Graduation from Least Developed Country Status: The 5th National Human Development Report

The 5th National Human Development Report (NHDR) examines different facets of underdevelopment in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) that classify it as a Least Developed Country (LDC). To a great extent, the Human Asset criterion and its indicators used for LDC classification are the same as those that categorize a country’s level of HD. In the continuum of HD, LDC graduation is one of the early milestones a country has to reach. Improving HD is essential for smoothly moving out of LDC status. Therefore, the LDC graduation process has to be viewed from the perspective of HD.