Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
First, I would like to thank ESCAP for organizing this webinar meeting.
NEW YORK 4 December 2020 – The small island nation of Vanuatu is celebrating today as it is officially no longer classified as one of the world’s least developed countries, or LDCs.
Despite the compounding threats of COVID-19, natural disasters and climate change, the Vanuatu government sees graduation as a positive sign that the country is increasingly able to build resilience and meet its citizens’ needs.
NEW YORK 12 October 2020 – The Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) set an ambitious goal to see half of the LDCs graduate from the category during its period of implementation of 2011-2020. Though that target has not been met, progress made by several LDCs has led to a record number meeting the graduation criteria.
