| Least Developed Countries: |
| Criteria for identification of LDCs |
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In its latest triennial review of the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in 2009, the Committee for Development Policy used the following three criteria for the identification of the LDCs:
- A low-income criterion, based on a three-year average estimate of the gross national income (GNI) per capita (under $905 for inclusion, above $ 1,086for graduation);
- A human capital status criterion, involving a composite Human Assets Index (HAI) based on indicators of: (a) nutrition: percentage of population undernourished; (b) health: mortality rate for children aged five years or under; (c) education: the gross secondary school enrolment ratio; and (d) adult literacy rate; and
- An economic vulnerability criterion, involving a composite Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) based on indicators of: (a) population size; (b) remoteness; (c) merchandise export concentration; (d) share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in gross domestic product; (e) homelessness owing to natural disasters; (f) instability of agricultural production; and (g) instability of exports of goods and services.
To be added to the list, a country must satisfy all three criteria. In addition, since the fundamental meaning of the LDC category, i.e. the recognition of structural handicaps, excludes large economies, the population must not exceed 75 million. To become eligible for graduation, a country must reach threshold levels for graduation for at least two of the aforementioned three criteria, or its GNI per capita must exceed at least twice the threshold level, and the likelihood that the level of GNI per capita is sustainable must be deemed high.
With regard to the 2009 triennial review of the list, the CDP recommended that Equatorial Guinea be graduated from the list of least developed countries. Tuvalu and Vanuatu were considered eligible but not recommended for graduation due to doubts about the sustainability of their progress. Kiribati which had met the criteria for the first time in the 2006 review was no longer found eligible. Samoa and Maldives, which are scheduled for graduation in December 2010 and January 2011 respectively, were found to have shown continued positive development progress.
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