UNCTAD

UN Trade Forum 2023

UN Trade Forum 2023

 

Third United Nations Trade Forum

Location: Room XXVI, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Date: 8 and 9 May 2023

Format: Hybrid (in-person and remote) 

UNCTAD will host the third iteration of the United Nations Trade Forum, to take stock of trade policies that are best tailored to addressing the challenges that the world is facing. Discussions will focus on approaches that will make trading systems more resilient, particularly in developing countries, and will help clarify the effectiveness and feasibility of a set of trade-related “high-impact initiatives” to respond to global challenges and expedite progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The United Nations Trade Forum will be organized in four plenary meetings on the following topics: South–South trade partnerships and the potential of the global system of trade preferences among developing countries; launch of Trade and Environment Review 2023; contribution of competition and consumer protection policies to sustainable production and consumption patterns; and launch of an UNCTAD study on electronic commerce from a gender and development perspective. This event provides a platform to identify cooperation frameworks to contribute to the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Summit (high-level political forum on sustainable development, September 2023), the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (November 2023) and the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (in early 2024). The Forum will also set the scene for the UNCTAD@60 celebrations in 2024.

Participation
Registration should be completed online at United Nations Trade Forum. Communications concerning representation should be sent to the UNCTAD secretariat, Intergovernmental Outreach and Support Service, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland; fax: 41 22 917 02 14; email: meetings@unctad.org.
The Forum is open to all member States of UNCTAD. Those wishing to attend the event are requested to provide the UNCTAD secretariat with the credentials of their representatives and the names of their alternative representatives and advisers by Wednesday, 3 May 2023. Specialized agencies and intergovernmental bodies wishing to participate in the meeting and non-governmental organizations in the general category and those in the special category who wish to participate as observers are requested to inform the UNCTAD secretariat of the names of their representatives by the same date. With travel and meeting restrictions now largely lifted, attendance in person is actively encouraged, although remote participation will be available.

Logistics
The Forum will be held with physical participation, at the Palais des Nations, and remote participation, through a simultaneous interpretation platform in the six official languages of the United Nations. A link to the formal virtual meeting will be sent to registered participants, at the email address used for registration, one day in advance of the start of the Forum. For in-person attendance, before entering the Palais des Nations, participants are requested to collect their badges from the United Nations Security Service, at Villa Les Feuillantines, 13 avenue de la Paix. The Security Service is open from 8 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. Because of the security measures in force, participants are strongly advised to arrive before 9 a.m. to complete entry procedures in good time and proceed to the meeting in Building E of the Palais through the Peace Gate bis. Participants are requested to carry a passport or similar national identity card with them. Taxis are not allowed to enter the grounds of the Palais des Nations. Visitors should therefore be dropped off at the indicated
entrance gates. Furthermore, luggage may not be brought into the buildings unless the Security Service gives special clearance.

Further information and contact details
For all other enquiries, please contact David Vivas Eugui, Chief of Section, Economic Affairs, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD, email: david.vivaseugui@unctad.org.

 

For more information, please visit the UNCTAD Website.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org.

MSMEs in the Informal Sector: Formalization Ensure Sustainable Finance and Decent Jobs?

About 2 billion workers, or over 60 percent of the world’s adult labor force, operate in the informal  sector –at least part-time, according to the ILO. The COVID-19 pandemic hit informal workers  particularly hard, especially women. Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), both formal and  informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe and offer employment to one-third of 1.2  billion people in the world who work in the informal sector. They generate services for other sectors  like small and large industries, retail, tourism, transportation, construction, etc., and contribute to over  30% of GDP and more than 70% of all jobs created in developing countries. MSMEs were heavily  impacted by the pandemic and continue to face existential challenges on various fronts including but  not limited to business formalization.

MSMEs, both formal and informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe1 and contribute to more than half of the GDP in most countries irrespective of income2. As many countries struggle to cope with the growing debt burdens and limited fiscal space to finance the SDGs, the important role of MSMEs as catalytic forces for achieving the SDGs cannot be stressed enough. Despite formalization gathering pace, MSMEs and those in the informal sector also continue to struggle to access formal finance. Without the appropriate regulatory reforms, social protection measures, access to formal finance, and capacity building in tools such as financial literacy and numeracy tools to help manage finances effectively, inclusive growth and a decent work environment for those in the sector will remain a challenge. As part of the Development Cooperation Strategy 2020-25, the ILO is forging partnerships that advance policy objectives and coherence within the framework of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) that promote Financing Decent Work. In this panel, the speakers will share global and on-the-ground perspectives and explore steps countries are taking through regulatory reforms, access to finance, and capacity building to ensure sustainable finance and decent work for MSMEs in the informal sector.

Register here!

