#United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

[coopsday]

Celebrating UNCTAD’s achievements of the past 60 years - Charting a New Development Course in a Changing World.

Marking its 60th Anniversary, UNCTAD Rebrands to “UN Trade and Development” and Convenes a Global Leaders Forum

UNCTAD’s 60th anniversary Rebrands as "UN Trade and Development" and convenes Global Leaders Forum with the UN Secretary-General, Heads of State, leading economists and Nobel Laureates in June 2024.

UN Trade and Development’s Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan, emphasized the organization’s transformative approach and commitment to supporting developing countries in an increasingly polarized world.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced today its landmark rebranding as "UN Trade and Development," commemorating its 60th anniversary this year. This strategic move underscores the organization's commitment to greater impact with a new, clearer visual identity aiming to better reflect its work and values aiming to amplify its global voice on behalf of developing countries.

Charting a New Course

Under the leadership of Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, the organization has been adapting to a rapidly changing global trade landscape impacted by the COVD19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and climate change, with initiatives that enhance the organization's capacity to rapidly analyze new challenges and support efforts in developing nations.

The rebranding marks a pivotal moment- the first ever comprehensive review of UNCTAD’s global communication footprint and a bold forward-looking strategy to communicate its work and values.

At the presentation of the organization’s new brand as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, Secretary-General Grynspan underlined "Visible, transformational change is our objective. We are celebrating UNCTAD’s achievements of the past 60 years as a forward-looking, renewed organization, building on our legacy but ready to respond to the new complexities of the global economy. We will continue to work to ensure development is at the core of global economic decisions, and the voice of developing countries is heard."

The organization will adopt its new name and logo across all official channels, in the six UN languages, marking its first rebranding in sixty years.

60th anniversary celebration:  Global Leaders Forum

The rebranding marks the start of the 60th anniversary of the organization. UN Trade and Development will convene a Global Leaders Forum from 12-14 June at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, inaugurated by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres and UN Trade and Development Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan, alongside Heads of State and Government, and the participation of civil society organizations, private sector representatives and some of the world’s leading economists. Under the theme "Charting a New Development Course in a Changing World", the Forum will emphasize the organization’s integrated approach to trade and development, addressing finance, technology, investment, and sustainable development, with a specific focus on the needs of developing countries, and UNCTAD’s work in Africa, the least developed countries, small island developing states (SIDs), and landlocked developing countries.

It will also be an important occasion to explore innovative approaches and pioneering solutions with the world’s top policy makers and thinkers.

For more information about UN Trade and Development and its 60th-anniversary events, click here.

Download the video here.

**About UN Trade and Development: **

UN Trade and Development (formerly known as UNCTAD) is dedicated to promoting inclusive and sustainable development through trade and investment. With a diverse membership, it empowers countries to harness trade for prosperity.

[wildlifeday]

UNCTAD Secretary-General Message for World Wildlife Day 2024.

Message for World Wildlife Day 2024 by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General, Mrs. Rebeca Grynspan.

[southsouthcooperationday]

Multi-stakeholder round table 7: International development cooperation.

7th Plenary meeting- Round table at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 22-26 July 2024.

United Nations Economic and Social Council, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), UN Trade and Development.

Watch the Multi-stakeholder round table 7: International development cooperation!

[worldcitiesday]

Global Observance of the World Cities Day 2023 in Istambul; Turkey.

The global economic outlook remains fragile amid a convergence of crises that are threatening to further reverse progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 projects that global growth will decelerate to 1.9 per cent in 2023. It is also estimated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and IEA, that roughly $2.6 trillion dollars is required every year until 2030 to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and stay on course towards a net-zero society by 2050. (United Nations, 2023) This amount may appear huge but compared to annual global savings and other large financing markets, it is achievable. The availability of capital is large enough to solve global infrastructure needs. (WorldBank, 2022) To unlock this capital, a paradigm shift is essential to inform the way efforts toward sustainable development is deployed in low-to-middle income countries. A significant drop in development grant funding and an increase in public investment is a clear signal that a change from a granting model to a financing model is crucial in keeping up the pace towards attaining the SDGs. (UN-Habitat -CIF, 2023) While the financing model is not entirely new for public authorities, this period of economic downturn has not only elevated the urgency of scaling up investments for development but has also provided an opportunity for transformative innovative finance to be prioritized in public discourse. Such a discourse will be held on Monday, 31 October 2023. It will be a culmination of month-long global deliberations on financing sustainable urban development in a high-level segment at the of the World Cities Day 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye. This session will bring together leaders of sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, private sector and governments.

[socialjusticeday]

2023 Commemorative Event on the Occasion of the World Day of Social Justice.

The Permanent Mission of the Kyrgyz Republic to the UN and the International Labour Organization, in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the UN Youth Office, are pleased to convene the commemorative meeting of the 2023 World Day of Social Justice. This year’s theme will focus on the recommendations of Our Common Agenda to strengthen global solidarity and to re-build trust in government by “Overcoming Barriers and Unleashing Opportunities for Social Justice”.

