UNCTAD - a rosy future?

Friday 25 April

 

So as this week at UNCTAD comes to a close, what is the verdict? Is the world a better place after all that talk and networking, or have the several thousand delegates here just produced a lot of hot air?

 

There has been lots of talk about UNCTAD and its role. As the name suggests, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, looks at trade and development issues. In a world where the WTO is the dominant forum on trade, having UNCTAD around as an independent voice is important. In-between the conferences every four years, it produces research that contributes alternative viewpoints to the prevailing pure free trade orthodoxy.

 

However, lots of people also fear it is an ineffective talking shop. Unsurprisingly, the EU and the US don’t like some of its research and over the week they’ve been arguing that UNCTAD should have a more focussed (or should that be limited?) role. Others of us think that in an era of food, energy and financial crises, it is important that UNCTAD maintains and strengthens its political voice so that it can speak out and comment on issues that especially affect countries in the global south.

 

Having said all this, I've been disappointed at the lack of genuine debate in some of the official sessions that I’ve attended, where delegates have mostly trotted out their party lines. The real debates that have happened have apparently been behind the scenes in the ‘negotiating room’ where the final end-of-conference statement is being agreed, or in the civil society tent which has been lively and at times quite heated.

 

As I write I’ve just finished packing my bags to leave Accra – I’ve not yet seen the official statement that will conclude proceedings and indicate UNCTAD’s future mandate and workplan– maybe it’s still being argued over. However, if you believe in the UN system and believe that we can’t leave talk about finance, investment and the links with development issues to the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO, then you will want to see a strong and feisty UNCTAD in the future.