UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)

Globalization, including a phenomenal expansion of trade, has helped lift millions out of
poverty. But not nearly enough people have benefited. And tremendous challenges
remain.
UNCTAD support developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy
more fairly and effectively. And they help equip them to deal with the potential drawbacks
of greater economic integration. To do this, they provide analysis, facilitate consensus-
building, and offer technical assistance. This helps them to use trade, investment,
finance, and technology as vehicles for inclusive and sustainable development.
Working at the national, regional, and global level, our efforts help countries to:

 Comprehend options to address macro-level development challenges

 Achieve beneficial integration into the international trading system
 Diversify economies to make them less dependent on commodities
 Limit their exposure to financial volatility and debt
 Attract investment and make it more development friendly
 Increase access to digital technologies
 Promote entrepreneurship and innovation
 Help local firms move up value chains
 Speed up the flow of goods across borders
 Protect consumers from abuse
 Curb regulations that stifle competition
 Adapt to climate change and use natural resources more effectively

Together with other UN departments and agencies, UNCTAD measure progress by the
Sustainable Development Goals, as set out in Agenda 2030.
They also support implementation of Financing for Development, as mandated by the
global community in the 2015 Addis Ababa Agenda, together with four other major
institutional stakeholders: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World
Trade Organization, and the United Nations Development Programme.
While they work mainly with governments, to effectively deal with the magnitude and
complexity of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, they believe that
partnerships and closer cooperation with the private sector and civil society are essential.
Ultimately, they are serving the citizens of the 195 countries that make up our
organization. Our goal is prosperity for all.
6 UNCTAD facts and figures
Promoting development-58 years
Membership-195 members States
Staff members- 461+
Regular budget for 2021- 73+ million
Extrabudgetary expenditure- 51 million
Projects- 217 in 76 countries
UNCTAD in the UN system
UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations
General Assembly in 1964. Their headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, and
they have offices in New York and Addis Ababa.
UNCTAD is part of the UN Secretariat. They report to the UN General Assembly and the
Economic and Social Council but have our own membership, leadership, and budget.
They are also part of the United Nations Development Group.

History
Foundation
In the early 1960s, growing concerns about the place of developing countries in
international trade led many of these countries to call for the convening of a full-fledged
conference specifically devoted to tackling these problems and identifying appropriate
international actions.
The first United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was held in
Geneva in 1964.
Given the magnitude of the problems at stake and the need to address them, the
conference was institutionalized to meet every four years, with intergovernmental bodies
meeting between sessions and a permanent secretariat providing the necessary
substantive and logistical support.
Simultaneously, the developing countries established the Group of 77 to voice their
concerns. (Today, the G77 has 131 members.)
The prominent Argentinian economist Raúl Prebisch, who had headed the United
Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, became the
organization's first Secretary-General.

Accountability
The United Nations Charter
 The basis of the UNCTAD accountability system is the United Nations
Charter. According to the Charter, Member States are responsible for giving
mandates (directives, priorities and targets) to the secretariat through the resolutions
and decisions. The UNCTAD Secretary-General is responsible for implementing
these mandates and reporting on outcomes and resources used.
UNCTAD's mandates come from the General Assembly and its subsidiary organs,
ECOSOC and other conferences. The UNCTAD quadrennial conference (a
subsidiary organ of the General Assembly) sets the four-year mandate and work
priorities of the UNCTAD secretariat. UNCTAD also has its own separate governing
body, the Trade and Development Board, established as a permanent subsidiary
organ of the Conference, to oversee the work of the secretariat between quadrennial
sessions.
In discharging responsibilities, the UNCTAD Secretary-General reflects these
mandates in the programme and planning documents of the organization (the
strategic framework and the programme budget). Programme managers and
individual staff members — down the chain of responsibility —prepare their
respective workplans with the purpose of achieving the results established therein.

Internal systems and controls

In achieving our objectives, UNCTAD staff members respect the regulations,
rules and policies and follow the processes and procedures (i.e. the set of internal
systems and controls) that guarantee the correct functioning of the organization.

These systems and controls provide reasonable assurance regarding

operational effectiveness, adequate resource utilization, reliable financial reporting
and compliance with relevant regulations, rules and policies. They include:

 Staff Regulations and Rules and the Human Resources Handbook;

 Financial Regulations and Rules and the Finance Manual;
 Organizational systems for the selection and contracting of personnel;
 The Ombudsman and/or administration of justice process to guarantee
fairness in the functioning of the internal systems and controls.

UNCTAD also has a system of segregation of duties to strengthen internal controls

and reduce the risk of errors and irregularities. Under this system, no single
individual has control over all phases of a decision or transaction that involves
organizational resources. This reduces the possibility that a single individual can
breach the regulations, rules or procedures causing financial loss to the organization.

Partnerships

UNCTAD can deliver better results and achieve greater impact when they coordinate
our efforts with other partners. Sustainable development requires a comprehensive
and coherent approach that draws on the expertise and contributions of many
different actors.