Today, the majority of workers have not recovered their pre-pandemic labour incomes and the gender gap in hours worked has continued to grow. Increases in food and commodity prices is disproportionately impacting poor households and small businesses, especially those in the informal economy. Roughly half the world’s population remains without any access to social protection. And in too many places, having a job does not guarantee the ability to escape from poverty. A continued lack of decent work opportunities, insufficient investments in social policy, and an over-consumption of natural resources have led to an erosion of trust and a frayed social contract in many countries. Even before the pandemic, there was growing concern about the adverse effects of high and rising levels of inequality, and a recognition of the need for urgent and decisive action to reduce them and ensure more inclusive growth that provides decent work opportunities for all. The digital divide and disruptions to global trade and supply chains risk further deepening inequalities and poverty. Women and youth are disproportionately affected by overlapping crises, unemployment, and socio-economic insecurity and face many barriers in accessing decent work. There are however many opportunities to unleash greater investments in decent jobs, particularly in the green, digital and care economy. In an era of rapid technological development, young digital natives can also find solutions to overcome inequalities. Youth entrepreneurship is on the rise and the increasing number of incubators, accelerators, and programs focused on supporting young entrepreneurs contributes to this trend. As tech leaders, young entrepreneurs can also use their influence to advocate for policies and practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, launched by the UN Secretary-General and welcomed by member States and many other stakeholders, also provides a platform to mobilize financing, to boost employment in the green, digital and care economy and to extend social protection floors. Almost thirty years ago, at the World Summit for Social Development in 1995, global leaders pledged to make the eradication of poverty, the goal of full employment and social justice overriding objectives of development. The 2030 Agenda also aims to “promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all”. Decent work has increasingly been recognized as the lynchpin of strategies to achieve social justice by linking the social, economic and environmental components of sustainability.

[odinsblog]

24JAN2024: On Sunday, Israel approved a plan to send taxes earmarked for Gaza to Norway instead of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Since November, taxes that would ordinarily be sent to Gaza have been frozen by the Israeli government.

Under the terms of a deal reached in the 1990s, Israel collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA pending the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

While the PA was ousted from the Gaza Strip in 2007, many of its public sector employees in the enclave kept their jobs and continued to be paid with transferred tax revenues.

Weeks after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, Israel took the decision to withhold payments earmarked for those employees in the Gaza Strip on the grounds that they could fall into the hands of Hamas.

Now, Israel says it will instead send the frozen funds to Norway. “The frozen funds will not be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but will remain in the hands of a third country,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement released on Sunday.

Why does Israel control Palestinian tax revenue?

The system by which taxes and customs duties are collected by Israel on behalf of the PA and transferred to the authority on a monthly basis was agreed in a 1994 accord.

Known as the Paris Protocol, the accord was meant to manage the economic relationship between Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupied until a final peace settlement was reached between the two states.

Approved in the wake of the optimism generated by the Oslo Accords, which were publicly ratified by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the White House in September 1993, this protocol was supposed to end within five years.

However, 30 years later, the financial settlement continues to give the Israeli state what the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called “a disproportionate influence on the collection of Palestinian fiscal revenue, leading to deficiencies in the structure and collection of customs duties resulting from direct and indirect importing into Palestine”.

How much money is Israel withholding?

The tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA amount to around $188m each month, and account for 64 percent of the authority’s total revenue.

A large portion of this is used to pay the salaries of the estimated 150,000 PA employees working in the West Bank and Gaza, despite it having no jurisdiction over the Strip.

On November 3, the Israel security cabinet voted to withhold a total of $275m in Palestinian tax revenues, including cash collected for prior months that was still with Tel Aviv.

“The PA is not clear about how much of the tax revenues go to Gaza – it’s a black box,” Rabeh Morrar, director of research at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute-MAS, told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes they say 30 percent, sometimes 40, sometimes 50.”

Under terms set by Israel’s cabinet on Sunday, the monthly tax revenue previously allocated to PA staff in Gaza will instead be transferred to a Norwegian-based trust account. However, that money cannot be released by the fund to pay workers in Gaza without permission from Israel.

How does Israel exercise ‘disproportionate influence’ over the PA?

The Israeli state has often used its control of the PA’s tax revenues as a means to blackmail and punish the authority.

In January 2023, for instance, the newly-formed Israeli government – seen as the most far-right coalition government in the country’s history – decided to withhold $39m in tax revenues from the PA following the authority’s decision to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation.

“Israeli blackmailing of our tax revenues will not stop us from continuing our political and diplomatic struggle,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the time after Israel’s security cabinet had earlier described the PA’s ICJ move as a “decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel”.

What effect has Israel’s withdrawal of public money had on Palestine?

“The PA owes billions in internal debt to local banks, hospitals, medical companies and the private sector,” said Morrar. “There are also debts [owed], for example, for privately owned buildings rented out by the government. They have not been able to pay those back.”

In 2021, the PA’s financial crisis, exacerbated by Israel’s periodic refusal to pay the PA its total tax revenue share pre-October 7, prompted it to reduce all salaries by 25 percent.

