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    Short Courses for Geneva-based Diplomats - 2019 series


    The UNCTAD secretariat is pleased to announce another series of short courses in 2019 on key international economic issues for delegates from permanent missions to the United Nations Office at Geneva and the World Trade Organization.

    The aim of the courses is to give delegates from permanent missions an opportunity to become better acquainted with topical issues and developments in the international economic agenda as they are reflected in the work of UNCTAD. More detailed information on the content of individual courses may be found below.

    In the second semester, three courses will be provided at Palais des Nations - on 18 October, 28 October, and 6 December 2019 respectively. 

    • Friday 18 October 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXVI) - Entrepreneurship and the SDGs
    • Monday 28 October 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXV) - The Digital Economy and the Challenge of Structural Transformation in Developing Countries
    • Friday 6 December 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXVI) - Creative Economy for Development

  • Friday 6 December 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXVI) - Creative Economy for Development

    The planet’s natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce and inequalities between countries and among people continue to rise. The Sustainable Development Goals and programmes of action of LDCs and SIDs, as well as the African Agenda 2063 and UNCTAD’s Nairobi Maafikiano recognize new forms of sustainable development and inclusive growth, and advocate the power of people’s talents for sustainable development. Creative goods and services rely on ideas, knowledge, skills and the ability to seize new opportunities. 


  • Friday 18 October 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXVI) - Entrepreneurship and the SDGs

    The short course will underline the importance of the sustainable and inclusive dimension of entrepreneurship towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will review best practices and concrete examples of inclusive business models and corporate social responsibility. Moreover, it will highlight sustainable and inclusive business practices and how they can be facilitated and fostered. In particular, the first part will focus on the UNCTAD Entrepreneurship Policy Framework and how it can be adapted and expanded to address the challenges of sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as creating employment opportunities for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups - such as, youth, women, migrants, persons with disabilities and the poor in rural areas. As for the second part, it will focus on the efforts by countries’ reporting on the contribution of the private sector towards the SDGs.

  • Monday 28 October 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXV) - The Digital Economy and the Challenge of Structural Transformation in Developing Countries

    The short course will present the main technological and economic features of the so-called fourth industrial revolution such as the Internet of things, artificial intelligences, big data, machine learning, and robotization. It will analyse their current impacts on developing countries – including the LDCs – in terms of technological capabilities, productive transformation, employment generation, and foreign trade. Based on this, it will examine the policy options available to national policymakers and to the international community to strengthen the technological capabilities of developing countries and narrow the digital divide. These policies will contribute to the realization of the 2030 Agenda. 


  • Tuesday 19 March 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXVI) - Trade, Trade Policy and Inequality

    The main objective of the course is to provide factual, methodological and analytical elements for a better and more informed understanding and appreciation of the policy debate about inequality and its consequences. By the end of the course participants will be able to define precisely the different dimensions of inequality and their measurement. They will also be able to identify any relevant channel of transmission between some policy reform with a strong focus on trade policy and the main dimensions of inequality. They will also be given the opportunity to discuss in detail any policy element they may have to focus in their professional duties. 

  • Friday 12 April 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXVI) - Better trade for the SDGs: Using trade as a motor for achieving the SDGs

    Based on findings drawn from UNCTAD field work, the course will address the following issues: how trade can directly contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by developing countries; ways to synergize export opportunities with greener production, inclusive growth and sustainable development in the context of rural communities and microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises; the market research, policy framework, institutional support and supply chain networking required to improve the contribution of trade to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 8, 12 and 15.

  • Tuesday 30 April 2019, 10 a.m. (Room XXVI) - Commodity Dependence and Development

    The course will offer an overview of issues faced by commodity-dependent developing countries and how continued dependence on commodities will negatively affect their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 1, 2 and 8–10. The issues in question will include negative terms of trade, price volatility, commodity resource management and macroeconomic challenges associated with commodity economies.