Roundtable 9: Strengthening UNCTAD - Enhancing its impact and institutional effectiveness

Key Issues

At the mid-term review of the Sao Paulo Consensus conducted by the Trade and Development Board in 2006, member States reiterated that, UNCTAD being a knowledge-based organization, its research and analysis activities are the "backbone of its work on trade and development".

With the increasing interdependence in the international economic system, policies pursued by one country or group of countries have impacts and spill-over effects on others. Consequently, in promoting economic development through international trade, there is an even greater need to bring together key stakeholders in the international trading system in order to form a broad-based coalition and forge realistic solutions to economic development that reflect the concerns and needs of developing countries. UNCTAD's intergovernmental machinery was created with this perspective in mind.

Additionally, the operational aspect of UNCTAD's work is represented by the numerous technical cooperation activities that the organization undertakes at the national and regional level. In most cases, these activities are anchored in, and are interrelated with, the organization's research and analysis and consensus-building work.

Purpose

The Roundtable will examine:

• The impact of UNCTAD's research and analysis in the context of the new global realities in order to see how the contributions of its analytical work to the attainment of MDGs and the formulation of coherent national development strategies could be enhanced.
• What can be done to strengthen the intergovernmental machinery of UNCTAD so that it serves as a forum where convergence of ideas emerges and agreements can be reached on concrete action-oriented policy recommendations?
• What needs to be done to achieve the focus and flexibility necessary to achieve those goals?
• How could UNCTAD's operational role be strengthened and how could the value and impact of its capacity building work be reinforced through an enhanced, coordinated relationship with the UN Development Programme.
• How could UNCTAD leverage partnerships that would enable it to better serve developing countries without having to establish country-level presence?
• What needs to be done to ensure that UNCTAD's substantive oversight, monitoring and evaluation could facilitate the delivery of technical assistance?

Contact:

Office of the Secretary-General

Mr. Stuart Harbinson
E-mail: stuart.harbinsonunctad.org

Or

Mr. Christopher MacFarquhar
E-mail: chris.macfarquharunctad.org