Vanuatu, one of the small island developing states (SIDS) in the western Pacific and home to 293,000 people, has graduated from least developed country (LDC) status, one of the few to do so in many decades.
Vanuatu’s graduation has been an exceptionally long process: nearly 27 years have elapsed since the country’s eligibility for graduation under the then UN criteria was first tabled in January 1994.