Speakers:  

  • H.E. Mr. Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the  UN (TBC) 
  • Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief, UNCTAD New York Office of the Secretary-General
  • Ms. Adriana Marina, Founder of Hecho por Nosotros & animaná, Argentina
  • Mr. Amar G. Prabhu, Principal of Don Bosco Industrial Training Institute Kurla, Mumbai, India
  • Ms. Sandie Ejang Elobu, CEO, Western Silk Road, Ltd., Uganda 
  • Ms. Nana Efua Brown-Orleans, Program Lead, Duapa Workspace, Ghana 
  • Ms. Estella Kabagaya Eldradaa, Founder, Mama Children Village, Uganda

Organizers: NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Virginia  Gildersleeve International Fund (DBA Women First International Fund), Salesian Missions Inc, Africa  Development Interchange Network, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of Charity Federation

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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org.

ICTs for Well-Being, Inclusion and Resilience: WSIS Cooperation for Accelerating Progress on the SDGs

Date and Time: 7 July 2022, 08:00-09:00 AM New York time / 14:00-15:00 PM CEST

About: Highlighting the theme of the WSIS Forum 2022, this session will focus on how the ICTs and the WSIS Action Lines can help accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), learning from the COVID-19 experience to build an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable societies and economies. It is important to strengthen partnerships and digital cooperation towards achieving goals and targets across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Register here:  https://itu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Av6zKxyzTK65UxwzzIXmjQ

Speakers:

  • Mr. Malcolm Johnson, Deputy Secretary-General, ITU (Chair of UNGIS)
  • H.E. Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Nigeria, Government
  • Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO (Vice Chair of UNGIS)
  • Mr. Torbjörn Fredriksson, Head of E-Commerce and Digital Economy Branch, UNCTAD (Vice Chair of UNGIS)
  • Mr. Jean-Paul Adam, Director Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), (Vice Chair of UNGIS)
  • Mr. Moshe Kao, Programme Management Officer, UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries
  • Mr. Liberato C. Bautista, President, Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), Civil Society
  • Ms. Mei Lin Fung, Chair and Co-Founder, People Centered Internet, WSIS Gender Trendsetter
  • Mr. Michael Hodin, CEO, Global Coalition on Aging, Private Sector

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Language and Languages, please contact the co-chairs at tonkin@hartford.edu or fmhult@umbc.edu.

Sustainable and resilient transport and trade facilitation in times of pandemic and beyond: Key challenges and opportunities

Multi-year Expert Meeting on Transport, Trade Logistics and Trade Facilitation [Ninth session]

Sustainable and resilient transport and trade facilitation in times of pandemic and beyond: Key challenges and opportunities

Geneva, 12–14 July 2022

The ninth session of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Transport, Trade Logistics and Trade Facilitation will be held from 12 to 14 July 2022 in room XVIII of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The session will commence at 10 am on Tuesday, 12 July 2022.

Background and purpose of the meeting

The disruption from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and uncertainty about a lasting recovery are stark reminders of how unprepared transport and logistics are in the face of disruptions. Pandemic-induced shifts in supply, consumption and demand patterns, the rise in logistical bottlenecks, port congestion and delays, the surge in shipping rates and costs, and deterioration in service reliability have all become a constant feature of the current transport and logistics landscape.

The short-term outlook remains one of continued disruption amid emerging virus variants and new waves of infections, as well as a riskier geopolitical landscape. Several trends are making a rapid return to “normal” more challenging, while at the same time generating opportunities for transport and logistics, including trade facilitation. Transport and logistics are facing multiple imperatives spanning digitalization, climate change mitigation and adaptation, transition to low carbon fuels, environmental sustainability, and energy and food security. Addressing the challenges, balancing competing priorities and seizing opportunities call for adequate policies and strategies that prioritize the future proofing of transport and logistics.

The ninth session of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Transport, Trade Logistics and Trade Facilitation provides a timely opportunity to reflect on the key issues at stake and provide recommendations on the best way forward, identify priority action areas, in particular for the most vulnerable group of countries, among these the least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, and define the role of relevant stakeholders, including from industry, Government, the public and private sectors and development partners and financial institutions.

Nomination and participation

Online registration is mandatory. To register, please use the following link: Multi-year Expert Meeting on Transport, Trade Logistics and Trade Facilitation. Nominations and communications concerning representation should be sent to the UNCTAD secretariat, Intergovernmental Outreach and Support Service, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10; emails: meetings@unctad.org and trade.logistics@unctad.org.

Member States of UNCTAD are requested to nominate experts in the relevant fields by 30 June 2022. Experts, who will participate in the meeting in their personal capacities, are expected to have proven expertise in the subject areas and may be selected from governmental and non-governmental organizations, the private sector or academia. Specialized agencies and intergovernmental bodies that wish to participate in the meeting, as well as non-governmental organizations in the general category and those in the special category that wish to participate as observers, are requested to register by the same date.

