RESOURCES

ASSURING DEVELOPMENT GAINS AND POVERTY REDUCTION FROM TRADE: THE LABOUR MOBILITY AND SKILLS TRADE DIMENSION. By Lakshmi Puri. UNCTAD, 1 March 2008. It is becoming increasingly clear that the issue of global labour movement and integration is a key topic at the interface of trade, development and globalization. In 2005 the global labour force numbered 2.8 billion, of which 2.25 billion was developing country labour force. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive picture of the impact on trade, development and poverty reduction brought about by global labour movement and integration. It attempts to answer the question as to how temporary labour mobility can be better managed so as to contribute to improving people´s livelihood and welfare prospects while at the same time moving closer to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, in particular the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The paper looks at temporary labour mobility and skills trade as it relates to trade and development from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. It sets out the problem of labour mobility, the state of play in the global labour market, push-pull factors that cause labour mobility and succinctly, the seven inconsistencies of the labour movement conundrum. A detailed examination of the socio-economic costs and benefits to sending and receiving countries provides a balanced overview of the picture. From the trade perspective the paper argues that progress in allowing temporary movement of labour by means of multilateral and regional or bilateral agreements is important to further good global governance, coherence and solidarity necessary for achieving Millennium Development Goals. The paper can be found online at http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=9685&intItemID=2068&lang=1&mode=downloads.

IMPLEMENTING THE WIPO DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: NEXT STEPS FORWARD. South Centre Policy Brief, February 2008. WIPO Member States agreed to a new agenda to guide the organizations work on development and intellectual property (IP). The challenge now is to effectively implement the agenda to achieve concrete results and change. Key recommendations for developing countries on the next phase of the WIPO Development Agenda are to: 1) uphold at WIPO and other multilateral fora a holistic approach to development and IP; 2) consistently assert a member-driven process and integration of development in all activities of the WIPO; 3) ensure the implementation of the totality of the recommendations, and give effect to each agreed proposal; 4) request and monitor that the WIPO fully observes all the agreed proposals, particularly those that require change in its current work methods and activities; 5) identify concrete, specific actions necessary to exercise the agreed proposals; and 6) develop and support the holistic approach to development and IP through coherent national policy. The paper is available online at http://www.southcentre.org/info/policybrief/13WIPO_Development_Agenda.pdf.