(continue reading)

[androgynealienfemme]

"The main justification for invalidating butch-femme is that its an imitation of heterosexual roles and, therefore, not a genuine lesbian model. One is tempted to react by saying "So what?" but the charge encompasses more than betrayal of an assumed fixed and "true" lesbian culture. Implicit in the accusation is the denial of cultural agency to lesbians, of the ability to shape and reshape symbols into new meanings of identification. Plagiarism, as the adage goes, is basic to all culture.

In the real of cultural identity, that some of the markers of a minority culture's boundaries originate in an oppressing culture is neither unusual nor particularly significant. For instance, in the United States certain kind of bead- and ribbon work are immediately recogniziable as specific to Native American cultures, wherein they serve artistic and ceremonial functions. Yet beads, trinkets, ribbons, and even certain "indian" blanket patterns were brought by Europeans, who traded them as cheap goods for land. No one argues that Indians out to give up beadwork or blanket weaving, thus ridding themselves of the oppressors symbols, because those things took on a radically different cultural meaning in the hands of Native Americans. Or consider Yiddish, one of the jewish languages. Although Yiddish is written in Hebrew characters and has its own idioms and nuances, its vocabulary is predominantly German. Those who speak German can understand Yiddish. Genocidal Germanic anti-Semitism dates back to at least the eleventh century. Yet East European Jews spoke "the oppressors language," developing in it a distinctive literary and theatrical tradition. Why is it so inconceivable that lesbians could take elements of heterosexual sex roles and remake them?

*

It is June 1987, and I am sitting in a workshop on "Lesbians and Gender Roles" at the annual National Women's Studies Conference. It is one of surprisingly few workshops on lesbian issues, particularly since, at a plenary session two mornings later, two thirds of the conference attendees will stand up as lesbians. Meanwhile, in this workshop the first speaker is spending half an hour on what she calls "Feminism 101," a description of heterosexual sex roles. Her point in doing this, she says, is to remind us of the origin of roles, "which are called butch and femme when lesbians engage in them." She tells us the purpose of her talk will be to prove, from her own experience, that "these roles are not fulfilling" for lesbians. She tells us that the second speaker will use lesbian novels from the 1950s to demonstrate the same thesis. And, indeed, the second speaker has a small stack of 1950s "pulp paperbacks" with her, many of them the titles that, when I discovered them in the mind-1970s, resonated for me in a way that the feminist books published by Daughters and Diana Press did not.

I consider for several minutes. I'm well versed in lesbian literature, particularly in the fifties novels, and don't doubt my ability to adequately argue an opposing view with the second presenter. I am curious to see if she will use the publisher-imposed "unhappy ending" to prove that roles make for misery. I also decide I'm willing to offer my own experience to challenge the first presenters conclusions- though I'd much rather sit with her over coffee and talk. She is in her midforties and, although she claims to have renounced it, still looks butch. Even if she speaks of roles negatively, she has been there and I want to hear her story. Then I look around me. Everyone is under thirty. There are a few vaguely butch-looking women present who'd very likely consider themselves to be as androgynous as everyone else, and not a single, even remotely femme-looking women besides myself. I recall Alice Walker's advice to "never be the only one in the room." Quietly, I get up and walk out. I go to no other lesbian presentations at the conference."

“Recollecting History, Renaming Lives: Femme Stigma and the feminist seventies and eighties" by Lyndall MacCowan, The Persistent Desire, (edited by Joan Nestle) (1992)

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s rising role as a geopolitical heavyweight

Brazil takes center stage as host of this year’s G20 Summit, marking a defining moment in the nation’s ascent as a geopolitical powerhouse. Dina Ting, Head of Global Index Portfolio Management, explores Brazil’s economic ambitions alongside its increasing influence in shaping the future of international economic cooperation.

For many people, Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro evokes images of sunny beaches and colorful celebrations. But the city’s biggest international event of this year (in fact, the largest since the 2016 Olympic Games) will likely involve more suits than bikinis. Next month, for the first time, Brazil will take center stage on the world’s preeminent platform for global economic cooperation as host of the G20 (Group of 20) Summit in Rio.

The coalition, which includes the United States, China, India, the European Union, and most recently, the African Union, represents the world’s major economies—accounting for roughly 80% of global gross domestic product (GDP), 75% of global trade and two-thirds of the global population.1

Since taking office early last year for his third non-consecutive term, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (Lula) has spent much time abroad trying to raise his country’s global standing. His efforts may be paying off. A recent Pew Research survey found that most Brazilian adults are optimistic about their country’s status as an international power.2

Beyond the G20, Brazil is also slated to play host for other high-profile events, such as the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in 2025, while concurrently pursuing membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Continue reading.

[mariacallous]

Is China a part of the global south?

Beijing certainly thinks so. For instance, at the recently concluded Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, a conference held every three years between China and African leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke of the global south’s “shared path toward modernization.” China has set up a development fund containing the term “South-South.” And Foreign Minister Wang Yi has also explicitly stated more than once that China is and will always be a member of the global south.

