WT/COMTD/89  
 
2 December  2016 
(16-6633) Page: 1/117 
Committee on Trade and Development    
 
 WTO TRADE -RELATED TECHNICAL AS SISTANCE EXTERNAL EV ALUATION  
Final Report  
31 October  2016 
 
The Final Report on the WTO Trade -related Technical Assistance external evaluation has been 
prepared by Saana Consulting under its own responsibility. The Steering Com mittee of the 
external evaluation has approved its conformity with the terms of reference adopted for the 
external evaluation and with Saana's Inception Report.  
 
The Final Report is submitted to Members for their consideration.  
 
The Management Response to the external evaluation will soon be provided to Members in 
document WT/COMTD/90.  
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  Contents  
List of Annexes  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
List of boxes, figures and tables  ................................ ................................ ............................  3 
List of acronyms  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 6 
1   INTRODUCTION, BACKGR OUND AND STRUCTURE O F THE REPORT  ...........................  11 
2   OBJECTIVE, SCOPE AND  CONTEXT OF THE EVALU ATION  ................................ ...........  12 
3   UNDERS TANDING WTO'S TECHNI CAL ASSISTANCE OPERA TIONS AND 
PORTFOLIO  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  14 
4   EVALUATION METHODOLO GY, PROCESS AND LIMI TATIONS  ................................ ..... 17 
5   EVALUATION FINDINGS ON WTO TRTA AGAINST THE EVALUATION 
QUESTIONS  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  21 
5.1   Relevance  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 21 
5.2  Effectiveness ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 30 
5.3   Efficiency  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 43 
5.4   Sustainability  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 51 
5.5   Impact  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 53 
6   SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT OF THE DOHA DEVELOPM ENT AGENDA GLOBAL 
TRUST FUND  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  57 
6.1   Flexibility  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 57 
6.2   Fund effectiveness  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......58 
6.3   Financial trends  and controls  ................................ ................................ ........................ 60 
6.4   Conclusion  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................. 61 
7   CONCLUSIONS AND LESS ONS TO BE LEARNED  ................................ ..........................  61 
7.1   Relevance  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 61 
7.2   Effectiveness  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 62 
7.3   Efficiency  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 64 
7.4   Sustainability  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 65 
7.5   Impact  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 66 
8   RECOMMENDATIONS  ................................ ................................ ................................ . 66 
8.1   To WTO Members and Senior Man agement:  ................................ ................................ ...66 
8.2   To ITTC and other WTO Divisions  ................................ ................................ ................. 67 
Annex 1 Main Documentary Sources  ................................ ................................ ..................... 69 
Annex 2 Terms of Reference  ................................ ................................ ................................ 75 
Annex 3 Evaluatio n matrix  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..87 
Annex 4 Theories of Change  ................................ ................................ ................................ 94 
Annex 5 Technical Assistance Expenses by TA Plan Chapter (CHF)  ................................ .........  100 
Annex 6 Interviews and Surveys  ................................ ................................ ........................  102 
Annex 7 List of Interv iewees  ................................ ................................ .............................  103 
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  List of Annexes  
Annex 1 Main Documentary Sources  
Annex 2 Terms of Reference  
Annex 3 Evaluation Matrix  
Annex 4 Theories of Change  
Annex 5 Technical Assistance Expenses by TA Plan Chapter (CHF)  
Annex 6 Interviews a nd Surveys  
Annex 7 Lists of Interviewees  
 
List of boxes, figures and tables  
Box 1 Innovation: Progressive Learning Strategy  ................................ ................................ ...16 
Box 2 The process and sequence of designing the TA programme  ................................ ............ 24 
 
