IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/3  
7 September 2022  
(22-6645) Page: 1/8 
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  6 July 2022 , 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  30 August 
2022. 
 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.  The UNCTAD  Secretariat, through its Intellectual Property Unit, located within the Division on 
Investment and Enterprise, implements a programme on advancing the development dimension of 
intellectual property (IP) rights. Taking into account international and region al initiatives, such as 
those by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and World Health Organization (WHO), 
and the mandate under the Georgetown Covenant of 2021, 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 
chang es brought by frontier technologies and to build productive capacity in vital sectors of 
developing countries’ economies, with a priority on the pharmaceutical and vaccine sectors. The 
work programme is partially funded by donor governments and institution s. 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); (2) regional and national po licies on intellectual property; and (3) the role of IP 
in technology and R&D partnerships.  
 
  
  IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/3  
- 2 - ANNEX1 
Name of programme or project  Addressing national investment incentives for local production of essential antibiotics  
Date and end date  1 July 2021 - 30 June 2022  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Ethiopia; Kenya; Uganda  
Brief description  Whereas globally there is an urgent need to develop new antibiotics to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), in 
many developing countries the use and availability of existing antibiotics needs equal attention in order to improve 
access to and stewardship of antibiotics. In this context, UNCTAD undertook national studies and organized 
webinars on investment incentives for local production of essential antibiotics in Uganda on 21 July 2021; Ethiopia 
on 8 September 2021 and Kenya on 13 October 2021. The webin ars were organized in collaboration with the 
government agencies responsible for health and industry with a view to validate the findings and 
recommendations of the national studies on local production of antibiotics and their alignment with the efforts to  
tackle AMR. The broad objective of the programme is to develop better incentive regimes for domestic 
pharmaceutical firms to maintain a diverse portfolio of essential antibiotics in the market in a manner supportive 
of the policies to control AMR. The tec hnical assistance programme for the three countries will continue until June 
2023 with the financial support from the United Nations Development Account and in partnership with WHO and 
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).  
Beneficiary ins titution or audience  Policy makers and regulatory agencies responsible for public health, national strategies to tackle AMR, investment 
and industry, representatives of pharmaceutical industry, civil society and academia.  
Technical cooperation provider(s ) UNCTAD  
Outputs or impact  1. Successful capacity building of national stakeholders on the need for the alignment of policies to combat 
AMR and to promote an incentive framework for local production of antibiotics;  
2. Identification of gaps and strength in the current national policies and incentives for pharmaceutical sector 
development; and  
3. Consensus building on key intervention areas to expand existing local productive capacity in essential 
antibiotics.  
Website for further information  https://unctad.org/project/investment -incentives -local-production -essential -antibiotics -east-africa  
Contact point for further infor mation  Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. E -mail: 
ermias.biadgleng@un.org  
 
 
1 In English only .  
  IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/3  
- 3 - Name of programme or project  Addressing investment incentives for production and supply of essential antibiotics at regional level 
(East African Community)  
Date and end date  1 July 2021 - 31 July 2022  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Burundi; Kenya; Rwanda; South Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda  
Brief description  In addition to its work at national level, UNCTAD is supporting the East African Community (EAC) to build regional 
level cooperation for the production and supply of antibiotics. In this context, UNCTAD undertook a study for 
regional cooperatio n; organized a series of national consultative meetings (virtually or in hybrid) in each of the 
EAC partner states from 26 July to 6 August 2021; and held a regional validation workshop during the 2nd 
Regional meeting of the Taskforce on Procurement of Pha rmaceutical Products of EAC on 10 November 2021. For 
the regional work programme in 2021 and 2022, UNCTAD partnered with the East African regional support 
programme of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in order to facilitate the  national 
consultative meetings and the regional workshop. The technical assistance programme for EAC will continue until 
June 2023 with the financial support from the United Nations Development Account and in partnership with EAC 
Secretariat, UNECA and WH O.  
Beneficiary institution or audience  Representatives of health, industry and investment policy makers and regulators of EAC partner states and focal 
points for regional cooperation.  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD  
Outputs or impact  1. Impro ved understanding of policies to tackle AMR and incentives for production of antibiotics;  
2. Consensus building on the need for reginal cooperation, including information exchange on supply of 
antibiotics; and  
3. A regional decision for the (i) substantiv e development and implementation of a regional policy framework 
to promote investment into antibiotics production; (ii) operationalizing information exchange among partner 
states on antibiotics that experience shortage for potential cooperation on pooled p rocurement; and (iii) the 
development regional cooperation on AMR.  
Website for further information  https://unctad.org/project/investment -incentives -local-production -essential -antibiotics -east-africa  
Contact point for further inf ormation  Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. E -mail: 
ermias.biadgleng@un.org  
  
  IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/3  
- 4 - Name of programme or project  Pandemic preparedness beyond COVID -19: Investing in vaccines production and supply for LMICs  
Date and end date  21 October 2021 - 21 October 2021  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Albania; Algeria; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Kingdom of Bahrain; 
Barbados; Belarus; Belize; Plurinational State of Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei 
Darussalam; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Chile; China; Colombia; Congo; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Curaçao; 
Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eswatini; Fiji; Gabon; Georgia; 
Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Israel; 
Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Republic of Korea; the State of Kuwait; Kyrgyz Republic; Lebanese 
Republic; Libya; Macao, China; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritius; Mexico; Republic of Moldova; Mongolia; 
Montenegro; Morocco; Namibia; Nicaragua ; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Oman; Pakistan; Panama; Papua New 
Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Qatar; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent 
and the Grenadines; Samoa; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Seychelles; Singapor e; South Africa; Sri Lanka; 
Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Chinese Taipei  Tajikistan; Thailand; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; 
Türkiye; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Bolivarian Republic of 
Venezuela; Viet  Nam; Zimbabwe  
Brief description  UNCTAD organized a webinar on investing in vaccines production capacity in low - and middle -income countries 
(LMICs) in partnership with WHO as part of the 7th World Investment Forum, 2021. The objective of the webinar 
was to take stock of the existing international partnerships and initiatives, including the gaps and the means for 
further cooperation to building vaccines production capacity in LMICs. During the webinar, key global and strategic 
players came together to disc uss the progress so far and exchange views on the way forward.    
Beneficiary institution or audience  Development partners, regional organizations, national governments, private sector and civil society.  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD  and WHO. The panellists include d representatives of European Commission, Africa CDC, Coalition for 
Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI), African Development 
Bank (AfDB), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), GIZ, and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 
(UNECA).  
Outputs or impact  Panellists reviewed the progress so far under the various initiatives, including that of the COVAX Manufacturing 
Task Force, the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness 
Innovations (CEPI), the European Union, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 
(BMGF), German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), among others. They have ide ntified the successes 
of the global initiatives, including the mobilization of resources, collection of data on existing productive capacity, 
establishment of the mRNA hub in South Africa and various investment initiatives for vaccines production. Many 
of the panellists expressed that a viable international cooperation is taking shape. There are, however, important 
areas that require additional global effort, including market shaping, strengthening regulatory capacity and 
partnerships to promote development  of products and new vaccine technologies.  
Website for further information  https://worldinvestmentforum.unctad.org/session/pandemic -prepared ness-beyond -covid-19/ 
Contact point for further information  Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. E -mail: 
ermias.biadgleng@un.org  
  
