PERSPECTIVE| FES BANGLADESH Lagging Behind Lessons from the Least Developed Countries for a Development Agenda Post-2015 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, UMME SALMA& GAZI JOKI UDDIN November 2013 n The Least Developed Countries(LDCs) are unlikely to meet most of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), despite progress with regard to some of the goals in different LDCs. n Progress remains slow and uneven across the LDCs. Rwanda is in the top position, followed by Bangladesh and Cambodia. At the bottom of the list are three Afri­can countries: Somalia, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan. Four countries are unlikely to meet any of the targets: Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and South Sudan. n Not all LDCs have accelerated progress towards attainment of the MDGs in the post­2000 period. This re-emphasises the fact that some LDCs’ success with the MDGs is largely due to the head start they had  —  i. e., policy initiatives undertaken before 2000  —  and not efforts after the adoption of the MDGs in 2000. n It is becoming increasingly obvious that the post-2015 international development framework and its goals will be»universal« in nature. It remains to be seen how, in an uneven world, a universal framework can accommodate the specific concerns and interests of countries with special needs —   i ncluding the LDCs. As we move towards 2015, we must consider the actual state of delivery of MDGs in the LDCs, and address the abovementioned issues in order to realise the international political commitment to»leave no one behind«.