Zooming in on commodities challenge – week’s meetings focus on turning higher prices into development gains

Geneva, Switzerland, 11 March 2013

 

Geneva, 11 March 2013 – How the decade-long boom in commodity prices can be used transform economies and significantly reduce poverty – which hasn’t occurred so far for many commodity-dependent poor countries – will be the focus of three major meetings the week of 18 March.

 

The UNCTAD Global Commodities Forum 2013 (GCF), to be staged on 18 and 19 March, will address the puzzle directly: Why haven’t sustained high prices for basic farm goods and industrial raw materials resulted in more broad-based, resilient economies and higher living standards?  The forum is subtitled: “Recommitting to commodity sector development as an engine of economic growth and poverty reduction.”

 

A press briefing on the GCF will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday 13 March, in Press Room 1. The Forum programme is available here.

 

The UNCTAD Multi-Year Expert Meeting on Commodities and Development (20-21 March) will discuss potential steps for turning higher commodities prices since 2003 into economic diversification, value addition, agricultural improvements, and food security.  The meeting programme may be found here.

 

The Conference Launching the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) from 21 to 22 March will consider an issue that is having major effects on commodities trade: how voluntary sustainability standards, also known as private standards, may be employed to deal with health, occupational safety, environmental, economic, social, or animal-welfare issues.

 

A press briefing on the UNFSS is set for 3 p.m. Friday,15 March, in Press Room 1.  A programme is available here.

 

 

For further information or to request or schedule interviews with UNCTAD experts, please do not hesitate to contact the UNCTAD Press Office (+41 22 917 5828/5549/5166 unctadpress@unctad.org ) Catherine Sibut-Pinote or Alan Sternberg.