Report of the Working Party on the Programme Plan and Programme Performance: Review of the technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD and their financing

The Trade and Development Board

1. Takes note with appreciation of the technical cooperation activities carried out by the UNCTAD secretariat, urges it to continue efforts in giving particular consideration to the specific needs of each region, and also welcomes the increase in contributions in 2023;
2. Reaffirms the role of UNCTAD technical cooperation as one of the three fundamental pillars of UNCTAD, as reiterated in the Bridgetown Covenant, and stresses the importance of coordination among those pillars for coherent and mutually reinforced assistance;
3. Encourages UNCTAD to enhance its involvement in the main forums organized at the global level pertinent to trade-related assistance, and recommends that the concepts originating from UNCTAD research be appropriately channelled through UNCTAD technical cooperation;
4. Appreciates the efforts made by UNCTAD on results-based management aimed at increasing transparency and efficiency when delivering technical assistance, and calls on UNCTAD to continue updating its results-based management tools and providing regular feedback;
5. Encourages UNCTAD to continue to provide technical cooperation activities deriving from its mandates and expertise, in accordance with the development strategies of recipient member States, in their pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
6. Takes note with appreciation of continuous UNCTAD efforts in strengthening inter-agency and interdivisional cooperation, to best respond to the current and future global challenges, and in achieving the 2030 Agenda;
7. Recognizes the leading role of UNCTAD within the United Nations Inter- Agency Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacity and its efforts to enhance collaboration with partner agencies and the United Nations resident coordinator system;
8. Stresses the importance of sufficient and predictable funding to ensure effective technical cooperation, and encourages countries in position to do so to provide UNCTAD with multi-year contributions, including to the trust fund for the least developed countries, to increase the sustainability of UNCTAD demand-driven technical assistance, underlining the importance of results-based management and the relevance of non- earmarked funding, while reaffirming the need to continue improving the application of good governance, transparency and accountability;
9. Encourages UNCTAD to explore accessing new funding sources, in particular for its activities supporting the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States;
10. Invites member States in a position to do so to consider sponsoring junior professional officers (Junior Professional Officers Programme), and notes the value of this programme in improving the competence of experts from the countries most in need;
11. Reiterates the request to the UNCTAD secretariat to present the streamlined UNCTAD Toolbox currently under preparation by the next session of the Working Party, and notes the importance of its update as requested by member States.