Laos gov’t eyes graduation from LDC status in 2026
THE Lao government will step up human resource development and cooperation with development partners to ensure the nation is able to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category.
There will be an extended preparatory period towards Laos’ assumed graduation from this category in 2026.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith said that during a recent triennial review of LDCs, Laos was recommended for graduation with an extended five-year preparatory period, effectively setting graduation in 2026. This would occur following a positive and continued trajectory throughout the time period leading up to graduation under the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP).
Graduation from LDC status has been a long-term objective of the Lao government since 2000, through strong commitment and consistent progress in implementing National Socio-economic Development Plans.
Laos’ removal from the LDC list is not an end in itself and does not imply that no poverty remains but indicates the hard earned achievements of the government in many priority areas, Saleumxay said.
The decision by the CDP paves the way for a smooth preparatory period before Laos is officially removed from the list of LDCs, he added.
This year, the CDP considered the impact of Covid-19 on development progress, which in turn played a role in the decision to recommend an extended preparatory period before graduation itself would take place.
However, given the current circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns persist because the data assessed by the review meeting did not fully cover the impacts of the pandemic. Against this backdrop, continued support and assistance from the international community is as much necessary as before the review, especially in the crucial transition period.
UN Resident Coordinator to Laos Sara Sekkenes said: “Graduating from the group of Least Developed Countries has been a development goal for Laos for many years, one that has been emphasised in the country’s national socio-economic development plans and policy priorities.
“Therefore, it is very welcome to see the country’s consistent progress across a broad range of indicators, despite the many development challenges faced, including the setbacks presented by the Covid-19 outbreak but, nevertheless, leading to the United Nations Committee for
Development Policy recommendation that it graduate,” she said.
The CDP, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council, reviews the LDC category every three years and recommends to the Council and the UN General Assembly which countries should be included into, or graduated from the list.
There are currently 46 nations on the list of LDCs. Reviews are based on quantitative criteria – Gross National Income per capita, Human Assets Index and Economic and Environmental Vulnerability Index – as well as country-specific additional information.
ISRAEL’S military is facing a challenge on the home front unrelated to traditional threats against the Jewish state: it’s over facial hair, and activists say the army’s future is at stake.
Bar Pinto and Gilad Levi, two red-bearded 29-yearolds, have founded “Beard Exemptions for All” (“Ptor Zakan Lekulam” in Hebrew), a campaign challenging Israeli military rules compelling all male troops to be clean-shaven.
Pinto and Levi have taken issue with a system that grants exemptions to that rule on religious grounds, while the faces of secular troops must remain smooth.
They argue this exacerbates tensions within the ranks.
“There is an obvious discrimination between religious and secular,” Pinto said.
“It’s not legal,” Levi added. Military duty at age 18 is mandatory in Israel, with young men compelled to serve for nearly three years and women for two.
But increasing numbers are seeking exemptions, citing psychological conditions and other factors as grounds to avoid service.
Minister of Defence Benny Gantz recently said that more than half of young Israelis were not serving in the military.
Pinto and Levi said they view military service as a sacred part of Israeli citizenship, but that with the army struggling to attract young people, rigid rules governing facial hair are counterproductive.
“We want the army to focus on what really matters: investing time and resources to defend the country,” not the facial hair of its soldiers, said Pinto.
“Why complicate the lives of these young men who are making an effort to serve their country and give the best years of their lives?”
Beard Exemptions for All is bolstered by a nearly 4,000member Facebook group, an online video campaign and merchandise, including T-shirts and stickers featuring the army’s logo, branded with a beard.
Secular vs. religious
Israeli army rules state that “all soldiers are required to shave their faces”.
But Pinto and Levi charge that there is discrimination in how that rule is enforced.
Exemptions may be granted to men who adhere to Jewish religious rulings against shaving.
Others who claim that their beard forms an essential part of their identity are also entitled to an exemption, but Pinto said he had heard stories from “thousands” of secular soldiers whose request for an exemption had been denied.
A group of 17 soldiers who agree with that assertion filed a supreme court petition in January seeking to force the army to grant exemptions to anyone who makes a request.
Levi said 1,600 troops had contributed money from their own pockets to fund the legal challenge, which had so far raised 120,000 shekels ($36,000).
Facial hair, they argued, is crucial to many young Israeli men, regardless of their level of devoutness.
“Religious and secular are brothers in arms, we live together in this country,” Pinto said. “Beards should not be an issue that divides us.”