Though the terms used have changed over time, China’s rhetorical embrace of the developing world is not exactly new. Its roots go back to the early years of Chinese Communist Party rule. After the revolutionary fervor of the early 1950s subsided somewhat, China participated in the historic 1955 Bandung Conference that brought Asian and African leaders from recently decolonized countries together in a common front against global inequities. In 1964, Premier Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong’s righthand man, formulated China’s Eight Principles for Economic Aid and Technical Assistance to Other Countries. Mao’s own worldview defined two “intermediate zones” between the United States and the Soviet Union, the latter zone comprising Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The intermediate zones framing later morphed into the Three Worlds theory in 1974. In a conversation with Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, Mao defined the “Third World” as including Africa, Latin America, and all of Asia, except Japan. This brief reference was elaborated on at length in a famous speech by Deng Xiaoping to the U.N. General Assembly in the same year, in which he said: “China belongs to the Third World.”

Mao, like many of his contemporaries, defined the Third World in predominantly economic and postcolonial terms. The framing made sense in the 1970s, when China was among the world’s poorer countries. The average Chinese lived no better, and in some cases worse, than the wide swath of recently decolonized countries.

Fast-forward to today, and much has changed. A different understanding of the meta-region stretching from Latin America to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands is needed—and in turn, China’s place within it must be reconsidered.

In this meta-region, 45 states that the United Nations has dubbed “least developed countries” remain mired in poverty and, in some cases, state failure. But about 80 others have grown substantially. Many, especially in Asia, made globalization and capitalism their own and turbocharged growth with corresponding social investments. They industrialized, integrated with the global economy, and built respectable levels of domestic infrastructure.

China itself is among the biggest beneficiaries of this transformation—from a country that experienced state-induced famines during the disastrous 1958-62 Great Leap Forward to now a highly industrialized, upper-middle-income country.

As economies diverge and the colonial era recedes into the past, the term “global south” has gained currency, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is best described as a “geopolitical fact,” a vast middle that sits outside the great-power system made up of the three great powers and core U.S. allies in Europe, East Asia, and Australasia. The “rest” have achieved varied levels of economic and social development but remain outside the select club of core alliances and global rulemaking. By definition, therefore, a great power cannot be a part of the global south.

China’s sheer size; high levels of GDP, trade, investment, and increasingly innovation; and successful military modernization mean that it now qualifies as a great power. It has joined Russia and the United States in this select category—though the United States is clearly the most powerful of the three and Russia barely makes the grade.

China is indeed working closely with a few global south states on major issues, for example with Brazil on a Ukraine peace plan, and as a part of the BRICS grouping. But Beijing’s global south rhetoric, while drawing on a real shared history, is today a stratagem, designed to win influence among the developing world and further its aims of influencing the global order.  If anything, China’s emergence as a great power opens the door for a divergence from the global south on three important fronts: trade and investment, climate, and geopolitics.

Divides on trade are already visible. Middle-income global south countries such as Indonesia and Chile have recently slapped tariffs on Chinese imports as China has increasingly shifted into advanced manufacturing. Jakarta has just banned a giant Chinese online retailer, citing threats to local businesses. Mexico wants to reduce Chinese imports in its supply chain. Concerns over local trade have also triggered actions against Chinese imports in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Beijing’s flagship investment program, the Belt and Road Initiative, has become much smaller and more targeted of late, with spending falling off sharply as a slowing China focuses more at home. China is also on the “other side” when it comes to negotiating debt relief with poorer states in the G-20’s Common Framework, an odd position for a nation that claims to still be developing.

China and the global south have historically cooperated closely on climate change in the G-77+China coalition. They routinely push the U.N. principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” (CBDR) and legitimately demand much greater climate finance commitments from wealthy states. The CBDR principle puts the onus on financing the energy transition on the global north, since wealthy countries have been the dominant contributors to destructive climate change due to their much larger cumulative carbon emissions. Unsurprisingly, Washington tends to minimize or ignore CBDR in climate negotiations.

But China’s own emissions have risen to the point that it has itself become a major contributor to not only annual but also historical emissions. With 14.7 percent of the global share, China now ranks third in cumulative emissions since 1750, not far behind the United States and the European Union. (The leading global south emitter, India, comes in much lower at nearly 3.4 percent.) The CBDR principle puts China on the side of wealthy states much more than developing countries.

China could justifiably point to its already significant efforts as a source of climate finance. But it will resist what should be a logical shift in its status and oppose formally taking on climate finance targets.

China and the global south may also yet diverge on the broader geopolitical plane. Highly militarized U.S.-China competition can destabilize the global order and risk major conflict; it is therefore not in the global south’s interests. Any actions by Beijing contributing to regional or global destabilization will not be welcomed in the global south. (The same is true for any such behavior by Washington.)

But China’s relative weakness compared with the United States, and an economic slowdown at home, also creates incentives for a revived G-2 in order to craft updated rules of global governance. Xi seemed to propose exactly this last year.

Washington is currently in no mood to engage in such a conversation with Beijing due to China’s perceived threat to its global primacy, sharp differences over Taiwan, and the Russia-Ukraine war. But as planetary challenges multiply, and as China closes the gap in strategic innovation despite its economic crunch, both sides may be incentivized toward deeper, though sectoral, cooperation—perhaps after a nasty crisis that stops short of war.

Any new, future G-2, even if partial, would sit uneasily with most of the global south, as the latter’s demands might not be factored in a backroom deal between the two most powerful states in the international system. The very act of excluding these states from such a conversation would also rankle. The net effect would be to widen their divide with Beijing.