Figure 1 WTO technical assistance resources 2007 -15 (CHF  million)  ................................ ......... 13 
Figure 2 WTO technical assistance spending 2012 -15 ................................ ............................. 15 
Figure 3 Share of WTO TA activities by subject 2010 -15 ................................ ......................... 17 
Figure 4 Share of national and regional WTO TA activities by region 2010 -15 ............................ 17 
Figure 5 Survey ratings of involvement of national and non -WTO stakeholders  .......................... 25 
Figure 6 Share of training methods in TA activities  ................................ ................................ .27 
Figure 7 Number of activities (left panel) and participants (right panel)  ................................ ....30 
Figure 8 Assessment of WTO training by participants  ................................ .............................. 31 
Figure 9 Rate of women among face -to-face participants per region 2010 -15 ............................ 36 
Figure 10 Share of women among selected WTO TA programmes  ................................ ............ 37 
Figure 11 Cost per participant CHF (above) and per participant/day (below)  .............................. 44 
Figure 12 DDAGTF expenditure per year 2010 -15 (CHF)  ................................ ......................... 58 
Figure 13 Global Trust Fund resources on L -posts 2010 -15 (CHF)  ................................ ............ 60 
 
Table 1 Survey coverage  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....20 
Table 2 Survey responses: Share of respondents rating WTO TRTA higher than other TA 
provide rs ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 28 
Table 3 National seminars/workshops on accession in TA database  ................................ .......... 33 
Table 4 Analysis of gender equality and empowerment of women  ................................ ............ 42 
Table 5 ITTC staff resources in Capacity Building by activity 2013 -15 ................................ .......44 
Table 6 Survey responses: How beneficiary coun tries' needs for WTO TRTA have evolved in 
recent years  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 53 
Table 7 Survey Responses ................................ ................................ ................................ ...56 
Table 8 DDAGTF expenditure per main headin g 2010 -15 (CHF)  ................................ ............... 58 
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  List of acronyms  
 
