Une évaluation des mesures internationales prises depuis la conférence d'Istanbul en 2011 pour aider les 47 pays les moins développés à être moins vulnérables et à atteindre les objectifs de développement durable. ©Electre 2025

The Least Developed Countries (LDCs), presently 47., a category of countries created at the United Nations in 1971, are identified as poor countries facing structural handicaps to growth and sustainable development. As such they deserve a special treatment from the international community, progressively implemented both through aid and trade. Every ten years a UN international conference designs a programme of action for these countries, the last one being that of Istanbul in 2011. A previous book Caught in a trap. Identifying the least developed countries scrutinized the rationale of the category and the criteria on which it relies. This new book examines the effectiveness of the international measures taken to support the Least Developed Countries. Through the contributions of many experts in the field, it is the first overall assessment of the five decade aid and trade measures to help LDCs to move « out of the trap ». It aims at disentangling the outcome of the international special support and of the structural handicaps faced by LDCs. It enlightens the international policy reforms needed for LDCs in the framework of the post-2015 agenda.

« The book is both important and timely, as it could contribute to the discussions on the content and contours of commitments towards the least developed countries for the next decade ». Fekita 'Utoikamanu, UN Under Secretary General, High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked developing Countries and Small States Island States.

« Poverty is a fact but not a fate in LDCs. The book explores the challenges and measures to help LDCs escape the poverty trap. A must read for development economists and practitioners ». Justin Yifu Lin, Dean, Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, Peking University, Former Chief Economist, the World Bank.

« This book is a great contribution to our understanding of how the international community can support LDCs achieve the Sustainable Development Goals ». Jose Antonio Ocampo, Chair of the Committee for Development Policy at the UN, Professor at Columbia University.

« This book deeply assesses what international policies have done to tackle the vulnerability of poorest countries and what is to be done ». Michel Sidibé, Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Mali, former UN Under Secretary General.