China could bridge its growing gap with the global south by being more proactive on issues such as debt, climate, and trade and refraining from provocative actions in theaters such as the South China Sea. Continuing U.S. failures that cost the lives of innocents (such as in the Middle East escalation) or U.S. over-militarization in Asia could also ensure China remains attractive in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

While Beijing has traditionally enjoyed a natural convergence with the global south, the future looks a lot more complicated.

[arrogantwerpen]

"It will take Gaza 70 years to restore the GDP levels of 2022" concludes UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development just published a report on the economic situation in Gaza and the reach of devestation caused by Israeli aggression

Preliminary assessment of the economic impact of the destruction in Gaza and prospects for economic recovery

quoting some bits of the conclusion:

Monetary poverty has widened and deepened engulfing the entire population of Gaza. Multidimensional poverty is even worse because it takes into account deprivation of education, and basic infrastructure services to capture a more realistic picture of poverty. Living conditions in Gaza are at their lowest since occupation began in 1967 and will worsen even more unless the military operation stops. If Gaza is to remerge with a viable economy, the military confrontation should end immediately, and reconstruction should begin in earnest and without delay. The international community needs to act now before it is too late. A lasting ceasefire is needed now to allow sufficient and adequate humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Reconstruction and recovery need to start now to put Gaza back on a sustainable development path. The future of the Palestinian people will be largely determined by the actions of the Government of Israel, donors and the international community. A new phase of economic rehabilitation predicated on peacebuilding cannot simply take as its goal a return to the pre October 2023 status quo. Only by ending the military confrontation and fully lifting the blockade of Gaza can there be hope to resolve sustainably the political, socioeconomic and humanitarian crisis engulfing Gaza.

...

At the moment, it is difficult to establish the scale of foreign aid required to bring Gaza back to the level of socioeconomic conditions that prevailed prior to the outbreak of the current confrontation, let alone a modicum of normality consistent with achieving the wider development ambitions enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals, but there is no doubt that it will amount to several tens of billions of dollars by any conservative estimation. However, donors and the international community should realize that the constraints on the Palestinian economy in general, and Gaza in particular, are not just the results of recent confrontation but are rooted in a prolonged 56-year occupation.

[tieflingkisser]

Gaza’s economy could take until 2092 to recover if Israel’s operations cease now: UN

It could take decades to rebuild Palestine’s war-torn Gaza and bring socio-economic conditions back to pre-conflict levels, the UN said, cautioning against the inhabitable conditions in the besieged enclave. The assessment came in a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which outlined the severe economic and social destruction in Gaza since the beginning of Israel’s military operation. “An optimistic scenario suggests that even with an immediate end to the fighting, bringing Gaza back to the socioeconomic conditions that prevailed prior to the outbreak of the current confrontation would take decades without a properly funded recovery program fully backed by the international community,” the report said. It would take Gaza until 2092 to restore the GDP levels of 2022 given the 2007-2022 growth trends were to persist with an average growth rate of 0.4 percent, along with substantial international aid and cooperation, according to the report.

[coopsday]

47th Regular Meeting of the United Nations Task Force on the Social and Solidarity Economy.

Led by the Co-Chairs of the UNTFSSE, Simel Esim from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Chantal Line Carpentier from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the virtual gathering brought together representatives from Members (UN Entities and the OECD) and Observer organizations to share international and regional updates to spur further collaboration on the SSE.

The call began with a welcome to the representatives of new Members, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) as an Observer.

Heidi Christ, lead of Made51 at UNHCR, expressed recommitment towards the task force, noting that, “Livelihoods for refugees is of primary concern to UNHCR, especially as the the refugee crisis deepens and longer-term solutions are needed. We are looking at the solidarity economy as way to offer solutions to refugees in a more protective environment”.

Leida Rijnhout, Chief Executive, WFTO, was appreciative of the positive response received from Members and Observers regarding their joining the task force. She highlighted the link between the SSE and the Fair Trade movement, sharing that “At the WFTO, we certify enterprises based on the fair trade principles. We are also a movement of entrepreneurial activists that promote people and planet over profit.”

Following introductions and general updates, the Co-Chairs presented the new UNTFSSE Action Plan, which details priorities and responsibilities for advancing the SSE agenda and implementing the UNGA Resolution A/RES/77/281. This plan, designed to foster policy coherence, drive capacity building, improve statistics, and increase access to finance, underscores the task force's strategic approach to mobilizing collective expertise and resources.

Further discussions focused on institutionalizing UNTFSSE governance through a newly drafted Terms of Reference and preparation of the Secretary General’s report for the UNGA 79th session. The Secretariat is currently collecting inputs from UN Entities, Member States, and Financial Institutions.

Technical Working Groups are currently being established on SSE Statistics and Financing. These groups will be composed of technical experts who will establish work plans and present updates to the task force at regular meetings. Highlights of recent and upcoming initiatives were shared by task force Members and Observers, including:

ILO’s Regional Conference on the Social and Solidarity Economy for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia on May 14-15, 2024.

