Export concentration has long been recognized as a key indicator of the development progress of least developed countries (LDCs). This paper presents the refined export concentration index recently included in the criteria used for identifying LDCs. The refined index is a Theil index that covers both concentration in the basket of exported products and concentration in the set of export markets, thereby capturing two dimensions of vulnerability due to undiversified export structures. The paper shows that relative to other developing countries, LDCs are less diversified both in terms of export products and export markets, contributing to their heightened vulnerability.
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This paper discusses the escalating external debt distress and financial constraints faced by many least developed countries (LDCs) and other developing countries, particularly in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising interest rates, high food and energy prices and currency depreciation. It stresses the importance of a comprehensive financing strategy to address the large scale of investment needs of developing countries. The paper underscores the urgent need for short-term solutions such as multilateral financing and debt renegotiation to tackle the current debt crisis, while simultaneously establishing long-term solutions to prevent future debt crises. It calls for improvements in…
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Least developed countries (LDCs) benefit from specific flexibilities under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), including an extended transition period for implementation of the agreement. These flexibilities cease to apply when countries graduate from the LDC category. Cambodia, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia are among the countries that have recently started the graduation process, which consists of a series of stages over several years and involves analysis of quantitative and qualitative information, including the expected impacts of graduation. In that context, this study analyses the policy and developmental…
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This paper presents an assessment of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) experience from 2018-2022 as an instrument of peer learning in the implementation of the UN 2030 agenda. It highlights the key findings of the annual studies by the CDP of the VNR reports submitted to the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) from 2017 to 2021. The VNRs have been successful as a process that has fully engaged Member States. The substantive content of the reports and the review process could be strengthened by: providing more analytical rather than descriptive information; focusing on achievements, challenges, and lessons learned; reflecting on the challenges of the transformative ambition of the 2030…
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The United Kingdom has adopted a new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) which comprises three different regimes ? one for least developed countries (LDCs), one for non-LDC economically vulnerable low-income and lower-middle-income countries, and one for other low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Compared to the previous scheme, which largely mirrored the European Union?s, the DCTS makes it easier for an LDC to accede to the intermediary ?Enhanced Preferences? scheme when it graduates. For most countries, graduation from the LDC category will have little impact on trade with the United Kingdom, and less impact than it might have had under the previous regime. Impacts will be…
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This paper is the fifth in a series of annual analyses of voluntary national reviews (VNRs) conducted by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) and examines the VNR reports presented at the 2021 High Level Political Forum (HLPF). It consists of an introductory chapter with general conclusions and recommendations for consideration by governments and other stakeholders participating in future VNRs; and follows with a short series of authored thematic chapters. The document revisits issues addressed in the previous editions, such as the pledge to leave no one behind, inequalities, gender equality, COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness, and SDG 17, but also adds a new chapter on the…
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When a country leaves ("graduates" from) the least developed countries (LDC) category, there is often concern about the impacts on the support it will receive from the international community. This paper reviews, as part of a preliminary assessment for the countries the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) will assess in 2024 (Cambodia, Comoros, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia), the expected impacts on financial and technical assistance and on support for the participation of these countries in international forums. Impacts on trade, often found to be the most significant, will be assessed separately. The general preliminary conclusion is that the impacts on development cooperation will be…
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The fourth in a series of annual analyses of voluntary national reviews (VNRs) by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP), this paper analyses the 2020 reports. It consists of an introductory chapter with general conclusions and recommendations for consideration by governments and other stakeholders participating in future VNRs; and a short series of authored thematic chapters. The document revisits issues addressed in the previous editions, such as the pledge to leave no one behind, inequalities, gender inequality, COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness, and SDG 17, and includes new topics of analysis, such as how countries have treated the issue of structural transformation and sustainable…
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This paper provides conceptual inputs on a potential bi-modal monitoring framework for the Least Developed Country (LDC) category. The focus is on discussing its general aspects, in order to help build, among key stakeholders, a common understanding of the general direction such an initiative might take. It intends to help move discourse (and practices) from (reactive) crisis management to (proactive) resilience management, representing a change in perspective likely to help move the process of LDC monitoring forward in a meaningful manner, qualifying the contribution that the CDP might provide in this regard. With an improved framework, vulnerable countries will be able to preventively…
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Voluntary national reviews (VNRs) are an important innovation as a United Nations process for follow up to the adoption of development agendas. This is the third annual review by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) that provides a systematic content analysis of the VNRs presented to the HLPF. It includes a broader analysis than in the previous years, including a stock taking of lessons learned in the CDP analyses as well as related studies and makes recommendations for strengthening the VNR process. The paper also analyses the VNRs presented in 2019 with regard to how countries addressed the key principle of leaving no one behind and partnerships as well as the sustainable…
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