AfT Aid-for-trade 
ATPC Advanced Trade Policy Course  
BTOR  Back-to-Office Report  
CRN Central Registry of Notifications  
CTD Committee on Trade and Development  
DDA Doha Development Age nda  
DDAGTF  Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund  
DFID UK Department for International Development  
EBRD  European Bank for Reconstruction & Development  
e-BTOR  Electronic Back -to-Office Report  
EIF Enhanced Integrated Framework  
ELSA European Law S tudents' Association  
EU European Union  
GATS  General Agreement on Trade in Services  
GTAD  Global Trade -related Technical Assistance Database  
IADB Inter-American Development Bank  
IDEP Institute for Economic Development and Planning  
IP Intellectual Prope rty 
IPPC International Plant Protection Convention  
IR Inception Report  
ITC International Trade Centre  
ITTC Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation  
LDC Least Developed Country  
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation  
MIP WTO Mission Internship Programm e (Re -named The French -
Irish Internship Programme)  
MoU Memorandum of Understanding  
MTS Multilateral Trading System  
NAMA  Non-agricultural market access  
NGOs  Non-governmental organisations  
NA Needs Assessments  
NTP The Netherlands Trainee Programme  
OIE World Organisation for Animal Health  
PEFs Participants' Evaluation Forms  
PLS Progressive Learning Strategy  
PTAs Preferential Trade Agreements  
RBM Results -based management  
RTPC Regional Trade Policy Course  
SC Steering Committee  
SDGs  Sustainable Dev elopment Goals  
SIDS Small Island States  
SMC Senior management committee or group (not formally 
constituted)  
SME Subject Matter Expert trainers  
SPS Sanitary and phytosanitary measures  
STDF  Standards and Trade Development Facility  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  TA Technical Assistan ce 
TAMC  TA Management Committee  
TAME  Technical Assistance Monitoring & Evaluation Unit  
TBT Technical Barriers to Trade  
TF Trade Facilitation  
TFA Trade Facilitation Agreement  
TFAF Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility  
TFNA Trade Facilitation Needs Assessments  
ToR Terms of Reference  
TPR Trade Policy Reviews  
TRAPCA  Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa  
TRIPS  Trade -Related Intellectual Property Rights  
TRTA Trade -Related Technical Assistance  
UNAIDS  United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS  
UNCTAD  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development  
UNEP  United Nations Environment Programme  
UNFCCC  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  
WCP WTO Chairs Programme  
WCO World Customs Organization  
WHO World Health Organization  
WIPO  World I ntellectual Property Organization  
WTO World Trade Organization  
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  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  
1. The objective of this Evaluation is to independently assess the functioning of all World Trade 
Organization (WTO) Trade -Related Technical Assistance (TRTA), analysing WTO TRTA delivery, 
best practices, and lessons learned, paying particular attention to progress towards the 
achievement of the targeted results outlined in the Technical Assistance (TA) biennial plans. The 
evaluation covers all WTO TRTA activities during the 2 010-2015 period, amounting to over 2 000 
TA activities involving some 80 000 participants and a total budget of some CHF 110 Million.  
2. The Evaluation has been "theory -based", tracking and testing the WTO TA Programme's 
"Theories of Change" 1 as the framework  for assessing the extent to which WTO technical 
assistance has produced or contributed to observed results. The methodology has centred on 
answering 22 core evaluation questions that were designed to test the relevance, effectiveness, 
efficiency, sustaina bility and impact of the Programme. The data -collection tools included a 
combination of desk -studies of extensive documentation, 11 surveys targeted to different groups 
of stakeholders, with 1 774 responses in all, and a total of 381 interviews with inform ed 
respondents coming from different perspectives, in addition to eight "ground -truthing" field 
missions to Benin, Botswana, Fiji, Iran, Jamaica, Laos, Morocco, and Paraguay - rigorously 
selected by the independent Team to be as representative as possible.  
3. The Evaluation finds that WTO TA activities for developing country members, mainly funded 
through a Global Trust Fund and other voluntary contributions, has been made increasingly 
systematic, coordinated and results -oriented through the TA Plan and its cu stom-built support 
system. The Evaluation finds convincing evidence in the 2010 -2015 period that most of the 
training components of the WTO "Plan" TA have been largely, and increasingly, effective in their 
intended results of contributing to the capacities  of developing country members to work with 
multilateral trade rules and negotiations.  
4. However, internally this coordinated "Plan" assistance has not yet fully been integrated into 
the wider culture and management practice of WTO, traditionally based on su pporting 
Member -driven negotiations, rules and dispute settlement. At the same time, informal and 
uncoordinated "technical assistance" activities by some Divisions persist in parallel, making the 
Organization's total effort less transparent, purposeful and  accountable. The implicit subsidiary and 
temporary status of "Plan" TA in WTO has been reflected in its funding, staffing and management 
arrangements, including limited senior management 2 engagement. In spite of these constraints, 
the Programme has made s ubstantial progress in its coherence, organisation, innovation and 
pedagogy and in managing for results.  
Relevance  
5. The Evaluation has found that the WTO TA training and internship programmes 
(representing some 80% of total TA expenditures) are highly relev ant and well -attuned to the 
professional needs, priorities and responsibilities of the individual beneficiaries and their national 
systems. The most important changes have been in the expansion and elaboration of e -learning 
over the period and the introduc tion of a Progressive Learning Strategy (PLS) especially since 
2013. The Evaluation identifies several important areas which need further improvement. These 
include: better trainer -training and trainer evaluation; additional staffing to support e -learning 
interaction (including across different time zones); more careful selection (by country authorities 
and WTO), placement and evaluation of training participants; ensuring that course offerings in 
languages other than English are sufficient to meet demand; g reater use of interactive and 
innovative training methods; and expanded effort to use and build self -sustaining training capacity 
in countries. The overall relevance of WTO TRTA activities beyond training and internships was far 
less clear.  
                                                
