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Sunday, 25 December 2011
2012 FAO Desktop Calendar
2011 end-of-year message from the Secretary-General of UNCTAD
This year has seen some major accomplishments for UNCTAD. Our research and analysis focussed our analytical lens on the weakening global recovery and the policy challenges posed, especially for trade and development. Our warning that a return to "business as usual" will be damaging to countries at all levels of development is now being echoed by other international bodies, including most recently the IMF. We have at the same time, particularly through our flagship publications, advanced the debate on alternative policy options in such areas as employment creation, South-South cooperation, renewable energy, international production, and industrial development.
Development policy is about choices and trade-offs. A more stable, inclusive and sustainable future is a matter of political ingenuity, commitment and leadership. This will be tested in 2012 as serious economic headwinds buffet a still fragile global economy. UNCTAD should, to borrow the word of the moment, seek to occupy the development policy debate with bold but practical ideas and measures which promote truly inclusive outcomes.
As a knowledge-based organization, UNCTAD´s value-add lies in not only generating new ideas and solutions but in getting those across to the wider development community. I am of the firm belief that our policy briefs and other recurrent publications have responded in a timely fashion to pressing and challenging development issues. Our expert group meetings, as well as other stakeholder conferences and fora organized in Geneva and elsewhere, such as the Global Commodities Forum, the Debt Management Conference, the World Investment Forum and the Public Symposium, have been very well attended and much appreciated. I have also had very positive feedback on our various training courses which now cover a range of topics drawing on in-house expertise.
All of this is linked to our ongoing efforts to strengthen the institution´s outreach strategy. In this regard, a comprehensive new approach to communications, including a new institutional graphic identity, was launched in the summer and our new-look website will be up and running shortly. I would like to thank the Deputy Secretary-General for his efforts in pushing this initiative forward.
UNCTAD has also enjoyed prominence at many important international gatherings, in particular at the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV), which took place in Turkey in May. Some key UNCTAD messages, particularly on the need to build productive capacities and strengthen technological capabilities, figured prominently in the final text. Our activities at the Conference were wide ranging and very much appreciated by participants.
At the fifty-eighth session of the Trade and Development Board in September, member States also highlighted the critical role of UNCTAD in the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020. It can also be noted that for the first time in eight years, the trade and development resolution in the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly was adopted by consensus with several favorable mention of UNCTAD´s work.
We have this year continued our efforts to strengthen other areas of work, in particular on gender and development and climate change. In addition to carrying out research at the country level on the impact of trade policies on women, UNCTAD continued to promote entrepreneurship among women in developing and the least developed countries. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the International Women´s Day in March 2011, UNCTAD launched its third "Women in Business Awards".
We have been active participants in the preparations for the Rio+20 Conference, which will be held shortly after UNCTAD XIII. In particular, we have been exploring the implications of the Green Economy agenda for trade and development, in particular the lingering concern of developing countries about trade protectionism, and to ensure that the transition to the green economy provides mutually supportive elements of a truly sustainable future.
UNCTAD XIII
The Conference´s theme of Development-centred globalization: Towards inclusive and sustainable growth and development indicates that there is an emerging consensus on a new set of development priorities, principles and policies that can help turn a fragile recovery from the global crises into a balanced and secure future for all.UNCTAD XIII will have an important role to play in helping to define and promote this consensus. I have set down my own ideas on what this challenge involves in my Report to the Conference and will call on all of you to contribute towards this common effort, which I view as central to maintaining UNCTAD´s role as a leading advocate for inclusive trade and development.
I wish you and your families a happy and safe holiday season.
