The draft resolution A/78/L.29 on the Postponement of Angola‘s Graduation from the Least Developed Country category was presented by the ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Angolan Mission to the United Nations, in New York, Francisco José da Cruz.
At the time, the diplomat explained that Angola’s graduation was scheduled for February 2024, however, multiple shocks such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, unstable oil prices on the international market, severe droughts, rising food prices and currency devaluation made the transition process unfeasible.
“As a consequence, the Gross National Income per capita is below the graduation criteria”, he highlighted.
Francisco José da Cruz informed the plenary that resolution E/2023/10 of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) recommended that the General Assembly postpone Angola’s graduation to a later date, to allow the Committee for Development Policies (CDP) to consider improve the country’s economic situation and its smooth transition strategy.
In this context, he continued, after the presentation of the CDP Report, the Angolan Government activated article 284 of the Doha Program of Action (DPoA) and began consultations, through the Reinforced Mechanism, with the aforementioned Committee.
According to Francisco José da Cruz, following consultations, the Government of Angola and the CPD agreed to withdraw the country from the graduation process, taking into account the current socioeconomic challenges, which have disrupted its development progress.
He reiterated his commitment to the PMA status graduation process, considering it an important step for the country’s sustainable development strategy, which adopted the National Development Plan 2023-2027 as a medium-term planning instrument to implement the Long-Term Strategy “Angola 2050” deadline.
The diplomat said that both strategies are fully aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Doha Action Program.
In March 2012, the Committee for Development Policies (CDP) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs considered Angola eligible for graduation into the category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), exceptionally only based on the criterion “Income per Capita ”, leaving aside the two others, namely the Human Assets and Economic Vulnerability Indices. VM