OECD’s Global Action on Mapping of Social Economy Ecosystems.

UNRISD’s four podcast episodes, interviewing authors from the SSE Encyclopedia.

Social Economy Europe’s EU Large Scale partnership for Skills of SE and Proximity Ecosystem.

DIESIS event on the Social Economy in the Western Balkans under the MESMER+ project.

CIRIEC Call for papers for a Special Issue of APCE on “Gender approaches of Social Economy and State-Owned Enterprises”.

EUCLID’s Women in Social Enterprise initiative.

Ms. Esim proposed to hold an online event to mark the occasion of the first year anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” on April 18, 2024. She suggested this would be an occasion to highlight progress that has been made in the one year since the adoption of the resolution at the international and regional levels. Her proposal was well received by Members and Observers of the Task Force. It was agreed that the webinar would take place on April 18, 2024 from 1:30 – 2:45 pm CEST with presentations followed by a brief discussion. The ILO offered to make simultaneous translation available for the event in English, French and Spanish. The UNTFSSE Members and observers agreed to share the announcement and the Zoom link for the event widely.

Led by the Co-Chairs of the UNTFSSE, Simel Esim from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Chantal Line Carpentier from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the virtual gathering brought together representatives from Members (UN Entities and the OECD) and Observer organizations to share international and regional updates to spur further collaboration on the SSE.

The call began with a welcome to the representatives of new Members, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) as an Observer.

Heidi Christ, lead of Made51 at UNHCR, expressed recommitment towards the task force, noting that, “Livelihoods for refugees is of primary concern to UNHCR, especially as the the refugee crisis deepens and longer-term solutions are needed. We are looking at the solidarity economy as way to offer solutions to refugees in a more protective environment”.

Leida Rijnhout, Chief Executive, WFTO, was appreciative of the positive response received from Members and Observers regarding their joining the task force. She highlighted the link between the SSE and the Fair Trade movement, sharing that “At the WFTO, we certify enterprises based on the fair trade principles. We are also a movement of entrepreneurial activists that promote people and planet over profit.”

Following introductions and general updates, the Co-Chairs presented the new UNTFSSE Action Plan, which details priorities and responsibilities for advancing the SSE agenda and implementing the UNGA Resolution A/RES/77/281. This plan, designed to foster policy coherence, drive capacity building, improve statistics, and increase access to finance, underscores the task force's strategic approach to mobilizing collective expertise and resources.

Further discussions focused on institutionalizing UNTFSSE governance through a newly drafted Terms of Reference and preparation of the Secretary General’s report for the UNGA 79th session. The Secretariat is currently collecting inputs from UN Entities, Member States, and Financial Institutions.

Technical Working Groups are currently being established on SSE Statistics and Financing. These groups will be composed of technical experts who will establish work plans and present updates to the task force at regular meetings. Highlights of recent and upcoming initiatives were shared by task force Members and Observers, including:

ILO’s Regional Conference on the Social and Solidarity Economy for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia on May 14-15, 2024.

OECD’s Global Action on Mapping of Social Economy Ecosystems.

UNRISD’s four podcast episodes, interviewing authors from the SSE Encyclopedia.

Social Economy Europe’s EU Large Scale partnership for Skills of SE and Proximity Ecosystem.

DIESIS event on the Social Economy in the Western Balkans under the MESMER+ project.

CIRIEC Call for papers for a Special Issue of APCE on “Gender approaches of Social Economy and State-Owned Enterprises”.

EUCLID’s Women in Social Enterprise initiative.

Ms. Esim proposed to hold an online event to mark the occasion of the first year anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” on April 18, 2024. She suggested this would be an occasion to highlight progress that has been made in the one year since the adoption of the resolution at the international and regional levels. Her proposal was well received by Members and Observers of the Task Force. It was agreed that the webinar would take place on April 18, 2024 from 1:30 – 2:45 pm CEST with presentations followed by a brief discussion. The ILO offered to make simultaneous translation available for the event in English, French and Spanish. The UNTFSSE Members and observers agreed to share the announcement and the Zoom link for the event widely.

[beardedmrbean]

LONDON (AP) — The United States and Europe are drawing up a voluntary code of conduct for artificial intelligence, a top European Union official said Wednesday, as the developing technology triggers warnings about the risks it poses to humanity and growing calls for regulation.

The voluntary code would bridge the gap while the 27-nation EU works on groundbreaking AI rules that won't take effect for up to three years, European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said at a meeting of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council, which is jointly led by American and European officials.

“We need accountable artificial intelligence. Generative AI is a complete game changer," Vestager said, adding that a draft of the code was expected within weeks.

She said officials will seek feedback from industry players, invite parties to sign up and promised “very, very soon a final proposal for industry to commit to voluntarily," she said at a press conference after the council's meeting in Sweden.

The council has “an important role to play in helping establish voluntary codes of conduct that would be open to all like-minded countries,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The breathtaking rise of generative AI systems such as ChatGPT has dazzled users with their capability to mimic human responses while stirring fears about the risks they pose, setting off a global debate about how to design guardrails for the technology.

Scientists and tech leaders warned that mitigating AI risks should be a global priority because it could lead to human extinction, according to a statement posted online Tuesday and signed by hundreds of experts.

Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, signed that statement and has suggested that AI should be regulated by a U.S. or international agency.

The EU is at the forefront of the global movement to regulate artificial intelligence with its sweeping AI Act. The legislation is set for final negotiations, with political approval expected by year's end.

But those rules won't take effect for two to three years “in the best possible case,” while AI technology is developing “by the month,” Vestager said.

[southsouthcooperationday]

Multi-stakeholder round table 4: Addressing systemic issues.

5th Plenary meeting (continued) - Round table at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 22-26 July 2024.

Watch the Multi-stakeholder round table 4: Addressing systemic issues!

[thetruearchmagos]

The Aircraft Carriers Of The UC Civil Defence Service

Hey folks! Felt bad about not releasing any Worldbuilding content recently, wanted to do something nice to get me back into the rhythm of things. Enjoy!

Tagging @lividdreamz @athenswrites @theprissythumbelina @thatndginger @the-stray-storyteller @hessdalen-globe @caxycreations @writeblrsupport

The Warp's Rescuers

For as long as the great Warp between the 12 Worlds has been plied - and that is a longer time than modern history knows - those who have sailed its depthless and endless expenses have faced death, destruction, and simple and utter disappearence as a simple risk of the mariners trade. Even the safety of the Contours is not a complete one, and it can never truly be known just how many ships have gone down with their crews in the ages past.

In the modern day, though, the business of inter-World communication and movement is a much safer one for all involved. Developments in the ships and crews themselves have certainly helped, but the creation of a truly - for the most part - international and wide reaching institution of at-sea search and rescue has saved the lives of thousands of mariners at sea. The United Commonwealth, acting primarily though its Navy and Civil Defence Service, has committed itself to this transnational endeavour with all its usual vigour, and in all its might and wealth hs provided for one capability no other state could dream of; the Rescue Carroer.

What Do You Do With A Fleet Of Spare Ships

The first trans-Warp 'Rescue Carriers' were a relatively recent development, borne out of the helpful confluenbce of two seperate events. Going into the 140s A.S., the Navy had found itself with the unprecedented luxury of having more carrier hulls than it either wanted or needed. Caught in the middle of a mass rearmament initiative on a scale not seen since the Chainbreaker War, and which would similarly find its conclusion in the 1st Great War, the Service had been inclined to retire in large numbers its previous class of 'Fleet' carrier, the Union's, in order to make room on the yards, docks, and crew and squadron rosters for the newer Valorous-class to take over. Many of the newer Union's would remain in naval service as true carriers or converted for work as amphibious vessels, but a sizeable portion of the fleet was "too old to service aircraft that weren't obsolete, too new to scrap without pissing off Parliament, too useful to consider selling to our allies, and present in too large numbers to convert". That would have left the Directorate of the Navy with quite the challenge, if an alternative and interested buyer had not made itself known.

UC-CDS Goes Inter-Global

As part of a more general bonanza towards the expansion of UC foreign policy and influence abroad, a number of schemes had been trickling in that saw the domestically minded Civil Defence Service see its purview expand well beyond Commonwealth soil. The Police Service had been in the business of overseas deployments for a century by then - and in existence for about that much longer than the CDS - but it would pose a massive challenge to the already behemoth institution to grow its reach so far. At home, CDS covered everything from the ambulance service to firefighting, and had indeed already provided assistance in a limited capacity to disaster relief operations beyond Commonwealth border. This new initiative, however, would see a far greater expansion of the CDS's resources and mandate than that, from providing full scale vaccination, medical, and firefighting services to foreign nations which lacked those services, to participating in the training of foreign recruits on UC-pattern exported equipment for their own use. It was quite a tall order, but bar one it would have been manageable.

Treaties

That 'one' was Article XXI of the Conference on Maritime Conduct. A triumph of UC statecraft, among a bevy of other treaties, Article XXI forced an absolute commitment by all signatory states to do all in their power to save a stricken vessel and its crew of any nationality or background in time of need. To meet this commitment, the rest of the government decided to dump the job onto the backs of the CDS, which had a long-running obligation to do the same for vessels nearer to UC waters as a coast guard. This would be different, however, as the treaty and the UC's chosen interpretation of its requirements meant that the CDS would need to provide coverage as much as possible to the waters of foreign states where it had never before operated as well as almost the entirety of the open oceans, and most daunting of all, the the vast and unknowable expanses of the Warp, so large that only the UC Navy itself could come close to being able to claim the ability to project assets and activity across it.

Clearly, CDS would need their help.

Old Ships Learn new Tricks

At sea SAR operations were an intensive, expensive process, and to cover the vast stretches of both the oceans pf the 12 Worlds and the surface of the Warp it was believed that only aircraft would suffice. Able to patrol vast stretches of open waves from high up and move quickly to respond to ships in need, CDS had already retained a sizeable ground-based aviation fleet larger than some state's air forces before its new mission had been shoved onto its lap. While a slight expansion of that terrestrial force could suffice to aid in near-shore overseas missions to provide maritime SAR, in the open ocean and the Warp sea based aviation would be required. Aeroships flying off the decks of CDS cutters were useful, but mostly lacked the range, endurance, or speed needed, though their ability to stay stationary while airborne at low altitudes meant they could be useful. For the issue of long-range patrolling, however, they would have to approach the masters of finding small things in a big sea with aircraft.

