United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

The Acting Secretary-General, Isabelle Durant, will brief and interact with delegates on UNCTAD 15, its importance for multilateralism as asymmetries and vulnerabilities are increasing. She will also provide an update on the status of the negotiations of the outcome document, which will guide UNCTAD’s work over the next quadrennial.

The waves of COVID-19 are sweeping through the world with tragic and uneven effects on recovery paths, increasing inequalities, financial instabilities and disconnect from the real economies, and putting the importance of trade in securing essential goods and services in the spotlight. It compels us to reconsider the interdependence of our nations and the need for solidarity if we want to leave no one behind in the process of putting an end to this pandemic that impacts everyone and derailed the achievements of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. Though there is a lot that countries can do, especially those with fiscal space, many of these issues require global solutions and need to be tackled in a multilateral inclusive and resilient way, which can only be done by giving empowering the poor and those most heavily affected by the triple health, economic, and environmental crises. We cannot afford to waste another crisis and must seize the opportunity offered by the pandemic to rebuild our economic, financial, and governance systems to deliver prosperity for all people and the planet in accordance with the 2030 Agenda.

This HLPF side event serves as a pre-event to the fifteenth UNCTAD Ministerial Meeting (UNCTAD15) where UN member States will review how development has evolved over time and across regions, propose ways to support developing countries through a revigorated multilateralism that boost sustainable development and support the decade of actions. Join us for this pre-event where we will explore systemic SDGs aligned solutions including the necessary transformations of finance, how to leave no one offline – given the breath-taking speed of digital transformation, reshape global value chains, and boost economic structural transformation and diversification, all of which leading to more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient economic and trading systems. Acting Secretary-General, Isabelle Durant will brief member states on UNCTAD 15, providing an overview of its programme and status of the negotiations of the outcome document, which provide a roadmap for UNCTAD’s work over the next four years. The pre-event will also offer an opportunity for New York based delegates to exchange with the Acting SG and explore better Geneva-New York linkages in the areas of international trade, finance, investment, technology, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development aiming to improve SDGs aligned solutions that address inequalities, asymmetries, and vulnerabilities, and reach prosperity for all – the theme of UNCTAD 15.

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