Least-Developed Countries (LDCs): What Are They?
Underdeveloped nations confronting major structural obstacles to sustainable development are known as least-developed countries (LDCs) or less-developed nations. There are 46 countries on the U.N.’s list of least developed nations.
Knowledge of Least-Developed Nations
The least-developed countries have fewer human resources and are more susceptible to economic and environmental shocks than other countries. Least-developed nations are sometimes referred to as “emerging markets.” Specific international trade and development assistance programs are open to LDCs but not to more developed countries.
To assist LDCs in obtaining and reaping the benefits of foreign assistance, the United Nations established the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) Secretariat of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DPAD/DESA). Following their graduation from the LDC category, the secretariat monitors the advancement of LDCs and evaluates their current situation.
The categories of income, human resources, and economic vulnerability are among the standards used by the secretariat to rank countries on its list of the least developed countries:
- The income thresholds amount to $1,018 based on the average gross national income (GNI) per capita over the last three years. At $1,222, the graduation barrier is 20% higher.
- Five factors are used to determine human assets, combined into a subindex for education and health.
- The economic vulnerability index suggests that there are significant structural barriers to sustainable development when there is a high level of susceptibility to economic and environmental shocks.
List of Underdeveloped Nations
By September 2020, the United Nations will have 47 nations on its list of least developed countries (LDCs):
File Photo: List of Least-Developed Countries
The CDP suggested in March 2018 that the Solomon Islands, Bhutan, Kiribati, and São Tomé and Príncipe leave the LDC category by 2024. The committee had never suggested so many countries for graduation at a single evaluation; therefore, its support was unique. Only five nations—Botswana, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, the Maldives, and Samoa—have graduated from the LDC category in its 47-year history. Six Additionally, the committee set the graduation date for Angola for 2024.
Conclusion
- Least-developed countries are those with low incomes that have a hard time building a secure future.
- The U.N. Committee for Development Policy devised ways to make it easier for LDCs to get foreign help and make the most of it.
- The U.N. list of LDCs had 46 countries on it as of October 2021.
