UN review body meets on Monday on Bangladesh’s LDC graduation

The UN's Committee for Development Policy (CDP) at its plenary session on Monday will review for the second time Bangladesh's position on three relevant indexes for its coming out of the least developed country (LDC) status.

If the country passes the assessment, the CDP will recommend Bangladesh's name to the UN's Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) for the country's transition to a developing one. The ECOSOC will forward it to the UN General Assembly after giving approval at a meeting to be held next June.

The UN General Assembly will approve Bangladesh as a developing country in 2026.

Officials at the Economic Relations Division told The Business Standard that the CDP will propose Bangladesh's name for LDC graduation after assessing its position on the three indexes – the per capita Gross National Income, the human assets index, and the economic and environmental vulnerability index – on 22-26 February.

According to the finance ministry, Bangladesh's position on the indexes will be reviewed based on information from 2019.

In the process of graduating to a developing country, the LDCs have to pass two assessments of the UN every three years where three indexes are evaluated. If an LDC does well in two of the three indexes, it becomes eligible for the graduation.

In the first evaluation in 2018, Bangladesh met all requirements of the indexes.

No least developed country has ever graduated performing well on all the three indexes. However, Bangladesh is far ahead of the set standards.

In spite of the fact that Bangladesh has been eligible for the LDC graduation in 2024, the country has already informed the CDP of its intent for the transition in 2026, considering economic losses caused by the pandemic.