1 This sets out systematically how and why the programme's intended changes are expected to happen. 
See Annex 4.  
2 The Evaluation Team uses the term "senior management" to inc lude the Director General, his cabinet, 
Deputies and Directors – all of whom have important management responsibilities for WTO TA – bearing in 
mind that the Director of ITTC has specialised responsibilities in this area and that ultimate responsibility in  the 
Secretariat rests with the Director General.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  Effectiveness  
6. The Evaluation found compelling evidence that in the aggregate, WTO training and 
internships, targeted to Key result 1 in the TA Plan Framework, have been largely effective in the 
overall objective of contributing to the capacities of developing country mem bers to take 
advantage of multilateral trade rules and negotiations. As a specific WTO TA initiative, the 
preparatory support to Trade Facilitation needs assessments and negotiations played a material 
part in helping advance this key international priority . The contributions of TA to accession - Key 
result 2 – are harder to assess but the available evidence is that this support is appreciated and 
effective. On Key result 3, relating to information and awareness -raising, the evaluation findings 
are far less positive, as the Evaluation was not able to trace or measure significant evidence of 
effects on awareness -raising. Finally, on Key result 4, aimed at involving academic institutions, the 
conceptual expectations of how the scattered support will achieve str ategic impact are also 
unclear. The Evaluation found that gender equality and the empowerment of women did not 
emerge significantly within WTO TA over the period, other than with monitoring for reasonably 
balanced gender participation in the training itsel f. This is consistent with the silence on these 
issues to date within the broader WTO Agreements and trade negotiations.  
Efficiency  
7. There is clear evidence that WTO TA has taken a number of steps to use time and resources 
more effectively over the period, without significantly reducing its contribution to results. The 
evaluation finds that beneficiary countries and training participants, while largely unaware of these 
reform processes, are broadly satisfied with the evolving results. Internally to WTO, howe ver, 
these changes in combination with the ways that results -based -management systems have been 
introduced have generated significant concerns and even discontent within the Secretariat about 
bureaucratisation and loss of flexibility as well as instances o f severe cost -cutting. But the 
Evaluation Team's overall assessment is that the frictions encountered are focused around 
relatively specific and ultimately manageable issues.  
8. The Evaluation has also found that the way TA is governed and managed within the 
Organization reduces the potential efficiency of WTO TA. Some of these issues are inevitably linked 
to the wider vision, strategic directions, high level management and coordination of cross -cutting 
activities in the Organization as a whole. On a specific note, in spite of a number of efforts to 
rectify the situation, the current WTO Information Technology tools are not user -friendly, flexible 
and secure enough to meet the expectations of modern users. The WTO has made significant 
progress in initiating a s ystem of Results -Based Management to bring clearer direction and 
accountability to its TA activities, but implementation remains incomplete and this structured 
programme management approach is not yet well -integrated into a management culture 
traditionally  based on supporting Member driven negotiations, rules and dispute settlement.  
9. While earmarked extra -budgetary contributions have risen as a share of the total 
expenditure, most of them were still basically targeted to accepted priorities of WTO TRTA and d o 
not divert from meeting the substantive needs of beneficiaries. The Evaluation finds that the 
additional administrative costs incurred were still manageable, but increasingly difficult, even 
though it is clear that reliance on several sources has increas ed complexity and reduced 
transparency.  
Sustainability  
10. The Evaluation finds both direct evidence and plausible chains of contribution to the effect 
that WTO TA in the aggregate has produced sustainable benefits in beneficiary countries in terms 
of enhanced  capacity to engage in the multilateral trading system. There is no overall sign of 
across -the-board reductions in needs and demands for WTO TA, showing that WTO TRTA was 
neither a short to medium term transitional need for new Members nor that there are c redible 
alternative ways for the international community to help countries play their full part in the 
multilateral trading system (MTS). WTO has so far been able to accommodate falling TA resources, 
but if the main budgetary and extra -budgetary funding so urces are seriously weakened or made 
less cohesive, WTO's technical support capacity will no longer be sustainable.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  Impact  
11. The widespread impact of WTO TA on the human capacities of beneficiary countries is real 
and tangible, and the Evaluation found highl y plausible evidence that WTO TA has also contributed 
to capacities at institutional levels in trade policy -making, legislative compliance, 
multilateral/regional trade negotiations and implementation of international trade agreements. 
Drawing on its differ ent lines of evidence the Evaluation has been able to trace demonstrated 
results from the training of individuals (including Interns) and groups through to strengthened 
contributions and rising levels of responsibility in their work, to more effective inst itutions in the 
field, and finally to collecting an unexpectedly large volume of plausibly -linked, concrete examples 
of more effective participation in the system by the countries concerned. This body of evidence 
meets or exceeds the conditions for a reaso nable causal claim that the training interventions made 
substantial contributions to countries' more effective participation in the MTS.  
Recommendations  
12. A good number of consistent directions emerged from the different lines of evidence and 
specific sugges tions of committed stakeholders in a wide range of countries. Not all points and 
ideas can be included here, but the focus is on the most important directions that are assessed to 
be realisable within WTO's mandate and likely means. The Evaluation Team is aware that some 
action is already being taken on several of these recommendations. The Evaluation ends by 
formulating the following strategic and practical recommendations to WTO Members and Senior 
Management and to the Institute for Training and Technical  Cooperation (ITTC) and other WTO 
Divisions:  
To WTO Members and Senior Management:  
 
