The UNCTAD Secretariat, in accordance with its mandate under Bridgetown Covenant (2021) and taking into account international and regional initiatives, such as those by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Health Organization (WHO), and the African Union, implements a work programme on advancing the development dimension of intellectual property (IP) rights as they relate to key economic sectors. The work programme is implemented by its Intellectual Property (IP) Unit, located within the Division on Investment and Enterprise.

UNCTAD focuses on improving the effective participation of developing countries in international IP norm setting, upgrading national IP policies and advancing regional cooperation on IP rights. It also works on building coherence between IP, investment and trade policies to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, to address the changes brought by frontier technologies and to build productive capacity in vital sectors of developing countries' economies, with a priority on the bio-pharmaceutical and vaccine sectors. The work programme is partially funded by donor governments and institutions. Currently, the work programme targets technical assistance and capacity building in areas related to: (1) local pharmaceutical and vaccines production, including in the context of COVID-19 and anti-microbial resistance (AMR); and (2) regional and national IP policies.