  IP/C/R/TC/UNCTAD/3  
- 5 - Name of programme or project  Advisory services on technology transfer and intellectual property enablement for vaccines 
manufacturing  
Date and end date  1 July 2021 - 31 May 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; Zi mbabwe  
Brief description  UNCTAD participated as an expert in the technology and intellectual property workstream of the Partnerships for 
African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) from July 2021 to April 2022. UNCTAD provided technical advice on 
bottlenecks and  solutions for technology transfer, modalities and experience for successful technology transfer 
and cooperation on IP rights to build vaccines manufacturing capacity.  
Beneficiary institution or audience  Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention ( Africa CDC) and African Union  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD and other development partners  
Outputs or impact  UNCTAD's  work contributed to the development of the Africa CDC's Framework for Action (FFA) under the 
Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM).  
Website for further information  https://africacdc.org/download/partnerships -for-african -vaccine -manufacturing -pavm -framework -for-action/  
Contact point for f urther information  With respect to UNCTAD's work the contact person is Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual 
Property Unit, UNCTAD. He can be reached at ermias.biadgleng@un.org  
 
Name o f programme or project  Technical advice on regional cooperation for pharmaceutical sector development  
Date and end date  10 November 2021 - 10 November 2021  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Burundi; Kenya; Rwanda; South Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda  
Brief description  UNCTAD provided technical advice on regional cooperation for the development of pharmaceutical sector during 
the technical meeting of East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) general purpose committee on Pharmaceutical 
Bill that took plac e from 11 -13 November 2021. UNCTAD highlighted the pillars for regional cooperation, including, 
the removal of barriers to trade in pharmaceuticals and their intermediaries, free movement of skilled labour, 
movement of capital and service providers, region al exhaustion of IP rights, as well as regional approach to 
pharmaceutical registration, marketing approval and control of substandard products.   
Beneficiary institution or audience  Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) general purpose committee for consideration of the 
draft East African Community (EAC) Pharmaceutical Bill.  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD  
Outputs or impact  General awareness on the scope of regional cooperation and direct input to a regional legislati ve process to 
support pharmaceutical sector development.  
Website for further information   
Contact point for further information  Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. E -mail: 
ermias.biadgleng@un.org   
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- 6 -  
Name of programme or project  Capacity building and advisory services on regional cooperation on intellectual property rights  
Date and end date  1 July 2020 - 30 December 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 G ambia; 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; Sou th Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; 
Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe  
Brief description  UNCTAD’s  IP unit has been providing technical advice on reginal cooperation on IP rights in the context of the 
negotiation for IP rights Protocol under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). During this reporting 
period, UNCTAD provided training for IP rights negotiators on IP rights in general, the international system for 
the protection of IP rights and the potential approaches for regional cooperation during the 1st and 2nd meetings 
of the AfCFTA Committee on Intellectual Property Rights. UNCTAD made presentations and facilitated discussions 
among regional stakeholders during consultations organized by the AfCFTA Secretariat for Southern and Eastern 
Africa Region on 2 March 2022, Western and Central Africa Region on 3 March 2022 and Northern Africa Reg ion 
on 4 March 2022. The consultations were centred around identifying potential scope and the approach to a 
regional protocol on IP rights.   
Beneficiary institution or audience  AfCFTA negotiators, representatives of business associations, academia, civi l society organizations, African IP 
rights organizations and associations, individual entrepreneurs, and government institutions.  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD and AfCFTA Secretariat  
Outputs or impact  1. Successful collection of the views and  recommendations of regional stakeholders on the scope and the approach 
to a regional protocol on IP rights; and  
2. Development of modalities and preliminary list of issues for regional IP rights protocol.  
Website for further information   
Contact point for further information  Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. E -mail: 
ermias.biadgleng@un.org  
  
