Briefing for civil society on
UNCTAD's Technical Cooperation Activities
Held on 17 September 2008
Palais des Nations, Room XXVI,
2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Civil society participation in national Inter-Institutional
Committees under the Joint Integrated
Technical Assistance Programme
by
Mr. Aimé Murigande
Expert,
Trade Negotiation and Commercial Diplomacy Branch (DITC/TNCDB)
Joint Integrated Technical
Assistance Programme to
Selected Least Developed &
Other African Countries (JITAP)
Implemented jointly by:
United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), World Trade
Organization (WTO) and International
Trade Centre (ITC)/UNCTAD/WTO 1
Origin of JITAP
African Trade Ministers meeting in Tunis,
October 1994, called on the International
Community to help them to:
• Participate effectively in the World Trade
Organization;
• Integrate beneficially into the new Multilateral
Trading System (MTS);
• Take advantage of the new trade opportunities
arising from the globalization of world markets.
ITC, UNCTAD & WTO responded & launched
JITAP in 1996 at UNCTAD IX.
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8 JITAP Original Countries
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Benin
Burkina Faso
Côte d’Ivoire
Ghana
Kenya
Tunisia
Uganda
Tanzania
First phase started 1998, with mobilization of
multi-donor funding for CTF, & successfully
completed in Dec.2002
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8 New JITAP Countries – Phase 2
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Botswana
Cameroon
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mozambique
Senegal
Zambia
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8 old & 8 new countries participate in Phase 2
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Objectives of JITAP – building of
national capacities to engage in
the MTS
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Capacity to understand the evolving MTS, its
implications for external trade, & to negotiate;
Capacity to adapt the national trading
environment to the WTO disciplines & to
implement them;
Capacity to develop strategies to export goods &
services, & take advantage of the MTS.
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5 Main focus (“modules”) of
capacity building
1. Trade negotiations, implementation
of WTO Agreements, and related trade
policy formulation through the InterInstitutional Committees (IICs) that are
official frameworks to organize national
stakeholder discussion and decision
making on the MTS.
– UNCTAD is the lead agency
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5 Main focus (“modules”) of
capacity building (cont’d)
2. MTS Reference Centres (RCs) and
National Enquiry Points (NEPs) for
providing reliable technical information
on the MTS, with attention to standards
and quality requirements;
– WTO is lead agency
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5 Main focus (“modules”) of
capacity building (cont’d)
3. Development of the national knowledge
base on MTS through training of
trainers and formation of trainer
networks;
– Joint leadership by 3 agences
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5 Main focus (“modules”) of
capacity building (cont’d)
4. Development of a goods, commodities
and services policy framework and
sectoral strategies including market
knowledge of exporting and exportready enterprises to develop production
and exports;
– ITC is lead agency
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5 Main focus (“modules”) of
capacity building (cont’d)
5. Networking of the institutional and
human capacities built in each country
to encourage synergy and exchange of
expertise and experiences, including at
the sub-regional level, to ensure
sustainability of such capacities beyond
the programme’s life.
– Jitap Program Coordination Unit leads
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Sustainable Elements of JITAP
z Inter-Institutional
Committees
z Reference Centres & NEPs
z Cadres of trainers and trainees
specialized on MTS
z Export-sector strategy development.
z Networking among partners
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JITAP – unique TRTA program
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Only TA program jointly designed &
implemented by ITC, UNCTAD & WTO. Drawing
on their complementary strengths, respective
expertise and comparative advantages.
– ITC – business aspects of MTS
– UNCTAD – development aspects of MTS
– WTO – legal & rules aspects of MTS
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Multi-year capacity building commitment.
Multi-donor funding into one common trust fund.
Strong national level implementation facet toolkits.
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Main Findings of JITAP Evaluation, April 2002
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Made an important impact on the emerging area of
TRTA.
Can be a model for possible replication elsewhere.
Provided an effective framework for catalysing
initiatives for other TRTA initiatives.
Enabling many of its participating countries to play
an articulate role in the MTS
5 areas of Key achievements:
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MTS human resource development
Domesticating the MTS
Policy development
Trade infrastructure - IICs
Export strategy development
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Benefits of JITAP for
Development of MTS capacities
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Development of negotiating capacities (for MTS, EPA &
regional trade negotiations) & facilitation of stakeholder
consultation through the IICs; including accession.
Development of MTS training capacities to a critical mass of
MTS trade experts in the countries.
Assistance in adjusting & implement WTO agreements.
Assistance in formulating trade policies and export strategies.
Improvement of entrepreneurial capacities for MTS.
Develop trade infrastructure – IICs, RCs, NEPs
Benefit from toolkits developed under JITAP- facilitate selfapplication and sustainability .
Sustained joint support of ITC, UNCTAD & WTO.
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