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 activitiescarried out by the UNCTAD secretariat in cooperation with the beneficiaries anddevelopment partners;
   
   
2. Takes note of the reports prepared by the secretariat for the WorkingParty on the Strategic Framework and the Programme Budget;
   
   
3. Notes with satisfaction the increase in total delivery of the technicalcooperation programmes of UNCTAD, which reached their highest level ever in2009, and expresses appreciation for the support provided by bilateral andmultilateral donors;
   
   
4. Takes note with concern of the decrease of 12 per cent in total trust fundcontributions in 2009 which should be assessed in light of the financial andeconomic crisis. Invites development partners to provide increased and adequatefunding for the technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD;
   
   
5. Appreciates the increased contribution from the developing countries tothe UNCTAD trust funds;
   
   
6. Thanks the contributors to the UNCTAD Least Developed Countries(LDCs) Trust Fund; reiterates its deep concern that the fund never reached itsintended level, and invites development partners to make financial contributions tothe LDC Trust Fund to ensure, inter alia, the full and effective participation of LDCrepresentatives and LDC civil society actors in the preparatory processes to theFourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries and at theConference itself. Also invites extrabudgetary contributions from developmentpartners to enable the UNCTAD secretariat to enhance its substantive and technicalcontributions to the preparatory processes and to the Conference;
   
   
7. Expresses concern with the fact that the UNCTAD trust fund dedicated toWTO accession is very low on resources and invites donors to provide adequateresources for strengthening its technical assistance programmes to WTO-accedingcountries, in accordance with paragraph 90(e) of the Accra Accord;
   
   
8. Recalls its decisions 492 (LIV), 495 (LV) and 498 (LVI) and paragraphs162, 212, 215(c), 216 and 217 of the Accra Accord regarding the need for morecoherence in the planning and implementation of technical cooperation programmes;
   
   
9. Emphasizes that transparency in UNCTAD’s technical assistance processis important in identifying the needs and priorities of beneficiaries and to guidedonors in their decisions regarding the allocation of their contributions;
   
   
10. Reiterates its calls for the full implementation, by the Secretary-Generalof UNCTAD, of the previous decisions of the Working Party — especiallyparagraph 12 of the agreed conclusions of the Working Party on the StrategicFramework and the Programme Budget at its resumed fifty-second session in June2009 (TD/B/WP/210) — to strengthen the Division for Africa, Least DevelopedCountries and Special Programmes to fully enable the division to discharge itsmandated responsibilities, including the task of providing substantive and technicalsupport to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries;
    
    
11. Urges the secretariat to continue its efforts to promote greater coherencein the planning and implementation of technical cooperation programmes, includingwith UNCTAD’s analytical and consensus-building pillars, and particularly throughthe establishment of thematic clusters and interdivisional coordination;
    
    
12. Requests the secretariat to explore the feasibility of adding functionalityto the Project Portal that would show the list of all development partners that arefunding multi-donor trust funds. Invites the secretariat to continue to improve thevisibility of the technical assistance and provide all relevant information regardingtechnical assistance through its portal;
    
    
13. Requests the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to continue reporting tomember States on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the decision contained indocument TD/B/WP/210.
    
    

 

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