United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Policy Briefs

What is the impact of trade on gender equality, and how can trade policy influence that impact? These questions are difficult to answer without reliable and comprehensive statistics. In December 2017, the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women's Economic Empowerment1 called for an inventory of data sources, collection of gender-disaggregated data and the analysis of gender-focused statistics related to trade. This policy brief provides some tools for taking stock of available data to assess the gender impacts of trade agreements. In 2018, UNCTAD developed a statistical conceptual framework to bring together key elements for understanding the impact of trade on gender equality. This brief applies that framework by exploring data availability and gaps. The work builds on the expertise of the UNCTAD Statistics and Trade, Gender and Development programme working to improve women's economic empowerment through the development of gender-responsive trade policy.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is substantially impacting people’s lives and livelihoods and putting extreme stress on socioeconomic systems. International collaboration, coordination and solidarity among all is going to be key to overcoming this unprecedented global challenge. As part of efforts aimed at reducing the international spread of the virus and to mitigate the potentially crippling longer-term consequences of the pandemic, especially for the most vulnerable countries, policymakers need to take a number of measures to ensure the facilitation of international trade and the transport of goods. It is crucial to keep ships moving, ports open and cross-border and transit trade flowing, while ensuring that border agencies can safely undertake all necessary controls. There is a need to keep ships moving, ports open and crossborder trade flowing, while ensuring that border agencies can safely undertake all necessary controls. Facilitating trade and the transport of goods has become more important than ever, to avoid logistics obstacles that lead to shortages of necessary supplies. The concrete measures proposed in this policy brief help to facilitate transport and trade and to protect the population from COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is substantially impacting people’s lives and livelihoods and putting extreme stress on socioeconomic systems. International collaboration, coordination and solidarity among all is going to be key to overcoming this unprecedented global challenge. As part of efforts aimed at reducing the international spread of the virus and to mitigate the potentially crippling longer-term consequences of the pandemic, especially for the most vulnerable countries, policymakers need to take a number of measures to ensure the facilitation of international trade and the transport of goods. It is crucial to keep ships moving, ports open and cross-border and transit trade flowing, while ensuring that border agencies can safely undertake all necessary controls. There is a need to keep ships moving, ports open and crossborder trade flowing, while ensuring that border agencies can safely undertake all necessary controls. Facilitating trade and the transport of goods has become more important than ever, to avoid logistics obstacles that lead to shortages of necessary supplies. The concrete measures proposed in this policy brief help to facilitate transport and trade and to protect the population from COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has infected more than 2,950,000 people and killed more than 202,000 worldwide to this date. While the overall economic impact of this outbreak is still unfolding, there are strong indications that it will cause the largest economic downturn since the 2008 financial crisis. This policy brief makes a case for protecting science, technology and innovation (STI) budgets during the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath, based on the fact that continued investments in STI will be critical to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Even though developing countries as a group have recorded continued growth in R&D expenditure over recent years, the absolute levels remain small and their STI capabilities limited. It is therefore crucial for developing countries to reinforce their commitments to protect investment in STI and to design recovery packages that leverage technology and innovation for sustainable development. Stability and predictability of funding for science, technology and innovation are critical for the ability of national innovation systems to support sustainable development. During and after the COVID-19 crisis countries, particularly in the developing world where innovation systems remain fragile, should protect science, technology and innovation resources from austerity drives given their long-term implications for development strategies. The policy responses proposed in this policy brief introduce concrete steps in effectively continuing investments in science, technology and innovation, both during and after the crisis, towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

The crisis stemming from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has turned a spotlight on financial vulnerabilities in developing countries and the limitations they face in mobilizing domestic financial resources to respond to the pandemic at the required scale. This brief takes a step back from the COVID-19 crisis to highlight a longer-standing trend which is adding to the troubles facing developing countries. For the past two decades, net financial resource transfers between developed and developing countries have typically favoured the former and disadvantaged the latter. Overall, more financial resources have gone from developing to developed countries than have been returned. The policy brief looks at the main drivers of this net financial resource transfer to the developed world, including illicit financial flows from developing countries, and offers some policy proposals to address this problem.