Addis Ababa, May 20, 2020 – Following the raft of ad-hoc trade measures taken by countries in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the United Nations has put in place a new initiative to develop model provisions to promote more trade cooperation and predictability in times of crisis and pandemic – and speed up recovery.
This initiative is coordinated by the ESCAP and is jointly being implemented by UNCTAD and the 5 United Nations Regional Commissions (ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA and ECE) in cooperation with WTO, CUTS, International Economics Consulting Ltd. and several other organisations as well as Universities, including Ibadan University in Nigeria.
A Core Expert Group has been put in place to guide the initiative and support delivery of an online (living) Handbook on Provisions for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements.
As a first step towards developing the Handbook, a 45-day Policy Hackathon will be organized starting June 2020, enabling all interested trade negotiators and experts from governments, academia, think tanks, international organizations, and civil society to contribute to this challenging endeavor. All relevant contributions by participants will be made available through an online repository under their authors’ or their organizations’ names.
Deadline for application to participate is 29 May 2020 and selected participants will have 45 days, starting 8 June 2020, to contribute innovative solutions towards ensuring that the collective benefits of trade arrangements are least compromised in a situation of crisis and pandemic.
For more information, visit the event website https://bit.ly/2TkOXUr and register here https://bit.ly/2XcGVyh.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org