Smelling a potential publicity bonanza for the Service, in addition to all the actual strategic benefits behind a partnership when it came to the foreign policy of the UC, the Directorate of the Navy and Directorate-Generale of Defence quickly agreed to the proposal put forwards by the CDS. Two middle-aged Unions were first selected, the former UCS Dynamic and Dauntless who'd already had a fair decade under each of their belts. These would serve as initial training and experimentation ships, meant to allow the CDS to get some experience in the field of non-combat related carrier operations. A suite of demilitarised, and quite obsolete, aircraft was also provided to see which of them would make good patrol birds or which might fill some other useful role, such as aerial tankers or controllers. These initial tests would conclude in 145 A.S., and quite satisfactorily for all involved. It was eventually decided that a total of twenty Unions would be provided, with modification costs to be shouldered by a special Parliamentary allowance, with the ships themselves to be based in adapted civilian ports and serviced in civilian yards to take pressure off the needs of the Fleet. The first ship of this new breed, UCS Umbrage, would conclude these works in early 147, and the last, UCS Marvel, at the turn of the decade.

In addition to the ships themselves, entire new wings of the Civil Defence Academy would be created for the purposes of training the new skills these operations called for, and the Navy itself would have to impart skills and doctrines created over generations and adapted to the CDS's needs to the organisation on a wide scale. From the deadly dance of open-ocean underway refueling to the near-mystical intricacies of Warp navigation, it is a testament to their cooperation and professionalism of both organisations that in the first three years of CDS carrier operations, only fifteen major accidents occured a backdrop of near continuous and frenetic activity, none of them fatal for CDS personnel or those they were rescuing.

Good Service

The fruits of this investment, as great as it was, would quickly make themselves known. Four ships operating on the Warp's 'Layer 5' in 148 A.S., the industry preferred and officially mandated Layer for merchant commerce, would conduct an average of sixteen major missions every month each. Ranging from collisions to the wrath of an errent Warp Storm, such incidents in the past had proven easily fatal, but thanks to the timely arrival of rescue professionals guided by the flying eyes of the CDS's new carrier pilots these sailors more often than not made it out alive. Over a hundred sailors would be rescued directly by aircraft and aeroships flying from the three carriers' decks by years end, and the over two thousand saved across the Warp by the CDS and third-party ships providing assistance owed much of their survival to the crucial air provided by CDS patrol aircraft even if the carriers were not directly taking part.

Diplomatically, the knowledge that thousands of families across the 12 Worlds owed their loved-ones lives to the efforts of the United Commonwealth was quite the boon, and more broadly symbolised the UC's commitment to 'good-faith acting on the international stage' in a manner no other polity could match. The public credibility of the UC more broadly in the period was mostly on the uptick across the decade, with the exception of a few crises, and such visible policies as this were key in maintaining that credibility on the world stage.

In conclusion, it was with good reason that Foreign Commissioner Konrad Krantz, the United Commonwealth's senior diplomat across almost forty years, the architect of almost the entirety of the UC's modern insitution of statecraft, and the victor of three Great Wars, would refer to this particular piece of almost spontaneous policy as "one of the best things the Commonwealth had ever done for itself, and the rest of the 12 Worlds too I'd imagine."

[camillasgirl]

Queen Camilla’s Patronages

The Royal College of Podiatry (Patron from 12.09.2005)

The Royal College of Podiatry is the premier podiatry organisation in the United Kingdom. It is a learned society, incorporated on 17 November 1945, and an independent trade union affiliated to the TUC. It provides a range of membership services to podiatrists throughout the United Kingdom and overseas, including education, professional practice guidance, employment support, and malpractice insurance (UK only). It publishes a bi-monthly professional magazine, The Podiatrist, and holds a scientific conference each year. The College has a number of branches, all over the United Kingdom and overseas, which provide an opportunity to meet fellow podiatrists and discuss matters of mutual interest, and promote continuing professional development for members. All the College’s members in professional practice are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The College promotes guidelines and standards of practice that are evidence-based and ensure the safety of patients and clinical effectiveness, with a focus on outcomes.  It campaigns to raise awareness among the general public and at government level that good lower-limb health is essential and that podiatry is a key element of preventative medicine.  The College endeavours to influence the governments of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom, ensuring they understand that podiatry encompasses specialist care, surgery, general practice and public health, and that it makes a vital contribution to the health of the population. The College campaigns against down-grading in the NHS and job cuts in order to make sure that essential services are not eroded further. As a Trade Union we endeavour to negotiate the best Terms and Conditions for our members and represent the podiatry workforce at national, regional and local level. The College promotes the highest professional values, practice and standards, as well as enhanced public awareness of good lower-limb health. It provides members with guidelines and standards relating to patient care which must be adhered to in order to comply with membership requirements. Our policies are informed with the support of the United Kingdom’s most prominent podiatrists, scientists, and researchers and we seek to develop enhanced relationships with suppliers of podiatry products.