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- 7 - Name of programme or project  Intellectual property and publi c health: Case law database  
Date and end date  1 June 2020 - 31 July 2022  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Albania; Algeria; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Kingdom of Bahrain; 
Barbados; Belarus; Belize; Plurinational State of Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei 
Darussalam; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Chile; China; Colombia; Congo; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Curaçao; 
Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eswatini; Fiji; Gabon; Georgia; 
Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Israel; 
Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Republic of Korea; the State of Kuwait; Kyrgyz Republic; Lebanese 
Republic; Libya; Macao, China; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritius; Mexico; Republic of Moldova; Mongolia; 
Montenegro; Morocco; Namibia; Nicaragua ; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Oman; Pakistan; Panama; Papua New 
Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Qatar; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent 
and the Grenadines; Samoa; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Seychelles; Singapor e; South Africa; Sri Lanka; 
Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Chinese Taipei ; Tajikistan; Thailand; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; 
Türkiye; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Bolivarian Republic of 
Venezuela; Viet Nam; Zimbabwe  
Brief description  UNCTAD has developed a case law database consisting of a systematic collection of the summaries of notable 
judgments adopted by national or regional judicial organs of the members of the World Trade Organiza tion (WTO).  
During the reporting period, UNCTAD updated the database with additional summaries. The case law database 
continues to be used by independent researchers and technical assistance providers.  
Beneficiary institution or audience  Judicial organs, policy makers and researchers.  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD  
Outputs or impact  Increased opportunity for learning and information exchange among the judicial organs, policy makers and 
researchers of WTO member countries on IP rights in  the context of public health.  
Website for further information  https://unctad.org/ippcaselaw/  
Contact point for further information  Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual P roperty Unit, UNCTAD. E -mail: 
ermias.biadgleng@un.org  
  
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- 8 - Name of programme or project  Partnership for capacity building and technical assistance on IP rights and sustainable development  
Date and end date  1 July 2021 - 30 June 2022  
Beneficiary Member(s) or observer(s)  Albania; Algeria; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Kingdom of Bahrain; 
Barbados; Belarus; Belize; Plurinational State of Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei 
Darussalam; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Chile; China; Colombia; Congo; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Curaçao; 
Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eswatini; Fiji; Gabon; Georgia; 
Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Israel; 
Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Republic of Korea; the State of Kuwait; Kyrgyz Republic; Lebanese 
Republic; Libya; Macao, China; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritius; Mexico; Republic of Moldova; Mongolia; 
Montenegro; Morocco; Namibia; Nicaragua ; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Oman; Pakistan; Panama; Papua New 
Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Qatar; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent 
and the Grenadines; Samoa; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Seychelles; Singapor e; South Africa; Sri Lanka; 
Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Chinese Taipei ; Tajikistan; Thailand; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; 
Türkiye; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Bolivarian Republic of 
Venezuela; Vie t Nam; Zimbabwe  
Brief description  UNCTAD’s IP Unit collaborated with various organizations and development partners to provide capacity building 
and advisory services on IP rights, pharmaceutical sector development and access to medicines. These include, 
among several others, contributions to:  
1. During the session on local production of medicines at the joint UNFPA -UNICEF -WHO meeting, that took 
place virtually from 8 -10 March 2022;  
2. The virtual inter -agency pharmaceutical coordination group meeting hel d by the WHO on 16 December 
2021;  
3. Regional judges training for Africa, March 2022; and training for judges and competition authorities of 
Thailand held in March and May 2022 by the South Centre;  
4. WIPO’s coordination meeting with IGOs working in the a rea of building respect for IP, June 21, 2022; and  
5.    Technical assistance to Ghana on vaccines production implemented by GIZ -Ghana throughout the reporting 
period.  
Beneficiary institution or audience  Diverse group of stakeholders representing develop ment partners, private sector, domestic institutions of 
countries, and civil society.  
Technical cooperation provider(s)  UNCTAD in partnership with other organizations.  
Outputs or impact  Strengthening partnership for technical assistance, capacity bundling, advisory services and consensus building 
on IP rights, pharmaceuticals and access to medicines.  
Website for further information   
Contact point for further information  Ermias Tekeste Biadgleng, Legal Affairs Officer, Intellectual Property Unit, UNCTAD. E -mail: 
ermias.biadgleng@un.org  
 
 
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