Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on 21 January called on ministers from a cross-section of WTO members to push ahead in all ongoing negotiations, and work with “pragmatism, creativity, and flexibility” to harvest agreements as and when they are within reach. Ministers broadly accepted her (...)
As part of the Aid-for-Trade Monitoring and Evaluation exercise, WTO members, observers and their development partners are invited to submit their self-assessment questionnaires by 31 January 2022. Their responses will be analysed by the WTO Secretariat and presented at the upcoming Aid for (...)
This animated video explains the key concepts underpinning the SAM-SDI. It shows how enhancing the inclusiveness and effectiveness of social dialogue institutions should contribute to the overall goal of achieving more socially just and economically sustainable policy (...)
The SAM-SDI is a tool developed by the ILO to enable its constituents to assess and improve the inclusiveness and effectiveness of their social dialogue institutions, and hence their impact on policy-making. This video presents an overview of the SAM-SDI, explaining its background and outlining (...)
“Customs has a key role in making trade seamless, safe and secure,” stated WTO Deputy Director-General Anabel González at a 20 January hearing of the European Union’s Wise Persons Group on Challenges Facing the Customs Union.
The Tenth China Round Table on WTO Accessions, held virtually on 18-20 January, celebrated 10 years of the China Programme, with participants reflecting on its impact on the accession of least-developed countries (LDCs) and discussing the future direction of this initiative. The event also (...)
A new WTO publication launched on 19 January highlights that further support will be needed from the international community in the next decade to strengthen least-developed countries’ (LDC) participation in world trade. While LDCs have benefited over the past ten years from greater market (...)
The government of Austria has contributed EUR 200,000 (CHF 215,000) in 2022 to the Global Trust Fund to support the new phase of the WTO Chairs Programme, an initiative aimed at supporting trade-related academic activities in developing countries and least-developed countries (...)
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have significant effects on global labour markets, the ILO warns of a slow and uncertain recovery, and highlights stark differences in the impact the crisis is having across groups of workers and (...)
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is pledging NOK 25 million (approximately CHF 2.5 million) from 2021 to 2023 to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF). The grant will be used to strengthen the capacity of developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) to (...)