Smooth Transition Strategy for Countries Graduating From the List of Least Developed Countries

A/RES/59/209View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 12 Report of the Economic and Social Council, published in 2005.

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1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 6	Economic analysis and policy	24

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 6	Economic analysis and policy	24	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

13 subjects

Consultations Cooperation Between Organizations Development Assistance Development Planning Development Projects Generalized System of Preferences Graduation International Trade Least Developed Countries Partnership Report Preparation Resident Coordinators Technical Cooperation

What’s in this document?

17 operative paragraphs

Re-emphasizes the need for a smooth transition for countries graduating from the list of least developed countries;

Reconfirms that graduating from the list of least developed countries should not result in a disruption of development plans, programmes and projects;

Decides that the process to ensure a smooth transition of countries graduating from the list of least developed countries shall be as follows:

When the Committee for Development Policy, in its triennial review of the list of least developed countries, identifies a country that meets the criteria for graduation for the first time, it will submit its findings to the Economic and Social Council;

After a country has met the criteria for graduation for the first time, the Secretary-General of the United Nations will invite the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to prepare a vulnerability profile² on the identified country, as described in paragraph 3 (a) above, to be taken into account by the Committee for Development Policy at its subsequent triennial review;

²See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1999, Supplement No. 13 (E/1999/33), chap. III, para. 123.

At the subsequent triennial review undertaken by the Committee for Development Policy, referred to in paragraph 3 (b) above, the qualification for graduation of the country will be reviewed and, if reconfirmed, the Committee will submit a recommendation, in accordance with the established procedures, to the Economic and Social Council;

The Economic and Social Council, in turn, will take action on the recommendation of the Committee for Development Policy at its first substantive session following the triennial review of the Committee and will transmit its decision to the General Assembly;

Three years following the decision of the General Assembly to take note of the recommendation of the Committee for Development Policy to graduate a country from the list of least developed countries, graduation will become effective; during the three-year period, the country will remain on the list of least developed countries and will maintain the advantages associated with membership on that list;

Invites the graduating country, in cooperation with its bilateral and multilateral development and trading partners and with the support of the United Nations system, to prepare, during the three-year period, a transition strategy to adjust to the phasing out, over a period appropriate to the development situation of the country, of the advantages associated with its membership on the list of least developed countries, and to identify actions to be taken by the graduating country and its bilateral and multilateral development and trading partners to that end;

Recommends that the graduating country establish, in cooperation with its bilateral and multilateral development and trading partners, a consultative mechanism to facilitate the preparation of the transition strategy and the identification of the associated actions;

Requests the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, in his capacity as Chair of the United Nations Development Group, to assist countries graduating from the list of least developed countries by providing, if requested, the support of the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Country Team to the consultative mechanism;

Urges all development partners to support the implementation of the transition strategy and to avoid any abrupt reductions in either official development assistance or technical assistance provided to the graduated country;

Invites development and trading partners to consider extending to the graduated country trade preferences previously made available as a result of least developed country status, or reducing them in a phased manner in order to avoid their abrupt reduction;

Invites all members of the World Trade Organization to consider extending to a graduated country, as appropriate, the existing special and differential treatment and exemptions available to least developed countries for a period appropriate to the development situation;

Recommends that the continued implementation of technical assistance programmes under the Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries be considered for the graduated country over a period appropriate to the development situation of the country;

Invites the Government of the graduated country to closely monitor, with the support of the consultative mechanism, the implementation of the transition strategy and to keep the Secretary-General informed on a regular basis;

Requests the Committee for Development Policy to continue to monitor the development progress of the graduated country as a complement to its triennial review of the list of least developed countries, with the assistance and support of other relevant entities, and to report thereon to the Economic and Social Council.

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Who cites this mandate in the budget?