By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – As the decade 2011–2020 draws to an end and a growing number of world’s most vulnerable countries are increasing national earning power and improved access to health care and education, making them eligible to exit the group of least developed countries (LDCs), the United Nations has accentuated the importance of paying increased attention to smooth transition processes, thus ensuring sustainable development and the irreversibility of graduation.
This is in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development targeting all dimensions of sustainable development with a special focus on the least developed countries under the theme of ‘Leaving no one behind’, says the UN Secretary-General in his report to the current (73rd) Session of the General Assembly.
The report notes that never before have so many countries been identified for graduation at a single triennial review of the Committee for Development Policy as in March 2018.
It was a historic occasion with a total of 12 least developed countries meeting the criteria. Four countries — Bhutan, Kiribati, Sao Tome and Principe and Solomon Islands — were recommended for graduation from the least developed country list, which is significant, particularly considering that over the past 47 years, only five countries have graduated and two are scheduled to graduate.
In addition, Bangladesh, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar met the graduation criteria for the first time and will be considered for graduation in 2021.
LDCs face more than other countries the risk of deeper poverty and remaining in a situation of underdevelopment. More than 75 per cent of the LDCs’ population still live in poverty. These countries are also characterized by their vulnerability to external economic shocks, natural and man-made disasters and communicable diseases. As such, the LDCs are in need of the highest degree of attention from the international community.
Currently, the 47 LDCs – 33 in Africa; 13 in Asia and the Pacific; and 1 in Latin America – comprise around 880 million people, 12 per cent of the world population, which face severe structural impediments to growth. However, the LDCs account for less than 2 per cent of world GDP and around 1 per cent of world trade.
Four United Nations Conferences on the LDCs were held in 1981, 1990, 2001 and 2011. The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries adopted the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 – the so-called Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA).
In the 47 years of the LDC category’s existence, only five countries have graduated – Botswana (1994), Cabo Verde (2007), Maldives (2011) and Samoa (2014), and Equatorial Guinea (2017), and two more countries, Vanuatu and Angola, are scheduled for graduation in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In addition, Bangladesh, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar met the graduation criteria for the first time and will be considered for graduation in 2021.
The graduation of Vanuatu has been postponed following a deferral due to the devastation caused by a tropical cyclone. Angola was also granted an additional period of two years before the start of the three-year preparatory period leading to graduation, as the country’s commodity-dependent economy continued to be highly vulnerable to price fluctuations.
Tuvalu was recommended for graduation by the Committee for Development Policy in 2012. However, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) deferred a decision on its graduation until 2018. Kiribati met the graduation thresholds for the second time in 2015.
A recommendation on the graduation of Kiribati was deferred by the Committee to the 2018 triennial review, when the Committee recommended the country for graduation, while noting its extreme vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and other environmental shocks.
The March 2018 triennial review of the LDC category emerged as an unprecedented event when the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) decided to recommend Bhutan, Kiribati, São Tomé and Príncipe and Solomon Islands for graduation from the category. Never before have so many countries been identified and recommended for graduation at a single review by the CDP.
“This is an historic occasion,” said Jose Antonio Ocampo, chair of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP), noting that only five countries have graduated since the UN established the LDC category in 1971.
The Secretary-General’s report analyses developments in both graduating and recently graduated countries and how these countries can be supported on their development path.
The report also tracks progress on the implementation, effectiveness and added value of smooth transition measures, which are the extension of least-developed-country-specific support for a limited time after actual graduation, including initiatives undertaken by the United Nations system to support countries during their graduation from the least developed country category.
The Istanbul Programme of Action sets an ambitious objective of enabling half of the least developed countries to meet the criteria for graduation by 2020, making it the first global programme of action for the least developed countries to contain a chapter on graduation and smooth transition.
In the political declaration of the Comprehensive High-level Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action, held in 2016, participants recognized and welcomed the progress made towards meeting the criteria for graduation by 2020, while expressing some concern about limited graduation thus far. They also note that, based on current trends, concerted and revitalized efforts will be required.
Particular attention should be given to the smooth transition of countries graduating from least developed country status, consistent with their transition strategy and taking into account each country’s particular development situation, notes the Review.
“The increased number of countries crossing the graduation thresholds reflects the considerable socioeconomic progress achieved. However, to meet the target set out in the Istanbul Programme of Action, graduation must further accelerate, and continued and revitalized efforts will therefore be required,” notes the Secretary-General’s report.