For this reason, UNCTAD has deepened cooperation with other international
organizations, governments, businesses, civil society, youth and academia to
enhance our policies and practices at the national, regional, and global levels.
UNCTAD and the UN system
In the context of the new Sustainable Development Goals, UNCTAD is one of the
only UN bodies with direct relevance to all targets within Goal 17 – Partnerships for
the Goals. They are also, together with UNDP, the only UN entity among the major
institutional stakeholders for Financing for Development. UNCTAD is thus a key hub
in the UN system for promoting an integrated approach to achieving progress across
all goals.

Since 1997, they have been a member of the UN Development Group (UNDG), a
consortium of UN agencies created to improve the effectiveness of development
activities at the country level. In the second generation of "Delivering As One" pilots,
they are working together with partners in UNDG to ensure that they are firmly
focused on results, strengthened accountability, monitoring, and evaluation, and
improved outcomes.

Since 2008, they have also led the UN Inter-Agency Cluster on Trade and
Productive Capacity. The Cluster, which is a mechanism dedicated to the
coordination of trade and development operations at the national and regional levels
within the UN system, includes 15 agencies: UNIDO, UNDP, ITC, FAO, WTO,
UNEP, ILO, UNCITRAL, UNOPS and the five UN Regional Commissions (ECA |
ECLAC | ESCAP | ESCWA | UNECE). Lately, the cluster has also piloted three
areas of joint delivery: trade and employment (PDF); trade and global value chains
(PDF); and trade facilitation (PDF).

UNCTAD and the Geneva-based trade institutions: WTO and ITC

As the home of three key international institutions on trade (UNCTAD, WTO and
ITC), Geneva is the global "Trade Hub." The three organizations collaborate closely,
based on our respective mandates and competences.

The WTO and UNCTAD have a longstanding Memorandum of Understanding dating

back to 2003, which was expanded in October 2015 with the identification of no less
than 11 areas of further cooperation.

The ITC was created as a subsidiary body of UNCTAD and the WTO's predecessor,
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in 1968 and runs a number of
joint activities and projects with UNCTAD.

The organizations' activities are complementary: The WTO primarily governs global
trade rules and adjudication; the ITC's specific focus is to connect Small and Medium
Enterprises to global markets; whereas UNCTAD deals with trade policies,
regulations, and institutions at national, regional and international levels from a
developmental perspective.

UNCTAD and strategic partnerships

As a member of the broader development community, UNCTAD has forged strategic
partnerships with dozens of entities from the private sector, academia, and other
international and regional organizations. Some of these cover a broad range of areas
of work, while others are more targeted at specific activities. A common feature,
however, is that they are aimed at deepening cooperation and promoting joint
delivery.
For example, more recently, UNCTAD has signed Memoranda of Understanding with
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World
Bank's Global Competitiveness Practice, the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), among
others.

UNCTAD is among the different international organizations involved in, and providing
input to, the different tracks of the G20. Among the issues that they collaborate on
with G20 include finance, investment, trade and development. More recently, they
have coordinated the input by international organizations to the G20 working group
on trade and investment. UNCTAD also periodically issue, together with the OECD,
reports on the G20 investment measures.

UNCTAD and consensus building with other organizations

A total of 115 intergovernmental bodies and 241 civil society organizations have
gained accreditation as observers to UNCTAD's Trade and Development Board, the
rudder of the organization that sets our overall heading.

As accredited bodies, observers have been approved by UNCTAD's Member States

to engage more actively with UNCTAD. Through increased communication and
participation with UNCTAD, observers can constructively contribute to the fulfillment
of our mandate.

Secretary-General
Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica is the first woman and Central American to serve as
UNCTAD’s secretary-general.
Ms. Grynspan is a renowned advocate of human development, who has helped to focus the
world’s attention on relevant issues such as the reduction of inequality and poverty, gender
equality, South-South cooperation as a tool for development, and the achievement of the UN
Sustainable Development Goals, among others.
A former vice president of Costa Rica, Ms. Grynspan joins UNCTAD from the Ibero-American
Conference where she also led the organization as secretary-general.

Facts and Trivia

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
permanent organ of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, established in 1964
to promote trade, investment, and development in developing countries.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, UNCTAD has approximately 190 members.
Negotiations at UNCTAD’s meetings resulted in the Global System of Trade
Preferences (1988), an agreement that reduced tariffs and removed or reduced
nontariff trade barriers among participating developing countries; the Common Fund
for Commodities (1989), an intergovernmental financial institution that provides
assistance to developing countries that are heavily dependent on commodity
exports; and various agreements for debt relief. In the 1990s UNCTAD’s efforts were
directed toward the challenges globalization poses to developing countries, and
special attention was focused on measures to help the poorest and least developed
countries become integrated into the world economy.
The highest policy-making body of UNCTAD is the Conference, which meets
once every four years to set policy guidelines and to formulate a program of work.
The UNCTAD Secretariat, whose members form part of the UN Secretariat, performs
policy analysis, monitors and implements the decisions of UNCTAD’s
intergovernmental bodies, and provides for technical cooperation and exchanges of
information. It comprises four divisions—on globalization and development
strategies; international trade; investment, technology, and enterprise development;
and services infrastructure—as well as the Office of the Special Co-ordinator for
Least Developed, Land-locked, and Island Developing Countries (OSC-LDC). The
Trade and Development Board, UNCTAD’s executive body, is responsible for the
operations of the organization when the Conference is not in session.