The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted the resolution for the graduation of Bangladesh and Nepal in South Asia from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category. The resolution provides the three countries - along with Lao Democratic Republic - a five year preparatory period leading to graduation on an exceptional basis.

During the discussion on the resolution on Wednesday, the Bangladesh representative to the UN said, "Graduation is not a punishment but a reward".

Highlighting the potential impact of the loss of support measures for graduating countries, she called for an incentive-based structure with monitoring that is responsive to crises.

Later in a tweet, the permanent representative of Bangladesh to UN, Rabab Fatima called it a historic resolution. She said there could be no better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

In February, the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) had recommended the graduation of Bangladesh from the category of LDC as it fulfilled the eligibility criteria in terms of per capita income, human assets and economic and environmental vulnerability for the second consecutive time since 2018.

To be considered for graduation, a country must achieve at least two of the three criteria at two consecutive triennial reviews. The country also needs to have a per capita GDP of over USD 1230 dollars for LDC graduation. Bangladesh qualified with a per capita GDP of USD 2064. On the Human Assets Index, Bangladesh’s score stands at 75.4 against the requirement of 66. Bangladesh has a score of 27 on the Economic and Environmental Index which is required to be below 32 for the LDC graduation.

Bangladesh and Nepal have till 2026 to prepare for the transition to the status of a developing country. Usually, countries are given three years for transition but this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh and Nepal, along with Lao been given five years for the process.

(SAM)