Supachai Panitchpakdi
Secretary-General of UNCTAD
Secretary-General of UNCTAD
UNCTAD publishes handbook of statistics 2011
Large range of data tracks trade, economic performance, and development progress
The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics provides essential data for analysing and measuring world trade, investment, international financial flows and development. Reliable statistical information is often considered as the first step during the preparation of making recommendations or taking decisions that countries will commit for many years as they strive to integrate into the world economy and improve the living standards of their citizens. Whether it is for research, consultation or technical cooperation, UNCTAD requires comparable, often detailed economic, demographic and social data, over several decades and for as many countries as possible.  In addition to facilitating the work of the secretariat’s economists, the UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics also enables other users, such as policymakers, research specialists, academics, officials from national governments or international organizations, executive managers or members of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from developing, transition or developed countries to have access to this rich statistical information. The Handbook further offers journalists comprehensive information in a presentation that meets their needs. The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2011 provides users with reliable coherent data on the following subjects:
UNCTAD has released its Handbook of Statistics 2011(1), a wide-ranging survey of numerical information on international trade flows, commodity prices, maritime transport, and the economic performances of developing countries. Large-scale trends revealed by the publication include volatile prices for commodities since the turn of the Millennium and long-term economic gains by several developing nations - from 1981 to 2010, for example, China´s share of world exports in goods and services grew by over 8 percentage points, and its share of global gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by nearly 7 percentage points. Over the same period, the United States´ share of world exports in goods declined by 3.5 percentage points and its portion of global GDP fell by nearly 2.5 percentage points. The countries of the European Union saw a decline in services export share of 8 percentage points for the period. (See chart below.) These statistics provide evidence of the growing prominence of developing economies in the global economy. (see figure) The black vertical line shows values for exports in goods (top), goods and services (circle) and services (bottom). The label in italics indicates the reverse: exports in services is shown on the top instead of on the bottom. The Handbook also shows that commodity price indices displayed record volatility from 2001 through 2010, climbing at an annual average rate of 12.2% per year. That was a sharp change from the two preceding decades, when they increased by only 0.5% per year (1981 to 1990) and fell by 1.3% per year (1991 through 2000). The price of rice, the most important staple food for a large part of the world´s population, showed the sharpest increases between 2001 and 2010, climbing by an average of 15% per year. This and much other information on commodity prices can be found in Section 4 of the Handbook. Figures for 2009-2010 also show that developing countries account for large proportions of world exports of a number of commodities and products, such as fixed vegetable fat and oil (88.7% of world exports); copper ores and concentrates (79.1%); female clothing, knitted and crocheted (75.9%); crude petroleum and bituminous oil (71.4%); and woven cotton fabrics (71.3%). Overall, the Handbook provides a broad range of statistics covering individual countries, regions, various economic groupings and the world at large. It is meant to provide essential data for analysing and measuring world trade, investment, international financial flows and development. Among the topics covered:
The Handbook is available in printed copies and on DVD. In addition, the underlying data of the Handbook are available online at UNCTADstat (http://unctadstat.unctad.org). UNCTADstat is continuously updated and provides the latest available information. Full report [PDF, 513 Pages, 2675Kb] Also available in: French Part I Chapters 1-2 [PDF, 171pp., 977 KB] Part II Chapters 3-6 [PDF, 191pp., 921 KB] Part III Chapters 7-8 [PDF, 148pp., 710 KB] ANNEX Tables and figures Figure 1: Change in world exports and GDP shares in period ´81-´10 for selected economies Source: UNCTAD calculation based on UNCTADstat. | ||||||||||
Endnotes 1.The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2011 (Sales No. B.11.II.D.1, ISBN: 978-92-1-112829-1) may be obtained from United Publications Sales and Marketing Office at the address mentioned below or from United Nations sales agents throughout the world. Price: US$ 130 (50% discount for residents of developing countries, and 75% discount for residents of least developed countries). Orders or queries should be sent to: United Publications Sales and Marketing Office, 300 E 42nd Street, 9th Floor, IN-919J New York, NY 10017, United States. tel.: +1 212 963 8302, fax: +1 212 963 3489, e-mail: publications@un.org https://unp.un.org. |
Making South-South Cooperation Work for Africa: Policy Recommendations
South-South Cooperation / AFRICA AND THE NEW FORM OF DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
Economic Development in Africa Report 2010 - UNCTAD
Quick Links:
Economic Development in Africa Report 2010 - UNCTAD
Quick Links:
More on Africa-South cooperation:
- Asian FDI in Africa
Towards a new era of cooperation among developing countries
- Development of Africa Websection
Making South-South Cooperation Work for Africa / Policy Recommendations
---------Recommendations for African countries
* Mainstream South-South cooperation into national development strategies.
* African countries should adopt a well-defined strategy for South-South cooperation to ensure that it furthers rather than hinders the achievement of national and regional development goals. This means that South-South cooperation should be mainstreamed into national development strategies as well as efforts to promote regional cooperation within Africa.
* Take a proactive approach to the partnership process.
* A proactive approach by African governments and sharing of experiences with developing country partners will accelerate mutual policy learning, which should enhance the effectiveness of interactions for both parties.
* Ensure that cooperation with developing countries complements existing partnerships with developed countries.
