Review of the technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD and their financing

The Trade and Development Board

1. Takes note with appreciation of UNCTAD’s technical cooperation activities and expresses gratitude for the continuous support provided by bilateral and multilateral donors;
   
   
2. Reaffirms the role of the Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and the Programme Budget as the mechanism for consultations among member States on all issues regarding technical cooperation;
   
   
3. Recalls its decision 492 (LIV) and paragraphs 215 (c), 216 and 217 of the Accra Accord regarding the need for more coherence in the planning and implementation of technical cooperation programmes and more interdivisional coordination of technical assistance programmes and activities, including streamlining through the use of thematic clusters and programmes;
   
   
4. Welcomes the establishment of the 17 thematic clusters – including existing and proposed multi-year, multi-donor trust funds – and invites the secretariat, in consultation with member States, to continue the consolidation process in terms of the number of clusters as well as within each cluster, where appropriate, without compromising the scope, content and manner of delivery;
   
   
5. Invites donors and potential donors in a position to do so to provide multi-year contributions to the newly established thematic trust funds; urges the secretariat to provide administrative information on the trust funds and donors to provide the secretariat with the required financial instructions for the establishment of multi-donor trust funds and the closing of completed projects; and encourages more proactive communication among the secretariat, beneficiaries and donors, so as to make progress in the clustering process;
   
   
6. Takes note with interest of the information regarding requests for technical assistance and requests the secretariat to keep member States updated on these requests, as well as on their follow-up, on a regular basis. This information could serve as a basis for further discussion among beneficiary countries, donors and the UNCTAD secretariat on possible ways to translate requests into action, and may assist the secretariat and member States in defining UNCTAD’s areas of focus for technical cooperation within its mandate;
   
   
7. Requests the secretariat to include an agenda item in the fifty-third session of the Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and the Programme Budget for the interaction between the secretariat, potential beneficiaries and donors on UNCTAD’s technical cooperation in accordance with paragraph 220 of the Accra Accord;
   
   
8. Notes that the new “portal” on UNCTAD technical cooperation is being established and should serve as a useful instrument to improve transparency, describe UNCTAD’s technical assistance programmes and identify developing countries’ needs and priorities;
   
   
9. Notes with satisfaction the active involvement of UNCTAD in the inter-agency processes related to the Delivering as One system-wide coherence process and its leading role within the Chief Executives Board (CEB) cluster on trade and productive capacity, and appreciates member States’ continued support for this inter-agency mechanism;
   
   
10. Encourages the UNCTAD secretariat to strengthen efforts regarding the integration of economic and trade-related issues in United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks, national development strategic plans and poverty reduction strategy papers, including by assisting developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in doing so in accordance with paragraph 90 (i) of the Accra Accord, and requests the secretariat to keep member States updated in this regard on a regular basis;
    
    
11. Invites the UNCTAD secretariat to explore the possibilities for increasing the total number of training courses on key issues of the international economic agenda (courses mandated by paragraph 166 of the Bangkok Plan of Action) and other capacity-building activities, including the Virtual Institute network and TrainForTrade;
    
    
12. Notes the importance of greater cooperation between UNCTAD and the International Trade Centre in the field of technical assistance, each focusing on its comparative advantages;
    
    
13. Encourages member States to include in their delegations officials from the field in beneficiary countries that are directly involved in the implementation of technical cooperation to participate in the sessions of the Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and the Programme Budget and to provide, from their perspective, an assessment of the impact of technical assistance in their countries; and, in this regard, encourages UNCTAD to facilitate the use of virtual conference facilities to enable the broadest possible participation;
    
    
14. Invites donors and countries in a position to do so to provide funds to assist field-based beneficiary officials to take part in the discussion of the Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and the Programme Budget;
    
    
15. Proposes that an assessment be made by the CEB cluster, led by UNCTAD, within approximately a year of the conduct of each training workshop for resident coordinators within the framework of the CEB cluster on trade and productive capacity, of the extent to which trade and trade-related issues have been included in United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks.