UNDERSTANDING LDC GRADUATION IMPLICATIONS FOR RWANDA

The Least Developed Country (LDC) category was established in 1971 by the UN General Assembly to identify the world’s poorest and most structurally vulnerable countries, enabling targeted international support. Rwanda has been an LDC since the inception of the category, as one of the original 25 countries included on the founding list. 

The full list of LDCs is reviewed every three years by the Committee of Development Policy (CDP), a 24-member expert body that reports to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with Secretariat support from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). During these triennial reviews, the CDP assesses which countries qualify for inclusion and which may be ready to graduate. Its recommendations require ECOSOC endorsement before the General Assembly acts. Triennial reviews have been conducted since 1991. 

To be included in the LDC category means that a country has been formally recognized by the UN as meeting the criteria for severe structural development challenges and has completed the UN inclusion process with its government’s consent. The process begins when the CDP determines that a non-LDC country meets the inclusion criteria and notifies the government. If the government does not object, the CDP recommends inclusion to the ECOSOC, which endorses the recommendation. The government then formally accepts inclusion by notifying the UN Secretary-General, after which the UN General Assembly takes note of the decision. From that moment, the country officially becomes an LDC and gains access to the special international support measures, benefits, and preferential treatment available to countries in the LDC category. It is worth noting that inclusion is voluntary rather than automatic; a country can decline to be included, and if it objects during the process, no further action is taken. Since 1971, the founding list of 25 countries grew to 44 through further inclusions, while 8 countries have since graduated.