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Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category
Inclusion, Graduation and Special Support Measures - Fifth Edition
The fifth edition of the Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category provides comprehensive information on the least developed country (LDC) category including a description of procedures and methodologies used in the identification of these countries and the international support measures available to them. It builds upon and updates the previous edition published in 2021. The Handbook aims at providing comprehensive and up-to-date information on the LDC category. The publication is intended for use by government officials policymakers researchers and others interested in the LDC category.
2024 Child Nutrition Report
Child Food Poverty: Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood
This global report examines the status trends inequities and drivers of child food poverty in early childhood including the impact of global and local food and nutrition crises. The report focuses on low- and middle-income countries where most children living in child food poverty reside and on the implications of child food poverty for undernutrition and poor development. The analyses used data from the UNICEF Global Database on Infant and Young Child Feeding comprising data from 670 nationally representative surveys conducted in 137 countries and territories and representing more than 90 per cent of all young children globally. UNICEF analysed national survey data to identify determinants of severe child food poverty and the extent to which severe child food poverty predicts child undernutrition. In addition data was analysed from rapid assessments conducted in low- and middle-income countries to examine the barriers experienced by parents and families in feeding young children in communities affected by food and nutrition crises.
Summary
The fifth edition of the Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category provides comprehensive information on the least developed country (LDC) category including a description of procedures and methodologies used in the identification of these countries and the international support measures available to them. It builds upon and updates the previous edition published in 2021. The Handbook aims at providing comprehensive and up-to-date information on the LDC category and is intended for use by government officials policymakers researchers and others interested in the LDC category.
Our findings: The crisis of severe child food poverty
This chapter examines the status trends and inequities in child food poverty using data from the UNICEF Global Database on Infant and Young Child Feeding the findings of rapid assessments in countries affected by the global food and nutrition crisis and an analysis of the links between child food poverty and child undernutrition.
Acknowledgements
This publication was prepared by the UNICEF Child Nutrition and Development Programme of the UNICEF Programme Group in collaboration with the Data and Analytics Section of the UNICEF Data Analytics Planning and Monitoring Division.
Executive summary
Across the world millions of parents and families are struggling to provide the nutritious and diverse foods that young children need to grow develop and learn to their full potential. Growing inequities conflict and climate crises combined with rising food prices the overabundance of unhealthy foods harmful food marketing strategies and poor child feeding practices are condemning millions of children to child food poverty.
Our recommendations: Ending severe child food poverty
Severe child food poverty is a threat to the survival growth and development of an estimated 181 million children under 5 globally denying them the opportunity to escape social and economic deprivation. The world has the knowledge and resources to fix the failing systems that underpin severe child food poverty which we must use to bring this injustice to an end.
Our analysis: The forces driving severe child food poverty
This chapter explores the forces driving severe child food poverty in early childhood why current efforts are failing to improve young children’s diets and what we can learn from countries that have achieved extraordinary success in reducing severe child food poverty.
Explanatory notes
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country territory city or area or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The term “country” as used in the text also refers as appropriate to territories or areas. The designations of country groups are intended solely for statistical or analytical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgment about the stage of development reached by a particular country or area in the development process.
Foreword
The category of the least developed countries (LDCs) was established in 1971 as a special group of developing countries characterized by low levels of income and structural impediments to growth. Special measures were therefore deemed necessary for overcoming challenges to their development.
Foreword
One in four children today is living in severe food poverty. This means that they are surviving on one or two food groups a day and on some days even less. The scale of this deprivation is alarming and the overall slow progress to address this crisis hides deep inequalities at both global and regional levels.
Our research: Understanding child food poverty
This chapter introduces child food poverty and describes how it denies young children the right to survival growth and development. We outline the research and analysis that UNICEF has undertaken to examine the scale trends inequities and drivers of child food poverty in early childhood.
Acknowledgements
The present publication is a collaborative undertaking of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
International support measures for the least developed countries
Countries belonging to the least developed country (LDC) category have access to support measures beyond those available for other developing countries. These measures can be grouped into three main areas: international trade; development cooperation; and support for participation in international forums. The sections below present an overview of the main support measures in each of these areas. More detailed information on international support measures for LDCs can be found on the LDC Portal.