Least developed countries require continued dedicated international support, as agreed in the Programme of Action, to accelerate the implementation of all its priority areas and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, adds the report.
Further to increasing official development assistance, the use of trade preferences should be enhanced through the reduction of non-tariff barriers, including more flexible rules of origin, the report recommends.
Graduation from the least developed country category is not a mechanical process. The ex-ante impact assessment prepared by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the vulnerability profile prepared by UNCTAD and the views of the country are all taken into account when the Committee for Development Policy considers whether to recommend the country for graduation, informs the report.
“Countries recommended for graduation should build on the progress achieved, using new opportunities from transitioning to the next phase of development,” suggests the report.
However, graduated countries continue to face various challenges due to vulnerabilities to various crisis and shocks. It is important to ensure that exiting from the least developed country category does not disrupt the development of the graduating country, adds the report.
To ensure sustainable and irreversible graduation, particular attention should be given to the smooth transition of countries graduating from least developed country status, consistent with their transition strategy and taking into account each country’s particular development situation, notes the report.
“Development partners have a key role to play in providing capacity-building to support graduating countries’ efforts to adjust to post-graduation realities.”
While, according to the report, provisions contained in General Assembly resolution 67/221 have offered a solid basis for a more predictable graduation and smooth transition, there has not been significant progress in its implementation since 2015. Against the increase in numbers of least developed countries reaching the graduation thresholds, and taking into account their continued vulnerabilities, more smooth transition measures must be provided in a predictable manner, mains the report.
The Secretary-General pleads for integration of graduation and smooth transition strategies into national development and donors’ aid strategies. “The cycle of preparation of such strategies must be taken into account at an early stage in the graduation process.”
Countries that are found eligible for graduation should establish a consultative mechanism to prepare their transition strategy as early as possible, engaging all relevant donors and stakeholders.
Besides, the strategy should be sufficiently flexible to adjust to the new challenges that may arise during the process, as well as to ensure policy coherence. “It should be based on a careful analysis of how the loss of least-developed-country-specific international support measures will have an impact on the country’s economy and pave the way for sustainable graduation.”
The report asks development partners to apply the least developed country criteria, namely, GNI per capita, the human assets index and the economic vulnerability index, to their process of aid allocation, including after graduation. Doing so would constitute built-in smooth transitions and ensure that the allocation of official development assistance is more stable and predictable.
United Nations entities that have committed to allocating a certain percentage of their resources to least developed countries are asked to consider the extension of such support to graduated countries and gradual phasing-out in a predictable manner for a fixed time period and applied in accordance with the specific development situation of each graduating country.
The United Nations development system must also extend the necessary support to a graduating country in the preparation of its smooth transition strategy, as well as during its implementation and follow-up, says the report.
The report adds: “Efforts should be made to ensure that the recent General Assembly resolution on the repositioning of the United Nations development system further supports the smooth transition process, by ensuring the following: that the revitalized United Nations Development Assistance Framework fully takes this into account; that the resident coordinator, in their reinvigorated role, plays the facilitator part intended by Assembly resolutions; and that the United Nations country team’s composition and efforts are oriented towards supporting the graduation process.”
In order to enhance the effectiveness of smooth transition measures, the monitoring of and follow-up to these measures must be further strengthened, adds the report. Member States may consider undertaking intergovernmental follow-up and monitoring of the implementation of smooth transition strategies for graduated countries under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council for a certain period of time after graduation.
Integrated, institutionalized and predictable financial and technical assistance for graduated countries should compensate for the phasing out of least-developed-country-specific support, notes the report.
This could include support for increasing domestic resource mobilization, the strengthening of domestic capital markets, the diversifying of exports and the building of capacity to enhance resilience to external shocks and natural disasters.
The Secretary-General calls for inter-agency task force on graduation and the Committee for Development Policy and other actors to continue to work on identifying dedicated support to address the specific challenges of transitioning from one phase of development towards the next through graduation.
Finally, concludes the report, the strengthening of support towards graduation and beyond must be reflected in the next programme of action for the least developed countries in order to further accelerate progress and ensure that all such countries take dedicated steps towards approaching the graduation criteria. [IDN-InDepthNews – 03 November 2018]
Photo: The Gradjet website helps government officials in least developed countries understand what it means to leave the LDC category and to plot a course for future action. It’s also aimed at the wider development community and anyone else interested in LDC graduation. Credit: Gradjet.
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