22 January 2008

GPPi to support “Decent Trade” theme group for the GTDF on Inclusive Globalisation

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has asked GPPi to provide support to the “Decent Trade” theme group at the upcoming Geneva Trade and Development Forum (GTDF) scheduled from the 2-5 of July, 2008. 

The GTDF – convened by Swiss think tank IDEAS Center with support from a group of bilateral donors – constitutes a long-term, informal process in which relevant stakeholders from government, civil society, and the private sector convene to develop realistic and implementable recommendations for a fair and sustainable global economy. The group is tasked to develop the notion of decent trade and to help make it operational by exploring innovative approaches to fostering decent work as a basis for decent trade. As part of the effort the group will suggest concrete ways and means of facilitating their implementation.

GPPi will provide research support to the theme group, focusing primarily on the potential and limits of existing mechanisms to implement decent trade. This includes an analysis of the role of voluntary, market-based initiatives promoting fair trade, as well as an assessment of the relationship between mandatory and voluntary approaches to implementing the decent trade agenda. Additionally, GPPi will organize a one-day preparatory meeting to launch the expert led commission and to define work processes and prospective outputs in January 2008. A subsequent two-day stock-taking meeting will take place at the end of April 2008 in Berlin. GPPi will also contribute the results of the theme group to the GTDF.

For more background on the GTDF, please see www.gtdforum.org.

For more project information, please click here or contact Jan Martin Witte.

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