1. Use the review and response to this Evaluation as the first opportunity in a decade to 
consider and communicate the Organization's agreed commitment, vision and basic 
approach to technical assistance, taking account of the strong base established and 
remaining challenges identified.  
2. If justified by the results of this deliberation, re -affirm the crucial role and need for 
sufficiently substantial and reliable Regular Bu dget allocations as the contribution by 
all Members to maintaining the foundations of the TA programme and recognise 
voluntary support to a Global TA Trust Fund as the most essential supplementary 
funding for TA activities.  
3. Include a commitment to use W TO's TA activities wherever possible to strengthen 
sustainable training capacities within beneficiary countries and regions, e.g., by 
engaging more local trainers, academic centres, and past participants in WTO training. 
In consultation with delivery partn ers, the Secretariat should identify and share 
existing good practices and promising candidates for these roles.  
4. Use the reviews of Annual TA Reports and biennial Plans as more important strategic 
openings than in the past to take stock of progress and key issues in WTO's TA.  
5. Strengthen mechanisms at Senior Management level for strategic monitoring, 
direction and problem -solving in this area of shared responsibility across the 
Organization. It should be supported by a clearly -mandated inter -divisional  task force 
chaired by ITTC and charged with identifying cross -cutting problems and opportunities 
and proposing appropriate actions. This task force should begin with frank clarification 
and problem -solving around managing TA for results, streamlining proc edures 
wherever possible, and helping find agreed solutions to IT problems.  
6. Ensure that adequate administrative resources (financial and human) are made 
available to maintain and extend the investment to date in WTO's improving TA 
capacity. As the key o rganising and coordinating centre for TA, the longstanding 
structures and staffing of ITTC should be reviewed and if necessary revised to ensure 
that they can meet the needs of a transformed Programme.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  To ITTC and other WTO Divisions  
Participation in train ing 
7. Seek agreement and suggestions from beneficiary Members for direct focal point 
contacts in capitals to expedite and follow up essential and timely communications 
with all relevant stakeholders in country (e.g., on needs assessments, course 
nominatio ns) while keeping Geneva missions fully informed.  
8. Re-double efforts to produce the most user -friendly information materials possible on 
course offerings and take all available steps to ensure that they reach all the 
appropriate target users in good time  (i.e., not just core or focal point ministries).  
9. Consider and propose options for opening up at least some WTO training courses or 
topics (e.g., in e -learning) to wider audiences in all countries, perhaps on a fee -paying 
basis.  
10. In collaboration wit h Members, improve the selection process for intermediate and 
advanced courses to ensure the level of participants is more uniform.  
11. Continue to monitor and report on participation of women and men with a view to 
addressing remaining gender imbalances o f participation in WTO TA.  
12. Study and propose ways to share good practices and otherwise help Members grapple 
with informing and engaging private sector actors in WTO -related issues affecting 
them. One suggestion was made for a specifically designed cou rse for the private 
sector which the government could request as a national level activity.  
Technical Assistance instruments  
 
