Excerpt from Mirage News
Least developed countries (LDCs) are characterized as low-income countries with severe structural impediments, vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks.
Graduating from LDC status requires a mix of careful deliberation, concerted efforts, and strategic leadership – no small feat for any country, never mind a Pacific island nation prone to frequent cyclones and other extreme weather.
Vanuatu graduated from the LDC list in December 2020, 40 years after its independence, despite formidable challenges, such as the Category 5 Cyclone Harold which hit Vanuatu and other Pacific islands amid COVID-19 lockdowns in April 2020.
In 2020, Vanuatu’s GNI per capita and the GDP growth rates were estimated at 2913 USD and 3.8 per cent respectively, above the threshold of LDCs. In the same year, it was ranked 140th out of 189 countries in UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI), on par with countries in medium development category.
Tech as an enabler
The success of the country’s graduation lies in the quality of leadership and consistent development efforts, with the strategic decision to embrace digital technology as a development enabler.
In driving the country’s development towards the graduation and, more broadly, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Vanuatu made a tactical choice to invest in digital infrastructure and applications to provide government services. Over the years, the country has also made steady progress in developing an enabling digital policy and regulatory frameworks, cybersecurity capabilities, and enhancing resilience to respond to recurrent natural disasters.
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