November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. 
The Economic and Social Council of the UN had presented the proposal in the UNGA for its endorsement. The UNGA passed the proposal on Wednesday, confirmed Amrit Bahadur Rai, chief of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN.    
On the occasion, Rai pledged on behalf of Nepal to do its best to undertake all required procedures for its structural changes within the next five years.    
According to Rai, the Government of Nepal has completed strategic efforts for the graduation. This is an opportunity for the country to raise its image in the international forum by creating structures for its economy within next five years, added Rai.
RSS further reported that Nepal had met the criteria for its graduation in between 2015 and 2018. However, the country’s graduation to middle-income country had been affected by the 2015 earthquake and subsequently postponed citing that its economy was threatened by the disaster.
Nepal was incorporated in the list of LDCs in 1971.