United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) promotes the integration of developing countries into the world economy, as well as shape current policy debates and thinking, with a particular focus on domestic policies and international actions enhancing development.
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| Founded: | 1964 |
| Headquarters: | DC2-1120, United Nations New York, NY 10017 |
| Email: | info[at]unctad.org |
| Website: | UNCTAD |
| Twitter: |  @UNCTAD
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| Key People | |
| Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General Petko Draganov, Deputy Secretary-General | |
The UNCTAF Secretariat works with United Nations system, regional commissions, governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, the private sector (including trade and industry associations), research institutes and universities worldwide.[1]
History
UNCTAD & IT
Since January 1999, UNCTAD has been promoting e-commerce in the world, with special consideration for developing countries.[2] It organizes e-commerce workshops to be held in developing countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Peru.[3] It also publishes reports on Information Technology economics. These reports can be downloaded through the official website.[4] UNCTAD has organized a domain name dispute resolution policy which can be read here.
Key Functionality
The basic responsibilities of UNCTAD are summarized in three points:
- Provision of a forum for intergovernmental deliberations, supported by discussions for building consensus of experts;
- Carrying out research, policy analysis and data collection for the debates of government representatives and experts;
- Provision of assistance in building economy of developing countries.[5]
Activities
Relationship with International Organizations
Events
Conferences
UNCTAD conferences are held every four years. The upcoming UNCTAD conference is set for 21 to 26 April, 2012 in Doha, Qatar. The last four conferences were held in:
- Accra, Ghana from 20 to 25 April 2008.
- São Paulo, Brazil from 13 to 18 June 2004.
- Bangkok, Thailand from 12 to 19 February in 2000.
- Midrand, South Africa from 27 April to 11 May in 1996.[6]
ICT Events
UNCTAD arranges WSIS workshops and events regularly.[7][8] In the field of Information and Communication Technologies, UNCTAD has hosted following events:
- Open Consultation held in October 2009 concerning financial mechanisms for meeting the challenges of ICTs for Development.
- ICT 4 All Forum Tunis+4, in November 2009.[9]