Dr. Kituyi: UNCTAD has emerged stronger from UNCTAD XIV

At the closing ceremony of UNCTAD XIV, the UNCTAD Secretary General said that UNCTAD has emerged stronger, the Kenyan Foreign Minister hailed the outcomes, while civil society expressed misgivings that an opportunity was lost to provide a stronger mandate to UNCTAD on key issues.  Below are a report by Adriano José Timossi on the closing ceremony and extracts from the closing speech by the Kenyan President.  The next UNCTAD is to be held in 2020.

By Adriano José Timossi

UNCTAD has emerged from the Nairobi conference with a substantially stronger mandate, said the UNCTAD Secretary General Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi at the closing ceremony of UNCTAD XIV.   “This will allow UNCTAD to undertake its partnerships and implementation activities towards the support of the Sustainable Development Agenda,” he said.  “It reaffirms the role of UNCTAD within the UN family as the organization in charge of delivering prosperity for all.”

Dr. Kituyi reviewed some of the achievements of UNCTAD XIV, especially the two documents adopted by consensus, the Nairobi Maafikiano (outcome document) and Nairobi Azimio (political declaration), that reaffirm UNCTAD’s work programme and strengthen its role of making globalization work for SDGs implementation. UNCTAD comes out of this conference with a substantial stronger mandate.

Kituyi informed participants that UNCTAD XIV had the participation of four Heads of States and Government, 78 Ministers, 27 Vice Ministers and over 6,000 delegates registered from more than 149 countries and with more than 100 meetings being held, including Ministerial round tables, high level segments, World Investment Forum, Commodities Forum, Global Services Forum, Civil Society Forum, and the inaugural Youth UNCTAD Forum.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, H.E. Amina Mohamed and president of UNCTAD XIV, welcomed the successful results, saying that the Nairobi outcomes captured the concerns and the aspirations of all parties and stakeholders. She also said that it captured the desire expressed by Kenya’s founding President, Jomo Kenyatta, who forty years ago during the UNCTAD IV (1976), said: “What is required is nothing less than a Nairobi chapter for some new and truly international economic order”.  While it may not entail an entire new international economic order, she said, the Nairobi outcome like the 1976 Nairobi Chapter has seen a major success and represents a bold and positive step towards the eventual realization of a new and truly international economic order, she said.

The CSO representative, Aldo Caliari, Center of Concern, speaking on behalf of 400 civil society groups, provided a brief analysis of the outcome document and its impacts for developing countries. CSOs welcomed the important outcomes reached in Nairobi, particularly on the mandates for UNCTAD to continue working on the global macroeconomic and financial trends exposed and created by the global financial crisis, their systemic sources and their spillovers in developing countries. Also, on responsible lending and borrowing and a range of other debt issues and, on Financing for Development, through a newly-created Inter-Governmental Expert Group.

However, he said,  “We also want to convey our sadness at the lost opportunity to give UNCTAD more tools on other issues critical for developing countries to implement Agenda 2030”.

On taxation, he pointed out, UNCTAD 14 sadly became yet another example of how determined rich countries are to ensure the exclusion of developing countries, not just from decision making on tax matters, but also from the possibility of getting independent advice on how to stop the enormous losses of money they suffer from illicit financial flows, including tax avoidance and evasion.   He said:  “In the negotiating text, we first saw deletion of the right of developing countries to participate on an equal footing in international tax forums. Second, the intergovernmental expert group on tax was stripped out of the text, and lastly, the references to expanding the mandate of UNCTAD to do more work on tax were deleted. To be clear, we strongly appreciate the work that UNCTAD has been doing on tax, and we look forward to receiving more outputs. But continuing business as usual is not going to be sufficient to ensure that developing countries have the tools they need to overcome the immense challenge of halting illicit financial flows”.

Caliari added:  “We would have liked to see a bolder mandate to engage in reforms of investment agreements and their dispute settlement systems, which have proved inimical to poor countries’ development aspirations, and to enlarge policy space for regulations that safeguard people’s human rights, sustainable development and gender equality”.

“On trade, at a time when the inequality and unrest triggered by globalization are haunting the fabric of entire societies, we would have liked a clearer mandate to examine the pros and cons of trade liberalization, engage in the critical rethink of trade rules and recommend ways to fulfil the WTO Doha Development mandate. On global value chains, a stronger mandate to work on their governance, so as to address unfair distribution of gains across the chain, and detrimental impacts on employment conditions and inclusive growth, was needed.”

A representative of the Youth Forum of UNCTAD,  representing over 250 participants from 140 nationalities, said the process of involving youth in UNCTAD had just started.  “We have entered the door and have no intention to leave it, let’s together shape the world we want.”

Concluding Remarks of President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya

President Kenyatta closed the conference.  Below are extracts of his speech.

I am pleased to note that UNCTAD 14 has produced two important documents: Nairobi Azimio and Nairobi Maafikiano.

Azimio is a Swahili word for a declaration. The Nairobi Azimio outlines the important role of UNCTAD as the focal point within the United Nations system for the integrated treatment of trade and development in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.

Maafikiano is a Swahili word that means “coming together” in consensus.  Nairobi Maafikiano brings together new consensus in the work programme, which UNCTAD will undertake in the next four years.

UNCTAD was established to support developing countries address issues of trade and development in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development, with a view to enhancing their rapid integration into the global economy.

During the fourth UNCTAD Conference which was held in this same venue in 1976, President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta reminded us that “the developed and industrial nations must appreciate that their momentum may only be secured if what is called the developing world is enabled to…enjoy an equitable share of international prosperity.”

A great deal of progress has been made since then, extreme poverty has been reduced significantly across the world and many developing countries have been integrated into the global economy.  Nonetheless, prosperity is still unevenly distributed across and within countries.

We need therefore to deepen our actions to conquer poverty and ensure prosperity is evenly shared globally.

In this regard, I note that the Nairobi Azimio upholds the decisions taken at previous UNCTAD Conferences.  I urge all member States to implement the Nairobi Maafikiano.

I am confident that the implementation of the Azimio and Maafikiano declarations will enable us to accelerate progress towards shared prosperity.