Topic outline

  • General

    Palais des Nations, Geneva
    UNCTAD Short Courses on
    Key Issues on the International Economic Agenda
    for Geneva-based Diplomats
    2010 Series

  • Topic 1

    2010 Series - Second session
    (October to December, 2010)

    The secretariat has planned three courses, to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Palais des Nations on Tuesday, 26 October 2010 (room XXV); Friday, 19 November (room XXIII); and Monday, 6 December 2010 (room XXV).

    The courses will be delivered in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Arabic, French and Spanish.

    The secretariat invites permanent missions to nominate delegates who follow matters pertaining to UNCTAD or WTO in Geneva to attend one or all of the courses, using the attached application form, which should be submitted at least one week before the date of the course. Courses will begin promptly at 10 a.m. to allow sufficient time for debate after the presentations.


    Any queries about the programme should be addressed to:


    • Topic 2

      26 October 2010
      Palais des Nations, Room XXV

      Millennium Development Goals

       

      This course looks at a more inclusive development framework which can not only deliver faster and more sustainable growth, but can establish a more virtuous link between that growth and human development. It emphasizes the importance of domestic resource mobilization (including public sector investment), the need to strengthen productive capacities and widen policy space, as well as the need to pay more attention to income inequality. The MDGs also need to reconnect with the broader set of international development goals, including those emerging from new challenges around the global financial crisis and climate change.  Despite awareness of the need for greater ownership and stronger development partnerships, the existing multilateral rules and arrangements have not yet became sufficiently directed towards achieving the MDGs. The course also looks at the likely institutional changes, big and small, that could reorient international development cooperation to better support inclusive development. 

      Delivered by: Unit on Economic Cooperation and Integration among Developing Countries

    • Topic 3

      19 November 2010
      Palais des Nations, Room XXIII

      Living in a carbon-constrained future: trade and development implications of climate change  

      The imperative of climate change cannot be properly addressed without an integrated and inclusive approach that links it to development challenges. Fully understanding the nature and the different dimensions of the climate change challenge becomes essential to opening the way for an effective pro-development climate change policy. Climate change results from the stock of emissions accumulated in the common global atmosphere, the flow of emissions discharged which is closely correlated with current production and consumption patterns, and a variety of emission sources ranging from energy production and use, transport, industrial processes, to agriculture, deforestation, land use change, etc. The course will first provide an introduction to the economics of climate change and then analyze the implications of the emerging climate change regime for developing countries.

      Delivered by: Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch, Division on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities

    • Topic 4

      6 December 2010

      Palais des Nations, Room  XXV

      South–South cooperation

      The growing importance of South–South cooperation is providing a renewed momentum to efforts aimed at reshaping the international development agenda. The course will take a closer look at cooperation among developing countries to assess how far it has already advanced, whether it can help buttress developing economies against the crises and shocks that have accompanied an increasingly unregulated global economy, and how it might best contribute to building more stable development paths. It will also discuss the relation between South–South cooperation and traditional development cooperation and whether and how it can help shift the multilateral agenda in a more developmental direction.

      Delivered by: Unit on Economic Cooperation and Integration among Developing Countries

    • Topic 5

      2010 Series - First session
      (March to May, 2010)

      The secretariat has planned three courses, to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Palais des Nations on Friday, 26 March (Room XXVI); Friday, 16 April (Room XXV); and Friday, 28 May (Room XXV).

      The courses will be delivered in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Arabic, French and Spanish.

      The secretariat invites permanent missions to nominate delegates who follow matters pertaining to UNCTAD or WTO in Geneva to attend one or all of the courses, using the attached application form, which should be submitted at least one week before the date of the course. Courses will begin promptly at 10 a.m. to allow sufficient time for debate after the presentations.


      Any queries about the programme should be addressed to:


      • Topic 6

        26 March 2010
        Palais des Nations, ROOM XXVI

        Migration and development

        With international migration flows now accelerating as globalization and the interdependence of nations deepen, awareness of migration as an important factor influencing economic and social development has increased significantly. Policymakers now actively seek to put effective migration policies in place at national and international levels to strengthen the positive and minimize the negative development impacts of migration. The first part of the course will review the motivations behind international migration; recent trends in international migration; and the development-related challenges and opportunities of migration in developed and developing countries. The second part will then review policy responses to migration. Special consideration will be given to the impact of the financial crisis on migrants and on remittance flows to delevoping countries, and to the role that circular migration can play in expanding global and regional services trade, and at the same time, in facilitating the transfer of technology and skills to less developed countries. 

        Delivered by: Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities

      • Topic 7

        16 April 2010
        Palais des Nations, ROOM XXV

        Trade agreements between developing and developed countries

        Bilateral trade agreements (BTAs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated worldwide to become a prominent feature of today's trading environment. While RTAs have become increasingly powerful in liberalizing trade in goods and services, BTAs are flourishing between developed countries, and between developed and developing countries. A key policy challenge for developing countries that negociate RTAs and BTAs is to maximize the beneficial effects of such processes for development. Another is to ensure coherence in the approach amid the bilateral, regional, interregional and multilateral processes. This course seeks to explore key policy challenges for developing countries engaged in trade agreements with developed countries; recent trends and context of the current economic crisis. It will also analyse developments related to the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States.

        Delivered by: Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities

      • Topic 8

        28 May 2010
        Palais des Nations, ROOM XXV

        Transport and trade facilitation: infrastructure and services to enhance the competitiveness of landlocked and transit developing countries

        Access to efficient transport services, combined with conducive and transparent cross-border operations, is vital for developing countries' export competitiveness in overseas markets. In this regard, landlocked developing countries are confronted by particular challenges: the availability and quality of transport infrastructure, the negotiation and enforcement of bilateral and regional transit arrangements, and multiple border-crossing procedures and controls in neighbouring transit developing countries. A collaborative approach is needed, where both the landlocked and the transit developing countries seek win-win situations to benefit from the synergies and economies of scale of their combined overseas trade. In this context, the course will first provide an introduction to the logistics of international trade and discuss the various relationships between trade, transport costs and effective access to global transport networks. Secondly, key issues of trade and transit facilitation will be introduced, with a special focus on international transit. Thirdly, the course will present developments and best practices in transit infrastructure and seaports serving the overseas trade of landlocked developing countries. Finally, collaborative approaches for public and private stakeholders in landlocked and transit developing countries will be presented.

        Delivered by: Trade Logistics Branch, Division on Technology and Logistics