Further information and contact details

All enquiries concerning substantive issues should be addressed to the coordinators in the substantive division, Mr. Jan Hoffmann and Ms. Wendy Juan; tel: 41 22 917 2032; fax: 41 22 917 0050; email: trade.logistics@UNCTAD.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

UNCTAD15 Civil Society Forum

High-level Opening |  14:30–14:55 (CEST) • 08:30–08:55 (AST)

Speakers:

  • The Honorable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados
  • Ms. Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD
  • The Honorable Colin E. Jordan, Minister of Labour, Social Partnership Relations and the Third Sector, Barbados

Introduction and Workshop overview  | 15:00–15:15 (CEST) • 09:00–09:15 (AST)

Speakers:

  • Mr. Richard Jones, Caribbean Policy Development Centre, Barbados, UNCTAD 15 Host country Civil Society Organization for the Civil Society Forum

The crisis of multilateralism – Wither UNCTAD rediscovering its original mandate to confront key challenges of the global south |  15:20–17:35 (CEST) • 09:20–11:35 (AST)

Plenary speakers:

  • Mr. Tetteh Hormeku-Ajei, Head of Programmes, Third World Network-Africa
  • Ms. Diyana Yahaya, Gender and Trade Coalition
  • Mr. Alvin Mosioma, Executive Director, Tax Justice Network Africa
  • Ms. Kai-Ann Skeete, the University of the West Indies
  • Ms. Anita Gurumurthy, Executive Director, IT for Change
  • Mr. Daniel Bertossa, Assistant General Secretary, Public Services International

Access the sessions here: wtvglobal.6connex.eu/event/UNCTAD15-Barbados/login?return=Frangipani-Auditorium

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

Multi-year Expert Meeting on Trade, Services and Development

The ninth session of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Trade, Services and Development will be held with physical and remote participation from 4 to 6 July 2022. The substantive topic of the session is the evolving landscape of digital trade in services.

Participation and Registration:

Member States are invited to nominate experts from the public and/or private sectors. Nominated experts are encouraged to participate in all sessions of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Trade, Services and Development to ensure continuity. Each State is encouraged to nominate up to five experts to participate remotely. This session is open to all member States of UNCTAD. Other organizations, including specialized agencies, intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organizations in the general and special categories, as well as academia, research institutions and the private sector, may participate as observers.

Online registration is mandatory for all those wishing to attend the meeting and is required in order to be included in the list of participants. Please register for this session at indico.un.org/event/1000971/.

Registration requires uploading an official letter of nomination to represent an organization at this meeting. For government representatives, a note verbale or an email from the permanent mission in Geneva will suffice. Further inquiries regarding registration should be sent to the UNCTAD secretariat, Intergovernmental Outreach and Support Service, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10; email: meetings@unctad.org and tncdb@unctad.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

Sixty-fifth Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Sixty-fifth session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Vienna, Austria, 14-18 March 2022

GENERAL INFO

Organizational Arrangements 
Registration
COVID-19 related information
Information for Participants (English/French/Spanish)
Programme
Journals
List of Participants (information)
VIC Accessibility Guide
Guidelines for online participation:

PLENARY PROCEEDINGS

Statements
In-session draft reports
Webcast
Photos

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Draft proposals
General information on draft resolutions and draft decisions

HIGH-LEVEL EVENT

Programme

SIDE EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS

Programme of CND side events
Side events report
Virtual exhibitions

DOCUMENTATION

Please click here for documentation for the 65th session of the CND.

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CoNGO Notes: For collaborative work among NGOs related to the agenda of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, visit Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs and New York NGO Committee on Drugs. For more information about CoNGO-related NGO Committees, view Substantive Committees.

Public dialogue on the progress of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development

Dear colleagues,

You are cordially invited to an informal public dialogue on the progress of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development (IATF on FFD), in preparation for the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report. The public dialogue will be held on the 21st of October (Thursday), 9:00 – 10:30 EDT, virtually via MS Teams.

Representatives from the Secretariat, the five major institutional stakeholders (World Bank Group, IMF, WTO, UNCTAD and UNDP), and other Task Force members will brief Member States and external stakeholders on their work. A short presentation will be followed by an interactive discussion to solicit feedback and input. We welcome the participation of all delegations and all stakeholders in this briefing and look forward to your contributions to the dialogue.

If you are interested in attending the briefing, please click here to register and you will receive a specific calendar invitation for the event.

Background information on the briefing is available on the Task Force website. For further information please contact Mr. Peter Chowla (chowla@un.org), Ms. Poh Lynn Ng (ng6@un.org), and Ms. Jie Wei (weij@un.org).

