IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/4  
 
29 September 2023  
(23-6560)  Page: 1/4 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects  of 
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English   
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCTAD)  
At its meeting of  14-15 June  2023, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
 
The present document reproduces the information which has been  received from the United Nations 
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)  by means of a communication dated  
17 September  2023. 
 
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INTRODUCTION  
1.  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 W orld Intellectual 
Property Organization (WIPO) , World Health Organization (WHO) , and the African Union, implements 
a work programme on advancing the development di mension of intellectual property (IP) rights as 
they relate to key economic sectors. The work programme is implemented by its Intellectual 
Property  Unit, located within the Division on Investment and Enterprise.  
2.  UNCTAD focuses on improving the effective p articipation 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 fun ded 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 resis tance (AMR); and (2) regional and national IP policies.  
 
 
 
  
  IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/4  
 
- 2 - ANNEX1 
Name of programme or project  Global event on enhancing the sustainability of investment for vaccine manufacturing in Africa  
Date and end date  27 June 2023 - 29 June 2023  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Algeria; Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Central Afric an Republic; 
Chad; Comoros; Congo; Côte d 'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; 
Eswatini; Ethiopia; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea -Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; 
Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; 
Sao Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; 
Tanzania; Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe  
Brief description  UNCTAD, the African Vaccine Manufacturers Initiative (AVMI) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and 
Prevention (Africa CDC) co -convened the event, with the financial support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für 
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ ) GmbH and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and 
Development (BMZ). 147 industry representatives from Africa and the rest of the world, technology and finance 
providers and development partners came together to exchange views on how to m ake vaccine manufacturing 
initiative in Africa sustainable; to match and create synergies between their respective offers and demands; 
and identify appropriate business models to move the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) 
forward.  
Bene ficiary institution or audience  Representatives of vaccine industry and other investors interested in investing for vaccine manufacturing in 
Africa, international finance providers, technology facilitators, regional organizations, and development 
partners.   
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)  
Outputs or impact  The Global event demonstrated various innovative and diverse initiatives of the industry and development 
partners for the reali zation of the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM). An industry statement 
was adopted at the end of the meeting. To seizure the opportunities, the event demonstrated the need to 
translate plans into action; to address market shaping mechani sms to ensure sustainability; accelerate the 
rolling out of investment finance and programmes for skills development; and increase the opportunity for 
business -to-business interactions.  
Website for further information  https://unctad.org/meeting/global -event -enhancing -sustainability -investment -vaccine -manufacturing -africa   
Contact point for further in formation  Ermias Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. ermias.biadgleng@un.org   
 
 
1 In English only .  
  IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/4  
 
- 3 - Name of programme or project  Regional policy framework for the promotion of antibiotics production and supply in the East African 
Community  
Date and end date  29 November 2022 - 30 November 2022  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Burundi; Kenya; Rwanda; Tanzania; Uganda  
Brief description  UNCTAD in collaboration with the EAC Secretariat organized a regional experts ' workshop on the development 
of draft regional policy framework for the promotion of antibiotics production and supply in the East African 
Community (EAC). The main o bjective s of the regional workshop  were (1)  for regional experts to provide input 
for a policy framework on promotion of production and supply of antibiotics with key stakeholders and  (2) 
enhanc ing regional cooperation for information exchange and pooled procurement of antibiotics.   
Beneficiary institution or audience  The participants included representatives of EAC partner states from the Ministry responsible for 
Industrialization (Focal person fo r Pharmaceuticals); Ministry of Health (Focal person responsible for 
pharmaceutical production policy); National Medicines Procurement Agency; National Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturers ' Association and development Partners (ReAct Africa - Action on Antibiotic R esistance, GARDP 
Africa - Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 
and World Health Organization)  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD  
Outputs or impact  The regional experts adopted two inst ruments : (1) Draft Policy Framework on Production and Supply of 
Antibiotics ; and (2) Regional cooperation mechanism for information exchange on supply of antibiotics. The two 
instruments were adopted by the 38th Extra Ordinary Sectoral Council on Trade, In dustry, Finance, and 
Investment (SCITIFI) on 1st April 2023 (EAC/ExSCTIFI 38/Decision 5 and EAC/ExSCTIFI 38/Decision 6). 
Following the adoption of the regional instruments, UNCTAD organized a series of capacity building and national 
consultation workshops in collaboration with EAC Secretariat in Rwanda (16 -17 May 2023), Burundi (18 -19 May 
2023), Tanzania (22 -23 May 2023), Uganda (19 -21 July 2023), South Sudan (24 July 2023) and Kenya (25 -27 
July 2023).  
Website for further information  https://www.eac.int/news -and-media/calendar -of-events/event/1093 -regional -experts%E2%80%99 -
workshop -on-the-development -of-draft-regional -policy -framework -for-the-promotion -of-antibiotics -
production -and-supply -in-the-eac  
Contact point for furt her information  Ermias Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. Ermias.biadgleng@un.org   
  
  IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/4  
 
- 4 - Name of programme or project  Training and technical advice on regional cooperation on intellectual property rights  
Date and end date  1 August 2022 - 30 November 2022  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Algeria; Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Central African Republic; 
Chad; Comoros; Congo; Côte d 'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; 
Eswatini; Ethiopia; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea -Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; 
Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; 
Sao Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; 
Tanzania; Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe  
Brief descrip tion UNCTAD provided advisory services on the best means to advance regional cooperation on IP rights in the 
context of the negotiation for Intellectual Property Protocol under the African Continental Free Trade Area 
(AfCFTA).  
Beneficiary institution or audience  The AfCFTA Secretariat and negotiators of the Intellectual Property Protocol of the African Continental Free 
Trade Area  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD  
Outputs or impact  AfCFTA  has adopted its regional Intellectual Property Protocol during the 4th Meeting of the Committee on 
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). UNCTAD 's input supported the elaboration of cooperation mechanism, policy 
coherence between IP rights and other policy d omains , with a focus on the promotion of pharmaceutical sector 
development and the interface between IP and regional trade.  
Website for further information   
Contact point for further information  Ermias Biadgleng , Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. Ermias.biadgleng@un.org   
 
 
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