Nairobi to host 14th UN conference on trade and development

Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is earmarked to host the next United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The 14th edition of the UNCTAD summit to be held between July 17-22 would take place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, according to the United Nations information center in Naorobi.

#UNCTAD14 – Deadline for online registration has been extended until 6 July 2016. https://t.co/v3ElDKqZh9 pic.twitter.com/sEQFNKxpER

— UNCTAD (@UNCTAD) July 1, 2016

President Uhuru Kenyatta is billed to open the week-long meeting. Thousands of delegates including Heads of State and Government, ministers, academic and economic experts, representatives of the private sector and members of nongovernmental organizations are expected to attend.

The Chair of the National Coordinating Committee for UNCTAD 14 is Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya.

The last edition was in 2012 in Doha. This years conference will look at five major areas; World Leaders Summit (High-Level Events, Round Tables, Side Events) the World Investment Forum, the Global Commodities Forum, the Civil Society Forum and a Youth Forum.

According to the UNCTAD website, ‘‘The highest decision-making body of UNCTAD is the quadrennial conference, at which member States make assessments of current trade and development issues, discuss policy options and formulate global policy responses. The conference also sets the organization’s mandate and work priorities.

The conference is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly.

The conferences serve an important political function: they allow intergovernmental consensus building regarding the state of the world economy and development policies, and they play a key role in identifying the role of the United Nations and UNCTAD in addressing economic development problems.’‘