United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
 | |
| Founded: | 1964 |
| Headquarters: | DC2-1120, United Nations New York, NY 10017 |
| Email: | info[at]unctad.org |
| Website: | UNCTAD |
| Twitter: |  @UNCTAD
|
| Key People | |
| Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General Petko Draganov, Deputy Secretary-General | |
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.
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]
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]
ICT Events
UNCTAD arranges WSIS workshops and events regularly.[6][7] 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.[8]
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.[9]