The Doha Mandate, adopted by consensus today by the member States, requests that UNCTAD continue its work along the three pillars of consensus-building, policy research and technical assistance.
Developed and developing countries alike have been expressing strong commitments to the strengthening of UNCTAD and reinforcing its mandate in their formal statements delivered in the General Debate at UNCTAD XIII.
Its history of predicting crises and proposing successful but non-mainstream economic policies has now paradoxically put UNCTAD under threat of having its mandate reduced, warns Ms. Deborah James of the CEPR.