UNITED NATIONS, Nov 25 (NNN-XINHUA) – The UN General Assembly, yesterday affirmed the graduation of Bangladesh, Laos, and Nepal from the least developed country (LDC) category.
In a resolution, the General Assembly decides to provide the three countries, on an exceptional basis, with a five-year preparatory period, leading to graduation, as the countries would need to prepare for graduation, while planning for a post-COVID-19 recovery and implementing policies and strategies to reverse the economic and social damage incurred by COVID-19.
The standard preparatory period is three years.
The resolution does not rule out the extension of the preparatory period, pending the result of the 2024 triennial review by the Committee for Development Policy, which is responsible for the review of the LDC list every three years.
The three countries are invited to prepare, during the five-year period, their national smooth transition strategy, with the support of the UN system, and in cooperation with their bilateral, regional and multilateral development and trading partners.
The resolution reaffirms that graduating from the category of least developed countries should not result in a disruption or reversal of development plans, programmes and projects for the three countries.
The Committee for Development Policy uses three criteria to determine LDC status: per capita income, human assets, and economic vulnerability.– NNN-XINHUA
