The Chairman of the South Centre, H.E. Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania, has sent a letter to the President of Cuba H.E. Raul Castro to extend the Centre’s condolences on the passing away of President Fidel Castro, who was a friend and supporter of the Centre and the South Commission. Below is the letter.
South Centre Presentation to the Special Event of the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly
UNCTAD organized a special event of the Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on 26 October 2016 in New York on “SOVEREIGN DEBT RESTRUCTURINGS: Lessons learned from legislative steps taken by certain countries and other appropriate action to reduce the vulnerability of sovereigns to holdout creditors”. Ms. Yuefen Li, Special Advisor on Economics and Development Finance of the South Centre, spoke as a panelist and alerted the UN Member States of the current legislative challenges facing the sovereigns when it comes to the need for sovereign debt restructuring including the impact of the plurilateral and bilateral trade and investment agreements.
South Centre Statement to the 18th session of WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property
The following is the statement delivered on 31 October 2016 by the South Centre to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) at its eighteenth session. The Centre highlights the importance of the WIPO Development Agenda.
South Centre Statement to the WIPO Assemblies 2016
The statement highlights that the greatest challenge for developing countries and LDCs in the area of intellectual property (IP) is the proliferation of regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements that impose IP obligations, together with the coercive external political and economic pressure to restrain from making use of the flexibilities in the IP system.
Statement by the South Centre on the Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines released on 14 September 2016
The South Centre endorses the report of the United Nations Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines and its call on governments, the United Nations entities and others including the World Trade Organization, to take action on the report’s recommendations. (more…)
South Centre Statement to the Open-Ended Meeting of WHO Member States: Follow-up of the report of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG)
At the open-ended meeting of WHO Member States on the follow-up of the report of the CEWG, the South Centre called for concrete discussions to start negotiations on a binding legal instrument on R&D financing and coordination. (more…)
World Economic Situation: Serious Difficulties Call For Bold Measures
Dr. Yılmaz Akyüz, Chief Economist of the intergovernmental organization South Centre, says that the 2008 financial crisis may be moving in a third wave that could devastate the Global South. (more…)
South Centre intervention to the UPOV Consultative Committee on the issue of interrelations with the FAO ITPGRFA
The South Centre participates as an observer in the ongoing process for the “identification of possible areas of interrelations between the FAO ITPGRFA, especially its Article 9 on Farmers’ Rights, and relevant instruments of UPOV and WIPO.” It seeks to promote an outcome that (more…)
The South Centre wishes to express its deepest condolences to the government and the people of Egypt for the passing away of Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali recently.
Mr. Boutros-Ghali was a giant in his support of multilateralism and an outstanding figure in promoting a more equitable world where peace should reign over war, and where the United Nations acts as an (more…)
South Centre at the WIPO 2015 Assemblies
The South Centre calls on WIPO Member States to guide the work of the organization towards shaping a more inclusive and balanced international intellectual property system.
South Centre Calls on the WTO TRIPS Council to Support Access to Medicines and Technological Advancement for the Least Developed Countries
The South Centre fully supports the Least Developed Countries’ (LDC) request for an extension of the transition period granted to LDCs under Article 66.1 of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in respect of pharmaceutical products for as long as a WTO member remains an LDC, and the waiver from obligations under Articles 70.8 and 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement. (more…)
The Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme (IAKP) of the South Centre is Renamed as Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme
The South Centre has the pleasure to announce that the Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme (IAKP) will henceforth be known as the “Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme” (DIIP). (more…)