* Developed countries have been and will continue to be important development partners for Africa. Consequently, it is important that the regions´ engagement with developing countries complements rather than substitutes for relations with traditional partners.
* Involve more local stakeholders in partnerships with the South.
* African governments should make efforts to get parliaments, the private sector and civil society more involved in the process, to ensure effective national ownership of the process and outcomes of the evolving partnerships.
* Strengthen efforts to develop productive capacities.
* African countries to achieve the average 7 per cent growth rate needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals, they have to promote public and private investment, structural transformation and the development of productive capacities.
* Play a more active role in coordination of support from partners.
* African countries to play a more active role in the coordination of support from developing and developed countries to reduce transaction costs and increase the development impact.
* Avoid accumulation of unsustainable debt.
* African countries to pay more attention to the structure as well as management of external debt to avoid a debt crisis.
* Adopt a developmental approach in seeking foreign direct investment.
The focus of African countries should be on creating linkages between FDI and the domestic economy and also directing it to sectors where it can catalyze domestic investment, create employment, spur regional integration and boost productive capacity.
---------Recommendations for developing country partners
* Broaden the scope of engagement to include sectors other than the extractive industries.
* Developing countries´ engagement in Africa is that their trade and, to a lesser extent, investment activities are heavily concentrated in the natural resource sector. Developing country partners to use their resource flow to enhance technology transfer and technological learning between African countries and other developing countries.
----------Strengthen support for regional integration in Africa.
It would be desirable for developing country partners to provide more support for regional projects as an important step towards developing regional markets and laying the foundation for a sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship with the region.
* Enlarge country coverage to facilitate South-South trade and ensure that the gains are more evenly distributed across countries.
* Developing country partners to explore ways and means to involve more countries, particularly the LDCs, in their partnerships with the region.
* Provide more information on development activities in the region.
* Developing country partners to increase transparency in their development cooperation with Africa as an important step towards improving accountability and establishing a sustainable relationship with the region.
------Ensure that projects have positive impact on the environment.
* Developing country partners to pay more attention to the environmental consequences of their activities in Africa.
* Address the transactions costs associated with the multiplicity of partnership initiatives.
* Developing country partners to coordinate and consolidate these initiatives to reduce participation costs for Africa for better development results.
------Recommendations for developed country partners
* Provide more support for Africa-South cooperation.
* Traditional development partners increasingly provide support for Africa-South cooperation by financing triangular cooperation activities. Africa´s traditional partners to resist any pressures that may arise to reduce financing for triangular cooperation projects in response to the global economic slowdown.
* Strengthen dialogue with Southern partners.
* Traditional partners to strengthen dialogue with developing country partners to enhance coordination and sharing of experiences and best practices.
-------Recommendations for regional and multilateral institutions
* Coordinate the development of statistics and collection of information on Africa-South cooperation.
* Provide more support to research on the impact and sustainability of developing countries´ activities in Africa.
* Establish financing facilities for Africa-South cooperation.
* Regional and multilateral finance institutions to make more resources available for support of South-South cooperation projects.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama offer a special holiday tribute to the men and women who wear our country's uniform and the families who support them. December 23, 2011.
The Durban Platform.
Welcome to the United Nations Climate Change Portal
The UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa concluded on Sunday, 11 December with a package of decisions called the Durban Platform. “Taken together, these agreements represent an important advance in our work on climate change,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The latest round of UN climate talks concluded last week in Durban, South Africa. The annual negotiations aim to get the world to agree on binding carbon emission limits to reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change. What did this year's talks achieve?
Chief correspondent Tyler Suiters was in Durban for the summit, and reported on what has become known as the "Durban Platform."
"This is not a problem of the future, this is not a problem of somebody else, this is a today problem," said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "The first step is for countries to really understand how these global challenges are actually national opportunities."
COP17/CMP7
The UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa concluded on Sunday, 11 December with a package of decisions called the Durban Platform. “Taken together, these agreements represent an important advance in our work on climate change,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
United Nations Partners on Climate Change
The latest round of UN climate talks concluded last week in Durban, South Africa. The annual negotiations aim to get the world to agree on binding carbon emission limits to reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change. What did this year's talks achieve?
Chief correspondent Tyler Suiters was in Durban for the summit, and reported on what has become known as the "Durban Platform."
"This is not a problem of the future, this is not a problem of somebody else, this is a today problem," said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "The first step is for countries to really understand how these global challenges are actually national opportunities."
COP17/CMP7
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