Bhutan's entrepreneurs can now open a business in under a minute
UNCTAD Update (1-4 June 2021)
Our latest news, thought leadership and events
News
This week UNCTAD showed how our online single window technology powers business registration in record time, supporting livelihoods during the COVID-19 crisis, in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Read more in English, Français or Español.
The UNCTAD went deep on how technology can transform the lives of the poor. For example, a setting sun used to mean that Ruby Kumari had to close the doors to her homemade sewing school in Parsa, a village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. But the arrival of solar-powered mini-grids in 2019 allowed her to stay open after sundown and offer additional classes, more than doubling enrolment to 80. Explore the importance of getting life-changing technologies to the poor. Read more in Français or Español.
Then in UNCTAD's latest LDC chart of the month, we analyze the situation of least developed countries lag behind in expected years of schooling. The graph shows how LDCs trail other countries in expected years of schooling – the number of years of schooling that a child of school entrance age can expect to receive if prevailing patterns of age-specific enrolment rates persist throughout the child’s life. The average child in LDCs is expected to attend 2.8 fewer years of school compared with the world average, with an even larger gap (6.4 years) vis-a-vis countries belonging to the OECD. Read about why this is the case.
Commentary, Analysis and Opinion
Carbon emissions anywhere threaten development everywhere. The economic progress achieved in the past six decades, along with a rapid expansion of the global population, has come with a colossal environmental cost. While global GDP per capita has nearly tripled since 1960, CO2 emissions have quadrupled during the same period. UNCTAD's Graham Mott, Carlos Razo and Robert Hamwey explain how and why.
Upcoming events
UNCTAD15 pre-event: Trade and gender linkages – an analysis of least developed countries report launch, 8 June, 8:30am (ET)
The event will launch the joint publication by UNCTAD and the Enhanced Integrated Framework, entitled "Trade and Gender Linkages: An analysis of least developed countries". It will provide the opportunity for a high-level debate on how to make trade contribute to women's economic empowerment in the LDCs. Register for the event.
United Nations Trade Forum, 14-15 June 2021
Join UNCTAD for our second UN Trade Forum in mid-June. It looks at how to make trade and trade policy foster a green and inclusive recovery. With the COVID-19 crisis and the climate emergency negatively impacting the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental), what the world needs is a more coherent policy mix to protect the planet and ensure more inclusive development. Inevitably, this must include trade policy. However, designing a coherent policy mix is a challenge. Register for the event to hear proposed solutions.
UNCTAD Prebisch Lecture, 15 June, 10am-12pm (ET)
The 17th Raúl Prebisch Lecture will be given by Esther Duflo, Nobel laureate and Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, during the second United Nations Trade Forum. The lecture entitled Good economics for hard times, will focus on how countries can better address pressing socioeconomic challenges, and ensure an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly four decades ago, UNCTAD established the prestigious Prebisch Lecture Series to honour both the memory of our founding intellectual father, Mr. Raúl Prebisch, and provide an UNCTAD forum for world leaders and thinkers who stood out by way of their contributions to economic and social development. The forum is among the pre-events leading to the fifteenth session of the UNCTAD quadrennial Ministerial Conference, to be held online from 3 to 7 October, hosted in virtual Barbados.
Professor Duflo’s seminal work has helped improve the economic lives of the poor through better policies, and her lecture will be an important addition to the global dialogue on forging socioeconomic solutions that benefit people more equally.
Therefore, during these tumultuous and trying times, let us take a moment to stop, take a breath, and listen to Prof. Duflo, and take her words as a source of inspiration to help us face the challenges, and guide us through the heavy workload that lies ahead.
Please join the lecture by registering through:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EIcf3dpoQAeaDVo8Z5kqkwwatch it
or watch it live on UNCTAD's Facebook channel.
Launch of e-learning course on entrepreneurship for migrants and refugees (French version), 23 June, 9am (ET)
Later in June, we will launch the French edition of the e-learning course jointly developed by UNCTAD and UNITAR. The launch's organized by UNCTAD, IOM, UNHCR and UNITAR on the eve of International Day of Family Remittances, World Refugee Day and MSME Day. Policymakers and practitioners in Francophone countries will share their experiences in promoting migrant and refugee entrepreneurship in the context of COVID-19. For more information, please visit our site and register for the event.
Visit UNCTAD's meeting page for more events like these.
Visit the New York office website
This newsletter was prepared by UNCTAD New York Office of the Secretary-General
Email: UNCTADNY2@un.org
Visit our dedicated website page for more on UNCTAD’s work in monitoring the effects of the global pandemic on manufacturing, trade, foreign direct investment, and economic growth and new resources we offer to address them.
