At its 50th plenary meeting, on 23 July 2004, the Economic and Social Council, recalling its resolution 2004/3 of 3 June 2004 on the report of the Committee for Development Policy:
(a) Took note of the progress achieved so far in the consideration of the report of the Secretary-General on formulating a smooth transition strategy for countries graduating from least developed country status68 and of the report of the Committee for Development Policy on its sixth session;69
66 A/59/121-E/2004/88.
67 A/59/89-E/2004/21.
68 E/2004/94.
69 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2004, Supplement No. 13 (E/2004/33).
(b) Decided to revert to this matter at its resumed substantive session of 2004, building further on the elements for draft resolutions under agenda item 13 (a) contained in the annex to the present decision.
Elements for draft resolutions under agenda item 13 (a)
The Economic and Social Council will adopt simultaneously two different resolutions:
• One on the report of the Secretary-General on formulating a smooth transition strategy for countries graduating from least developed country status68
• One on the report of the Committee for Development Policy on its sixth session,69 including its recommendation to graduate the Maldives and Cape Verde
Elements for a draft resolution on a smooth transition strategy
1
Reconfirmation of general principles related to a smooth transition
2
Definition of the time sequence of a transition process,
building on General Assembly resolution 46/206 of 20 December 1991 and subsequent resolutions of the Economic and Social Council:
• A first phase (I), of a three-year duration, beginning with the first identification of a country by the Committee for Development Policy and ending with the validation of the findings at the second review and the recommendation by the Committee to graduate the country
• A second phase (II), following the endorsement by the General Assembly of the recommendation by the Committee for Development Policy, lasting for a period of three years, during which the graduating country keeps its least developed country status and the advantages associated with it and activates, in a dialogue with its main partners at the country level,
the preparations for the third phase, when it will have lost its least developed country status
• A third phase (III), following the expiration of phase II, of an undetermined duration, during which the graduated country, in line with the strategy elaborated with its partners in phase II, phases out advantages associated with its earlier least developed country status
3
Definition of the mechanisms and content of the transition process, building on the recommendations in the report of the Secretary-General:
• Invite the graduating country to envisage action during phase I and initiate a process at the country
level and, especially during phase II, build on the existing mechanism for coordination with donors
• Invite the partners of the graduating country (bilateral and multilateral) to engage in the elaboration in phase II and implementation in phase III of a country-specific transition strategy
4
Definition of a monitoring mechanism:
• Follow-up of the implementation of the smooth transition strategy at the country level during phase III under the overall responsibility of the Government
• Specific monitoring of the country, beginning at the end of phase II, during a series of triennial reviews by the Committee for Development Policy
• Invitation to the national Government to keep the Committee informed of evolution at the country level
5
Specific requests to the Secretary-General and United Nations agencies:
• The issue of the vulnerability profile in phase I
• Assistance through the resident coordinator system during phase II (convening a country-based mechanism; assisting the Government in the identification of critical areas, etc.)
6
Recommendation to the General Assembly to endorse the resolution
Elements for a draft resolution on the report of the Committee for Development Policy
Take note of the report, including its recommendation to graduate Maldives and Cape Verde.
