Prospects for Trade, Development, and Reducing Inequality: Doha, post-Bali, and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals: OWINFS event at WTO Public Forum 2014

Prospects for Trade, Development, and Reducing Inequality:

Doha, post-Bali, and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals

WTO Public Forum, Geneva

Thursday October 2, 13:00-15:00, Room E

In the past year, global debates on the issue of inequality have exploded, alongside global debates about the future of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the SDGs are of primary interest to developing countries, particularly Africans, the issue of inequality has been shown to affect everyone: developed as well as developing countries, and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Trade, and in particular the negotiations occurring in the WTO – both regarding the implementation of the Bali package, and the ongoing deliberations on the Doha Round – has tremendous impacts on both inequality and on the ability of countries to achieve the SDGs. Thus the outcome of the WTO negotiations impacts everyone.

The objective of the session is to place the current negotiations in the WTO in the context of the global debates affecting everyone – including inequality and the SDGs – and thus point to decisions that must be made to foster job creation, inequality reduction, sustainable development, and benefits for consumers and workers alike. This panel will seek to provide an animated debate amongst panellists and the audience on the following questions:  

• What SDGs could be affected by the outcome of negotiations in the WTO, and what decisions should be taken in the WTO to ensure that the outcome promotes the SDGs?

• How does trade impact inequality, and what outcomes in the Doha and post-Bali negotiations would foster the reduction of inequality?

• What are the ramifications of the current negotiations for Africa? What decisions in the WTO would create the conditions for African countries to pursue the SDGs and tackle inequalities in the region?

• How can policies in the global trading system reduce inequality through decent job creation? How can this job creation through trade be achieved particularly among LDCs?

• How will the negotiations in Agriculture affect agricultural consumers – everyone – as well as agricultural producers?  

  Speakers:

  Sylvester Bagooro, TWN-Africa, Secretariat of Africa Trade Network (ATN)

  Georgios Altintzis, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

  Sanya Reid Smith, Senior Researcher, Third World Network, Geneva

  Deborah James, facilitator, Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS)

  Gopa Kumar, Third World Network, India