GOVERNMENTS REVIEW PROGRESS, PROBLEMS IN CARRYING OUT RECOMMENDATIONS OF NINTH SESSION OF UNCTAD IN 1996
Press Release
TAD/1858
GOVERNMENTS REVIEW PROGRESS, PROBLEMS IN CARRYING OUT RECOMMENDATIONS OF NINTH SESSION OF UNCTAD IN 1996
19980715 GENEVA, 14 July (UNCTAD) -- The Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), meeting in an executive session on 10 July, adopted by consensus a mid-term assessment of the implementation of the decisions taken at the ninth session of the Conference, UNCTAD IX, held at Midrand, South Africa, in 1996. The assessment is the successful outcome of a series of intergovernmental consultations chaired by Nacer Benjelloun-Toumi (Morocco). It reviews progress made and obstacles encountered over the past two years and provides recommendations for work to be undertaken before UNCTAD X, to be held in Thailand in February 2000.The reform project embodied in the outcome of the ninth UNCTAD was a turning point in the history of the organization. It resulted in a streamlining of the intergovernmental machinery of the organization, its work programme and the structure of the secretariat, as well as in a new approach based on dialogue and consensus-building and on practical objectives.
In this first formal stocktaking, UNCTAD's member States agreed that the work in the secretariat and at the intergovernmental level had proceeded along the lines mandated by the conference, which essentially aimed at assisting developing countries and economies-in-transition to participate more effectively in the world economy under conditions conducive to their development. They noted, however, that the organization had encountered certain structural problems, such as a growing gap between the level of requirements and the level of human and financial resources available to the secretariat. They also believed that linkages between analytical work and technical cooperation could be strengthened.
According to its member States, "the unique contribution of UNCTAD has to be made through its analytical function and by linking research and action, analysis and policies". Such a linkage should be reflected in the intergovernmental consensus-building process, in UNCTAD's operational activities, and through enhanced partnerships with civil society. The UNCTAD member States recognized that such partnerships for development, which should be "the hallmark of UNCTAD", they said, would require further changes in the way the organization conducted its daily business. The UNCTAD should strengthen its links with civil society, in particular the private sector, tapping its innovative capacity, engaging in joint activities, and
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supplementing funding. Links with other international organizations and the regional commissions of the United Nations should be aimed at increasing synergies and avoiding duplication. The UNCTAD was also requested to produce an annual report of its activities in order to achieve greater transparency and to permit a better assessment of its work and achievements.
The recommendations call for better integration of the work on cross-sectoral issues into the work of the intergovernmental machinery. Such issues include the problems of the least developed countries, poverty alleviation, economic cooperation among developing countries, sustainable development and the empowerment of women.
Work on assistance to the least developed, landlocked and island developing countries should be strengthened. To that end, issues of least developed countries should be fully integrated into the work of the intergovernmental machinery; moreover, the lack of effective participation of those countries in UNCTAD meetings should be addressed by the Board. The Board's decisions on the follow-up to the high-level meeting on integrated initiatives for trade development of the least developed countries, which was held at the World Trade Organization in October 1997, should be fully implemented.
It was recommended that UNCTAD help build the institutional and human capacities of developing countries in a number of specific areas. Among these are: participation in multilateral trade negotiations, trade and development promotion through foreign investment, and commodity risk management. Other specific recommendations called for an analysis of the impact of global electronic commerce on development, and the impact of the European Monetary Union and the euro on developing countries.
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