Uphold commitments to dev’t, civil society tells world leaders
July 16, 2016 (NAIROBI) – World leaders should uphold to commitments made during the 2012 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Doha.
He challenged civil society entities to maintain the momentum in making their demands.
“There must be greater efforts made towards inclusion of all stakeholders, especially women and youth, if at all we are to achieve the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]”, said Kituyi.
“There can be no Sustainable Development Goals without Least Developed Countries”.
In the recent past, western member states of UNCTAD have reportedly come under intense criticism for their sluggishness in supporting the agency’s initiatives and expanding its roles to cover other areas crucial for the advancement of developing nations.
Concerns have also been raised on the role UNCTAD will play in influencing global trade and development in the future as it is gradually relegated to an implementation mechanism for trade agreements.
“As negotiations begin, we are calling for a mandate that addresses specific constraints of developing countries, adoption of gender-sensitive policies on trade and development, institution of measures that curb the illicit transfer of economic resources from developing countries,” said Tax Justice Network-Africa’s executive director, Alvin Mosioma,
This year, civil society organizations have attended two hearings at the UNCTAD headquarters in Geneva, making contributions into the negotiating text of the conference.
Over 7,000 delegates are expected at the forum on the theme, From Decisions to Actions.
(ST)