The Trade and Development Board serves as UNCTAD’s governing body between its quadrennial conferences, overseeing the organization’s activities and addressing policy, management and institutional matters.
It’s made up of 160 members, elected from UNCTAD’s 195 member States based on nominations from regional groups, ensuring equitable geographic representation and inclusivity in decision-making.
The Board meets regularly in Geneva in:
- Annual sessions: Convened to review UNCTAD’s activities, discuss pressing development challenges and elect the Bureau (President, 10 Vice-Presidents and Rapporteur).
- Executive sessions: Held up to three times a year to focus on specific policy, management and institutional matters.
- Special sessions: Convened as needed to address urgent global issues.
Upcoming
President of the Board
The presidency of the Board rotates among regional groups to ensure equitable representation.
The current President of the Trade and Development Board is Ambassador Paul Bekkers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
He was elected on 16 September 2024 at the 71st session of the Trade and Development Board for a period lasting until the next regular session of the Board in November 2025.
The President was also appointed Chair of the Preparatory Committee for the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16).
Subsidiary bodies of the Board
Working Party on Program Plan and Program Performance
The Working Party deals with matters related to the programme plan, the review of technical cooperation activities and the evaluation of UNCTAD's programmes.
Commissions
The Board is supported by two UNCTAD commissions.
The commissions meet annually to:
- Conduct policy dialogue on topical issues
- Review reports from UNCTAD intergovernmental groups of experts and expert meetings (see below)
- Review the progress report on promoting and strengthening synergies among the three pillars
- Negotiate and recommend, for the Board’s, endorsement agreed conclusions on policy dialogue and recommendations to the secretariat on research areas and topics.
Intergovernmental groups of experts
The Board also benefits from the input of intergovernmental groups of experts, which provide technical advice and expert insights to help ensure a comprehensive approach to addressing complex global challenges.
Currently, five of these groups meet annually, focusing on:
- Competition law and policy
- Consumer protection law and policy
- International standards of accounting and reporting
- E-commerce and the digital economy
- Financing for development
The first three groups of experts report their findings and recommendations to the relevant UNCTAD commissions (see above), while the last two report directly to the Trade and Development Board.
Expert meetings
Additionally, the Board benefits from UNCTAD expert meetings, which currently include five multi-year expert meetings and one single-year expert meeting.
Multi-year expert meetings focus on the same themes over multiple years, allowing for in-depth analysis of complex, evolving topics. Currently they are:
- Commodities and development
- Enhancing the enabling economic environment at all levels in support of inclusive and sustainable development, and the promotion of economic integration and cooperation
- Investment, innovation and entrepreneurship for productive capacity-building and sustainable development
- Trade, services and development
- Transport, trade logistics and trade facilitation
The single year expert meetings address specific, time-sensitive issues. In 2024, the meeting focused on development strategies for small island developing States in the post-pandemic competitive landscape. Ad-hoc expert meetings are also convened as needed.
