discussion on expanding productive capacity for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as a side event to the 18th CDP Plenary session. CDP members Prof. Diane Elson, Pr ...

The second edition of the Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category: Inclusion, Graduation and Special Support Measures (2015) provides comprehensive information on the least developed country (LDC) category, including a description of procedures and methodologies used in the identification of these countries, and the support measures associated with it. It builds upon and updates the previous edition published in 2008. Accordingly, the LDC Handbook is intended for the use by government officials, policymakers, researchers and others interested in the particular development problems and challenges faced by the most disadvantaged developing countries.