For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. Please bear in mind that dates and times of WTO meetings are often changed, and that the WTO does not always announce the important informal meetings of the different bodies.
Coming up in the next two weeks
23-24 October, Mexico City, Mexico: GLOBAL FORUM ON TRADE. The OECD Trade Directorate is organising a Global Forum on Trade in partnership with the World Bank, and with the support of the Government of Mexico. This Forum would consider market access across various development dimensions including global (MFN) liberalisation, North-South trade and South-South trade, trade in services, and regional trade liberalisation - as a complement to multilateral liberalisation. For further information, contact Kaveri Bopiah, tel: (33 1) 45 24 17 90; e-mail: kaveri.bopiah@oecd.org.
24 October, Washington, D.C.: 2006 WORLD FOOD LAW SYMPOSIUM: CLIMATE CHANGE, FOOD SECURITY AND AFRICA. Co-sponsored by the World Food Law Institute at Howard University School of Law, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the American Society of International Law and others, this symposium will feature multidisciplinary discussions of climate change in Africa and possible positive responses linked to food security. For further information contact Professor Marsha Echols, tel: (1 202) 806 8039; email: mechols@law.howard.edu or worldfoodlaw@law.howard.edu.
25 October, Geneva, Switzerland: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES AND HEALTH-RELATED PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS - CLIMBING UP THE VALUE CHAIN. Organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the Stockholm Network. For further information contact Caroline Schwab; email: Caroline.Schwab@wipo.int; internet: http://listbox.wipo.int/wilma/sme-en/200609/msg00001.html.
25 & 27 October, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY - EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY. For further information, contact the WTO Information and Media Relations Division, Geneva; tel: (41 22) 739 5007; fax: (41 22) 739-5458; email: enquiries@wto.org.
25-27 October, Rome, Italy: WORLD CONGRESS ON COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT. Jointly organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Bank and The Communication Initiative, the focus of the Congress is to effectively promote the mainstreaming of communication into development policies and programmes and to promote strategic partnerships and alliances in this field. Congress will be structured around four broad thematic areas: Health, Governance and Empowerment, Sustainable Development, and Emerging Sectors and New Frontiers. Each of these areas will be divided into subtopics that delve into various aspects or dimensions of these challenges. For further information see internet: http://www.fao.org/sd/dim_kn1/kn1_060601_en.htm.
25-27 October, Freiburg, Germany: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN FORESTRY. Organised by Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg and partners, the international conference addresses these issues at the interdisciplinary level, bringing together experts in knowledge management not only in forestry. It offers new theoretical approaches and aims to transfer practical experiences from other disciplines of knowledge management to forestry. Within these discussions, also integrated aspects of knowledge management where technological solutions (e.g. web-based knowledge exchange) meet "communities of knowledge" will be addressed. For further information, contact Dr. Marc Hanewinkel, e-mail: Marc.Hanewinkel@forst.bwl.de.
26 October, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO WORKING PARTY ON THE ACCESSION OF VIET NAM. For further information, contact the WTO Information and Media Relations Division, Geneva; tel: (41 22) 739 5007; fax: (41 22) 739-5458; email: enquiries@wto.org.
26-27 October, Bucharest, Romania: PRIORITIES OF CHEMISTRY FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (PRIOCHEM). Organised by the Romanian National Research And Development Institute for Chemistry and Petrochemistry - Icechim. The topics of the Symposium are based on the research areas of the sixth framework programme of the European Union, focusing on national economic development and the integration of Romania into the European Union, Areas of focus include: life science, genomics and biotechnology for health; nanotechnologies and nano-science, knowledge-based multifunctional materials and new production processes and devices; sustainable development, global change and ecosystems. For further information, contact Dr. Ing. Emil Buzdugan, tel: (40 21) 3163071; fax: 3123493; e-mail: programe@icechim.ro.
30 October to 3 November, New Delhi, India: EIGHTEENTH MEETING OF THE PARTIES TO THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL. For more information, contact the Ozone Secretariat, tel: (254 20) 762 3851; fax: (254 20) 762 4691; e-mail: ozon...@unep.org; internet:http://ozone.unep.org/Meeting_Documents/mop/18mop/index.asp.
30 October to 4 November, Rome, Italy: COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY. The Committee will consider the current world food security situation, including trends and prospects. In addition, the implications of avian influenza for global and regional food security will be covered as a special issue. For further information, see http://www.fao.org/UNFAO/Bodies/cfs/cfs32/index_en.htm.
Other Upcoming
6-8 November, Prague, Czech Republic: SYMPOSIUM ON ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AND WASTE. The objective of the symposium is to share information and experience from different regions on the sise of illegal international trade of hazardous chemicals and wastes, the adverse effects of this on human health and the environment and to take stock of and evaluate existing measures to address illegal traffic. For further information, see http://www.chem.unep.ch/unepsaicm/default.html.