Kind regards,

Navid Hanif

Director, Financing for Sustainable Development Office, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

UNCTAD Gender and Development Forum

UNCTAD Gender and Development Forum

Participation:

The two events are open to all member States of UNCTAD and to observers from the public. Speakers will include ministers and practitioners and representatives of civil society, the private sector and academia from all regions of the world. Registration for the Forum should be completed online at https://indico.un.org/event/1000156/.

The two UNCTAD-led events of the Forum will be held with remote participation, with simultaneous interpretation in English, French and Spanish. These events will also be streamed live, in English only. Registration for these events should be completed online as follows:

High-level panel: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gQjtXzMWQ9KnO9zbBl–Nw

Workshop: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BVKquoVASfCy9xqNmKmRbg

High-level panel discussion: Shaping gender-responsive economies and societies – What role for trade?

27 September 2021, 4–6.30 p.m. (CEST)

This high-level panel will be results-oriented. Speakers will share their experiences in dealing with gender and economic issues. They will present the goals achieved and the shortcomings faced during their journeys, whether in policymaking, advocacy, business or research. They will also provide concrete ideas of how the work of UNCTAD with regard to trade and gender may further contribute to the goal of empowering women and creating equal opportunities for all in the current social and economic environment.

Session I: Gender equality and trade policymaking – The role of bilateral, regional and global trade policy initiatives alongside domestic policies

Session II: Essay competition on trade and gender

Session III: Trade as a driver of gender equality in the post-pandemic recovery – Perspectives from civil society, the private sector and academia

Closing: Gender and trade at UNCTAD – Future prospect

Gender and development workshop: Our work makes a difference

28 September 2021, 4–6.30 p.m. (CEST)

This workshop will showcase the impacts of hands-on activities conducted by UNCTAD to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the fields of trade and gender, trade facilitation, data and statistics, electronic commerce and entrepreneurship. It will also provide for concrete directions for the future role of UNCTAD in contributing to the goal of empowering women and creating equal opportunities for all, given the current social and economic environment

Session I: UNCTAD capacity-building initiative on trade and gender

Session II: Gender perspectives in trade facilitation reforms

Session III: Better data for gender inclusive trade policy

Session IV: eTrade for Women

Session V: Women’s entrepreneurship

For enquiries related to the programmes, please contact Ms. Simonetta Zarrilli, Chief, Trade, Gender and Development Programme, Division on International Trade and Commodities, email: simonetta.zarrilli@unctad.org. For enquiries related to registration and logistics, please contact gender@unctad.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit  ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. 

UNCTAD Civil Society Forum

The hosting of UNCTAD 15 in October of 2021, by a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) offers a critical opportunity to ground the discussions in the present and future realities and prospects of the most vulnerable countries and their populations.

The theme of UNCTAD 15, From Inequality and Vulnerability to Prosperity for All, provides a platform to re-energize and refocus development efforts and commitments. It also presents a unique opportunity for member states to respond strategically by reinforcing the value of multilateralism and providing a renewed mandate for a strengthened UNCTAD.

This Civil Society Forum is intended to contribute to the transformative discourse that needs to take place to address some of the systemic and structural inequalities in the trade and development space. The Day 3 agenda includes:

Closing

14:45-15:00 (CEST) • 08:45–09:00 (AST)

Speakers:

  • Ms. Kozel Peters-Frazer, Caribbean Policy Development Centre and host country civil society coordinating organization
  • Ms. Arlette Verploegh, UNCTAD
  • Ms. Shantal Munro-Knight, Barbados UNCTAD15 Civil Society Forum Lead

Solidarity and system change are the only way forward to overcome the global economic, health, and human rights crisis: feminist perspectives from Asia and the Pacific

15:05–16:20 (CEST) • 09:05–10:20 (AST) | side event organized by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development

Exploring the divide between the global north and south

15:05–16:20 (CEST) • 09:05–10:20 (AST) | side event organized by Tax Justice Network Africa

Sustainable solutions to debt crisis, the role of UNCTAD 

16:25–17:40 (CEST) • 10:25–11:40 (AST) | side event organized by the Global Policy Forum

How do we build a just recovery from the COVID crisis?

16:25–17:40 (CEST) • 10:25–11:40 (AST) | side event organized by Friends of the Earth International

Discussion on the Civil Society Declaration

17:40–19:40 (CEST) • 11:40–13:40 (AST) | The session will provide for discussion and confirmation of the Civil Society Declaration. The Caribbean Policy Development Centre is the host country civil society organization.

Access the sessions here: wtvglobal.6connex.eu/event/UNCTAD15-Barbados/login

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

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