ISSUE 2/2006

If we advocate for trade as a force for development, can we afford to ignore non-governmental organizations (NGOs)?The NGO protests at WTO meetings that everyone has seen on television are the tip of something bigger. NGOs are more involved in trade than they used to be. While their most visible image in trade is that of televised confrontation, in practice their role is more nuanced.Grass-roots NGOs build business skills, provide microcredit and target export markets. They've done this for years, but now that the impact of trade reaches everywhere, NGOs are becoming more conscious of their links to export markets. From environment and health to tourism and more, ITC has found itself partnering with NGOs in several of its field projects.

Coffee Kids gives coffee-growing communities a hand up, not a handout.Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work in the coffee sector. Some offer funds or sponsorship. Others implement programmes in the field. Some work only in the coffee sector, others don't.

What does "fair trade" mean? You won't find one single answer. Here we look at the market profile of fair trade - the players, controversies, benefits and drawbacks.Fair trade in international commerce has two distinct meanings. In trade negotiations, the term is used broadly to argue that subsidies and disguised barriers skew the global trade system against developing countries and commodity producers. Former World Bank chief economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, for example, argues for "fair trade for all" in the context of the latest WTO round of trade liberalization, the Doha Development Agenda.

Fair trade is one of the few development models that reaches marginalized (often indigenous) rural communities who rarely benefit from economic growth and who have little choice between subsistence farming or migration to the cities.

Non-governmental organizations can bring complementary skills, knowledge and commitment to trade development projects, particularly those helping poor communities.

© International Trade Centre, International Trade Forum - Issue 2/2006 Best Practice in Trade Intelligence in Latin America Meeting for experts of trade support institutions from Central and South America, held in Spanish. Co-organized by the Export and Investment Promotion Corporation of Ecuador (CORP

© International Trade Centre, International Trade Forum - Issue 2/2006 Get Connected: E-applications in the textile and clothing sector 166 pages . Study focusing on how developing country producers could successfully apply new e-applications and secure post-quota exports in light of the changing nat

With thousands of non-governmental organizations involved in trade development, putting together a list of key players is a difficult task. The table below is not exhaustive, but it is representative of the organizations that could be of interest to our readers. The list is intended to give an idea about the broad area of activities carried out by the NGOs, as well as to provide information on possible areas of collaboration.

Trade Forum analyses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of non-governmental organizations as trade development partners.NGOs come in many shapes and sizes. Some governments and international agencies are asking: how can their work complement our own?

ITC and the Peru-Ecuador Binational Fund for Peace and Development have been working together to develop exports by small firms in the countries' border region since May 2005. Jorge Voto Bernales, Director of the Binational Fund, and J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director of ITC, launched the second phase of the project in April 2006.

Focusing on development is the key to partnership between trade agencies and non-governmental organizations.