Kiribatiʼs graduation from Least Developed Country status: An analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Abstract The Pacific Small Island Developing State (SIDS) of Kiribati has met the formal, minimal criteria for graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category of the United Nations on multiple occasions from 2003 to 2018. Nevertheless, in light of both structural, long‐standing constraints and severe more recent challenges – such as the COVID‐19 pandemic, the Russia‐Ukraine conflict and the exacerbation of the climate crisis – that past assessments took into only partial consideration, the country still appears, at present, unready to lose the support measures that come with the LDC inclusion and to graduate, once and for all, with sustained “momentum.” The analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats conducted in this paper suggests the need to further delay any decisions on graduation until more holistic, thorough readiness assessments can be conducted on the basis of new, additional indicators closely reflecting the full range of vulnerabilities that Kiribati, and other similar SIDS, currently face.