The least developed countries need a new generation of international support measures to face the development challenges of the 2020s - UNCTAD Policy Brief No. 97

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the least developed countries had fallen behind other country groups, including other developing countries. The pandemic has aggravated this situation by increasing these countries’ vulnerabilities. Multilateral efforts, in which international support measures play a significant role, remain critical for mobilizing international support for the least developed countries. However, the failure of international support measures to address new realities has become more evident. A new generation of international support measures is needed to improve the impact, effectiveness and relevance to least developed countries. The new generation of international support measures needs to be broader than current ones and focused on bolstering the productive capacities of the least developed countries.