Topic outline

  • General

    Short Courses for Geneva-based Diplomats - 2017 series

    The UNCTAD secretariat is pleased to announce another series of short courses in the first semester of 2017 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 in the attached programme.

    In the first semester, three courses will be provided at Palais des Nations on 17 March, 18 April and 19 May 2017.

    In the second semester, three courses will be provided at Palais des Nations on 2 October, 30 October and 8 December 2017.


    • 8 December 2017 (Room XXVI) - Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Goals

      The course is divided into three parts. Part I will provide an overview of entrepreneurship and the post-2015 development agenda and consider the role that entrepreneurship may have in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Part II will involve the presentation of case studies that demonstrate how entrepreneurs can contribute to sustainable development while remaining profitable, using examples from the Empretec Programme of UNCTAD. Part III of the course will discuss the importance of policy measures, building on selected business cases and examples of policies and programmes that have enjoyed positive results. It will show how policy initiatives can help foster a climate of entrepreneurship for sustainable development, emphasizing the positive role of holistic approaches to entrepreneurship policies and their implementation.

    • 30 October 2017 (Room XXVI) - Trade and Logistics, and Sustainable Development Goals

      This course will explore the mutual linkages between specific Sustainable Development Goals and trade logistics efficiency to ensure access to overseas markets through international transport and trade facilitation services. Emphasis will be placed on maritime transport, ports, multimodal transport, connectivity and transit to provide participants with analysis and guidance to make transport more efficient and less costly, while increasing its resilience and sustainability, enhancing trade and port efficiency and improving transit and trade facilitation. On the one hand, countries that are more advanced in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals are likely to have more capacities to provide efficient trade logistics services to their importers and exporters. On the other hand, by investing in sustainable and resilient transport and trade facilitation reforms, countries will also achieve certain Sustainable Development Goals.

    • 2 October 2017 (Room XXVI) - Gender and trade within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

      The objective of the course is to deepen the awareness of country representatives of the relationship between trade and gender and to improve their ability to analyse it, as well as to contribute to a gender-sensitive implementation of the Agenda in their respective countries and regions. The presentations will use as illustrations country experiences and will share good practices and lessons learned. As Governments and other stakeholders continue to implement the Agenda, it will be useful to discuss how actions in the trade field can help close gaps in implementation, particularly with regard to structural barriers to gender equality. 

    • 19 May 2017 (Room XXVI) - The process and consequences of graduation from the least developed country category

      This course will discuss graduation, i.e., the process by which least developed countries (LDCs) cease to be members of the LDC category, in recognition of their advances in development. In principle, graduation marks a shift from dependence to a greater degree of self-sufficiency and an emergence from development traps that beset LDCs. However, upon graduation, the loss of access to international support measures tied to LDC status may lead to important economic costs. In the 45 years since the establishment of the category, only four countries have graduated. Projections indicate that the target that at least half of the LDCs meet the criteria for graduation by 2020 is unlikely to be met. UNCTAD suggests that graduation should be viewed as part of a longer and broader development process, and emphasizes the need for graduation with momentum.

    • 18 April 2017 (Room XXVI) - Investment policymaking for sustainable development

      Developing countries face an annual funding gap of $2.5 trillion with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals, and private sector contributions will be critical to the realization of the Goals. In line with the UNCTAD Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD) and the Road Map for International Investment Agreement Reform, this course will focus on the design of national investment policies and laws and international investment agreements (IIA) that take into consideration the new generation of investment policies, which place inclusive growth and sustainable development at the centre of efforts to attract and benefit from investment.

      The objective of this course is to help delegates deepen their understanding of the key issues in national and international investment policymaking for sustainable development. The course will provide an introduction to the key determinants for foreign investment and discuss recent trends in national and international investment policies and regulations.

    • 17 March 2017 (Room XXVI) - Trade regulation in the 21st century: non-tariff measures, trade costs and sustainable development

      In a context where tariffs have significantly decreased over the last few decades, non-tariff measures (NTMs) have become major determinants in market entry, particularly for developing countries. In fact, UNCTAD research shows that the ability to gain and benefit from market access increasingly depends on compliance with trade regulatory measures such as sanitary requirements and goods standards. This is why they have become a major challenge for exporters, importers and policy makers. Understanding the uses and implications of these trade policy instruments is essential for the formulation and implementation of effective trade policies and development strategies. NTMs are closely linked to the SDGs in the post-2015 Development Agenda context, in particular social and environmental goals (e.g. Goals 2, End hunger, 13 sustainable production patterns) and economic goals (e.g. Goals 1, end poverty, 8 economic growth). NTMs are important instruments for all countries to achieve social and environmental goals and thus it is likely that their presence rises. 

      This session sheds light on the interfaces of NTMs with the SDGs to assist policy makers in designing appropriate trade policies and measuring progress towards the SDGs. This session will explore the findings of UNCTAD's work on NTMs, which encompasses definition, classification, collection of data and analysis of trade impact and the link to sustainable development goals.