385. Responding to the mandate received from member States at the UNCTAD Ministerial Conference in Doha, as well as to inter-governmental requests under the WIPO Development Agenda, and the World Health Assembly's Resolution WHA 61.21 on a Global Strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property, the UNCTAD Secretariat, through its Intellectual Property Unit, implements a work programme on the development dimensions of IPRs. UNCTAD undertakes research and analysis on trade and development aspects of IPRs, responds to requests for technical assistance and advises on policy options on the interface between investment and intellectual property for a successful integration of developing countries into the world economy. I will provide you with a brief overview of UNCTAD's main areas of IP-related work in respect of technical assistance, research and policy analysis, and consensus-building.
386. First, in the area of technical assistance, UNCTAD conducts activities with developing countries in the integrated areas of investment, trade and intellectual property. These projects are on a request basis and are funded by donor governments and institutions. In the pursuit of a mandate from its Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial issues, UNCTAD, since 2006, has been implementing a programme on IPRs and local pharmaceutical production and supply capacity of essential medicines with the financial support of Germany and originally the United Kingdom. The overall objective of the programme is to assist developing countries and least developed countries to establish domestic IP regimes that facilitate increased access to affordable medicines and create local or regional pharmaceutical production and supply capacities in cooperation with investors.
387. Funded by the European Union, UNCTAD in cooperation with the World Health Organization as the lead agency, is examining coherence of policies in selected developing countries in respect of health, trade and industrial development. The overall objective of this exercise is to assist developing countries in building capacities to promote such coherence to ensure that local pharmaceutical production increases access to medicines. UNCTAD is conducting fact finding and subsequent capacity building activities in selected countries with the potential to serve the African market.
388. Since 2011 UNCTAD has been implementing a technical assistance programme on IP and biodiversity with the initial financial support from the Government of Germany. The programme focusses on the building of local capacities in developing countries to design and enforce domestic trade, customs and IP laws in line with access and benefit-sharing rules under the CBD, its Nagoya Protocol and the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
389. UNCTAD produces, upon request by a developing country or a least developing country advisory reports on the development dimensions of intellectual property, in short DDIP. The objective of a DDIP report is to provide well researched and reasoned advice on developing countries' and LDCs' policies and institutional framework for IPRs, particularly as it relates to important development objectives such as innovation, technology, investment, competition, knowledge and education, and health.
390. Developing countries specify the key development objectives they wish to examine. In addition, a DDIP report will take into consideration the bilateral, regional and international commitments the target countries have entered into and the flexibilities available to them. Based on this analysis, the reports incorporate medium to long-term recommendations on how governments and other stakeholders could make these frameworks more coherent and transparent, with a view to making IPRs contribute to a country's sustainable economic and human development goals and respond to emerging global opportunities.
391. The aim is to present an analysis and recommendation designed to promote innovation and technology transfer as well as a pro-competitive and transparent domestic IP system.
392. Finally, UNCTAD participates in capacity building workshops on IP and development issues organized by other providers of IP-related technical assistance. For instance, UNCTAD was invited by WIPO and WTO to contribute to the 2014 WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on IP for Government Officials. Second, in the area of research and policy analysis, UNCTAD in 2014 published its handbook on the interface between global access and benefit-sharing rules and intellectual property entitled "The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol Intellectual Property Implications". It is available on the UNCTAD website and was presented to the Twelfth Conference of the Parties to the CBD in the Republic of Korea earlier this month.
393. The Handbook provides an overview of the international framework on IP and access and benefit sharing. It also analyses in detail issues such as disclosure of source or origin and additional tools, positive protection of traditional knowledge, the use of distinctive signs and private contract law.
394. Last but not least, consensus building amongst stakeholders of IP is an important element of UNCTAD's work. It provides a forum through its inter-governmental machinery where governments, academia, civil society and the private sector can meet to exchange ideas. For example, UNCTAD and UNAIDS jointly organized an event investing in sustainable and universal access to medicines at the UNCTAD World Investment Forum in Geneva on 14 October of this year. More detailed information on UNCTAD's activities related to IP as well as a list of activities conducted during the period of October 2013 to October 2014 is included in this Council's meeting documentation.
