The UN comes to town

Well, what can I say, when the UN comes to town, it really goes to town. Central Accra has been transformed into a hi-security, be-suited and air-conditioned enclave. Motorcades complete with limos and motorcycle outriders whizz past with sirens at full blast, policemen with guns are everywhere and my pass has to be scanned whenever I enter the conference site.

Today is really the first full day of formal UNCTAD proceedings. It’s my first time at an official conference like this so maybe I should give a flavour of what’s going on. To be honest, it’s not always that clear. Official programmes are out of date as soon as they are printed; one is always arriving too early or too late for things; and you are always convinced something more interesting may be happening elsewhere (although it probably isn’t!)

NGO bods who last week at the civil society forum were wearing t-shirts and sandals - and quite frankly looking a bit hot and sweaty - have now been transformed in their attire. We are now dressed to impress the government delegates, suited and booted and some (definitely not me) are even braving high-heels. The air con alone at this event is probably doubling Ghana’s annual carbon footprint, but it’s also a big relief.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent the morning running around sorting logistics for our event on Wednesday to launch our new trade report Raw Deal. I’ve confirmed our speakers and talked to people about providing food and drink – which will hopefully bring in some hungry delegates.

I’ve also been ‘touting’ myself and our new report around the press room. I did some filming with Brazilian TV and hope that others will pick up on the report too as the week progresses. Luckily I’ve found that every country delegation has a pigeonhole where papers can be placed for them to pick up – that will be handy when it comes to handing out the report and making sure the right people get it. We really hope it will be useful evidence for developing country trade negotiators who are discussing trade deals with the EU right now.

Now a group of EU civil society folks are trying to track down the Slovenian delegation – why? Well, Slovenia holds the EU Presidency right now and so are important players. Some UK groups have also been trying to meet with UK government people but as I write they’ve not yet been able to fit us in…

Quote of the day goes to Pascal Lamy, head of the World Trade Organisation:

“We are not a development agency. Our budget is only 200 million a year and that is probably smaller than some of you NGOs.”

I wish.

Vicky Cann

National Theatre

Vicky and I are the only guests in our small hotel attending the conference. However because the hotel is due to house delegates to the conference it has been given police protection. So since Wednesday we have been guarded by up to three armed police at any one time.

Yesterday we held our event presenting the findings of our research into the impact of European free trade deals in Mexico and South Africa.

Speakers from Ghana and the Philippines presented their analysis of the impact of free trade agreements in their regions.

With rooms at a premium when the UN comes to town delegates are scattered across Accra. Last night we met up with colleagues from organisations in North America, Europe and Africa at a restaurant in East Legon. Rice fish beer and discussions about the chances of a World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in May. East Lagon is 20 minutes drive across town and the evening was completed with me directing the taxi driver on how to get back.

This morning a ten minute walk from the National Theatre where the Civil Society Forum is held to the National Conference Centre to register for the conference centre. Ten minutes and a few extra degrees of air conditioning, literally is appears to allow for the wearing of suits.

Work is still going on to finalise the conference centre. Here workers paint the back fence. Behind them is the Accra racecourse.

Greetings from Ghana

Welcome to a hot and sticky Ghana. Its pushing 90 degrees here and we are about to go into 8 days of civil society and official UNCTAD talks, seminars and workshops. The TV news here is full of a new report from a local thinktank which is today reporting that Ghanaians will not be immune to the food price crisis that has hit countries such as Cameroon and Egypt as well as further afield in Thailand and Philipines. I queued up behind a man in a shop who was buying 2 large sacks of rice. Ghana used to produce a lot of its own rice but these 2 sacks had been imported from Thailand. After less than 24 hours in the country, it is clear that Ghanaians are already struggling with the question of whether self-sufficiency in food is attainable or whether reliance on imports is inevitable.

World Development Movement UNCTAD conference blog

UNCTAD or the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development meets every four years and will be taking place in Accra, Ghana 17-25 April 2008. Civil society will be holding its own forum and then trade ministers from around the world will gather for the official events. The World Development Movement will be there, to launch a new report on trade policy and to meet activists from around the world who are campaigning for a sustainable and pro-poor approach to trade. Hot topics are likely to include the food price crisis, the debate over biofuels and Europe’s aggressive new trade policy. Catch up with regular blogs from WDM’s director Benedict Southworth and policy officer Vicky Cann as they report from Accra.