LDC Graduation

The Office of the High Representative provides policy advice and coordinates UN System support to graduating LDCs. It also provides secretariat support to the consultations on General Assembly Resolutions on graduation of countries from the LDC category.  The Office also prepares a triennial Secretary General Report on LDC Graduation. Consult the 2021 SG Report on LDC Graduation (A/76/271).

The United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) reviews the LDC Category every three years to monitor LDC member countries’ progress against measurements of income, human assets and vulnerability. For more information on these measurements, see the CDP Secretariat (DESA) website here.

Every three years, the CDP submits its recommendations on which countries should be classified as LDCs to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The UN General Assembly takes the final decision on graduation of countries out of the LDC category.

To reach eligibility for graduation, a country must reach threshold levels for graduation for two of the three criteria in two consecutive triennial reviews. A country may also graduate based on the income criterion alone if it exceeds three times the income threshold and satisfies an assessment that the revenue is sustainable.  

There is no automatic application of the graduation criteria and additional information is considered by the CDP before making its recommendations. The views of the graduating country are considered in this process.

The standard process determined by General Assembly resolution 59/209  in 2004 prescribes a three-year period between meeting the graduation criteria for the second time and the date of effective graduation. However, the General Assembly has granted exceptional extensions of transition period before graduation, mainly due to the occurrence of significant external shocks derailing socioeconomic progress of the graduating countries.

The COVID-19 global pandemic was the most recent and cogent example, causing lingering negative development impacts on LDCs, including reversal of progress towards sustainable development, which also affects the prospects of graduation.  For a comprehensive overview of all UN decisions on graduation of LDCs, see this document.

Graduation Process

After a country has been found eligible for graduation the first time, a Graduation Assessment is produced. This is based on an analysis of how a change in status and subsequent loss of LDC-specific benefits will impact the country, carried out by UNDESA, and a vulnerability profile compiled by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Graduation Assessment also includes inputs by other UN entities, in particular the UN Country Teams, as well as forward-looking elements that could be considered for a smooth transition strategy.

A CDP member is appointed as country rapporteur to ensure dedicated attention within the Committee. At the following triennial review, if the country is found eligible for the second time, the CDP deliberates based on the Graduation Assessment, country presentation and statement, including a supplementary set of graduation indicators.

For a comprehensive overview of all UN decisions on graduation of LDCs, see this document.

Resources

Preparatory Period Before Graduation

Once the General Assembly decides a country shall graduate from the LDC category, a preparatory period of three years begin.  In exceptional circumstances a longer preparatory period may be allowed.

During the preparatory period, the country remains in the LDC category and continues to benefit from the associated special support measures.

Each graduating country should prepare a smooth transition strategy, with the support of the United Nations and its development and trading partners. 

The smooth transition strategy aims to ensure that the country’s sustainable development efforts are not disrupted by the loss of support measures after graduation.

A Guide to Least Developed Country Graduation (2022)

Cover for A GUIDE TO LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRY GRADUATION

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NEW: 2022 Graduation Booklet is published!

Download: English | Portuguese

Graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category is a key milestone in the sustainable development progress of a country and requires support from all its stakeholders.

Inter-Agency Task Force on LDC Graduation

Aiming to generate awareness and political support from development and trading partners for the challenges that countries face after graduation, the IATF coordinates support by the UN System and other partners to graduating LDCs so as to enable a smooth and sustainable transition that will not disrupt the trajectory of graduating countries’ development.

General Assembly Graduation Decisions and Triennial Reviews by CDP

In 2023 the UN General Assembly decided to extend by an additional three years, until 13 December 2027, the preparatory period for Solomon Islands before graduation from the LDC category (A/RES/77/323 adopted on 25 August 2023). The General Assembly also decided to defer to a later date the graduation of Angola from the LDC category (A/RES/78/126 adopted on 18 December 2023) 

Fact sheet on LDC category

LDC category 2021 (un.org)

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