50th Birthday of UNCTAD

By: Verónica Velásquez Zuluaga * (vvelasq5@eafit.edu.co)
Law student at Universidad EAFIT, Colombia

In its half-century, UNCTAD has made a book about its history. As we know, this organ of the UN was created after the Second World War because an international rebuilding in the economy was a necessity, and the spirit that motivated the group that worked at that attempt of changing the world was a sense of devotion which was very enhancing of the quality of relationships and the quality of the work itself, that’s why it builds something, UNCTAD.

For the creation of this organ, they have to perform many meetings to organize and decide how was going to work. At this time, 1964, there were 120 countries that decided to join the organization, then they establish some rules and 3 central elements that Raul Prebisch, the executive secretary at that time, laid out for UNCTAD. There were: general framework for international commodity agreements, new forms of financing – supplementary and the demand for temporary preferences for the industrial exports that developing countries exported to developed country markets.

The Trade and Development Report have maintained a continuing focus on the interaction of the international economic environment with the development prospects of developing countries. Its policies have been implemented by other institutions that want follow the same principles. UNCTAD became a new international order for the economy and trade.

Nowadays, besides others function that UNCTAD has, it is responsible manly for design policies for international trade and development of the economy. In this globalized world where we live, this organ has a very important role in the trade and development: it looks for increasing the opportunities for the developing countries and integrate them to the world trade. UNCTAD has already constructed a new investment policy framework, and its technical assistance capacity is already strong through the Investment Policy Review mechanism. Other international bodies recognize its expertise on investment, trade and development.

Bibliography

Toye, John (2014) Unctad at 50: A Short History. Available online at: http://vi.unctad.org/resources-mainmenu-64/digital-library?i=VI&op=all&q=UNCTAD+at+50%3A+A+short+history&act=search&option=com_gslink

Why trade will be the heart of sustainable development agenda beyond 2015?

Opinion article by: Andrea Herrera Guaman* (aherrera@eafit.edu.co)

Business Management student at Universidad EAFIT, Colombia

Although discussions about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are still going and the call for starting the Millennium Development Goals just began, it looks like there is a topic that is taking a bigger relevance and importance nowadays: the role of the international trade as an “enabler for achieving a broad range of social, economic and environmental development goals through promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth”(UNCTAD, 2014).

While for many people and open and multilateral trade seems to be a non- favorable solution in issues like poverty eradication and achieving equity around the world, UNTACD thinks the opposite, considering that Governments can use several means in transforming the world’s economy and growth by always keeping a “rights-based approach to development” and a sustainable vision of those implemented means (UNTACD, 2014) .

The real issue about this topic is make possible that both developed and developing countries take advantage of the opportunities that are offered for this trade liberalization such as: more an better jobs, improvement in health care and standards of living, efficient use of the available resources, etc, all of this in order to reach a sustainable development and promote and structural transformation in all levels.

As for now it is necessary to wait how conclude the Millennium Development Goals' discussions and what will be its legacy for the MDGs in order to see which will be the route that this new agenda will take.

Reference

UNCTAD (2014). unctad.org | UNCTAD places trade at the heart of sustainable development agenda beyond 2015.  Available here.