Excerpt from UN News
The graduation is “testimony to years of effort resulting in hard-won sustainable development gains,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message.
Vanuatu graduated despite severe setbacks due to accelerating climate change, natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit remittances flowing back home hard, and the trade and tourism sector.
The country has prepared a transition strategy, which will help navigate the next steps in its development path.
The journey to graduation
Vanuatu was recommended for graduation from the LDC category by the UN Committee for Development Policy in 2012, having met the graduation thresholds for the Human Assets Index and income in 2006, 2009 and 2012.
The recommendation was approved by the Economic and Social Council in 2012 and by the General Assembly in 2013. The country was granted an extension in 2015, following the severe devastation caused by Cyclone Pam, and the graduation was postponed to 4 December 2020.
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