13. Reinforce the staff capacity to service the interactive requirements of the vital 
e-learning courses, including accessible ser vice across time -zones.  
14. Examine and report on the pros and cons  of discontinuing the "Advanced Trade Policy 
Course" (ATPC) in favour of expanded advanced offerings at the regional level, 
allowing for wider participation and deeper contextualisation. Al so consider the 
possibility of short executive courses suitable for the ministerial or permanent 
secretary levels.  
15. Investigate and report on the possibilities for developing new training options to 
follow -up on recommendations from Trade Policy Reviews  (TPR).  
16. Safeguard the credibility and usefulness of national and regional courses by ensuring 
sufficient advance consultation in countries so that "off -the-shelf" presentations are 
tailored to specific contexts, and by soliciting specific questions or pertinent issues of 
stakeholders prior to the training.  
17. In collaboration with the External Relations Division, examine and propose alternative 
approaches to reference centres to help Members provide information and outreach on 
WTO issues to key opinion -leaders in tune with current technologies.  
18. In light of the planned final evaluation of the WTO Chairs Programme, which should be 
an independent external evaluation, be prepared to explore and propose alternative 
approaches to building working and poli cy-oriented links with a wider range of 
academic centres, e.g., through involving them more systematically in helping deliver 
WTO courses wherever practicable.  
19. Take every opportunity to integrate issues of gender equality and the empowerment 
of women i nto TA programmes and training material in the context of emerging 
initiatives on social and poverty implications of trade, including the Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs).  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  20. Consider including workshops to explore issues of multilateral nature for wh ich 
Agreements are yet to be concluded, for example the Singapore issues.  
Pedagogical quality  
 
21. In consultation with Human Resources and delivering Divisions, ensure that a 
coherent system of training for trainers and trainer -evaluation is put in place and 
applied as needed.  
22. Continue work to apply the PLS and consider introducing pre -tests and examinations 
in all training courses, in addition to following up with a sample of trainees in 
appropriate courses after 6 -12 months to establish how they are using the skills 
gained.  
23. Regularly review and report on the availability of course -offerings in French, Spanish 
and other languages relative to the size of the pools of potential trainees.  
24. Share good TA practices (e.g. on Advanced Sanitary and Phyt osanitary (SPS) and new 
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) courses and thematic approaches) for possible 
inspiration and adaptation by others and ensure that innovation is promoted within 
the TA procedures and systems.  
25. Benchmark WTO courses (including e -learning) against offerings by other institutions 
with a view to improving the learning experience and increasing interaction and 
interest for course participants, e.g., possibly pilot courses blending e -learning and in 
situ participation. Ensure that rel evant training materials are available to participants 
in advance.  
Monitoring, evaluation and learning  
 
26. Strengthen practical and clearly understandable measures to track and improve 
results, calling on facilitation and training attuned to WTO's busines s model, work to 
get "buy -in" across the Organization for a clear and sensible logical framework and 
meaningful indicators to guide the Programme; spell out a practicable M&E plan, 
including manageable and useful monitoring and frequency and levels of eval uation 
coverage.  
27. Further strengthen financial reporting on actual expenditure against budget by 
instrument and result areas and at portfolio level across all funding sources.  
28. Monitor and follow -up on issues raised in the participant evaluation form s and 
back-to-office reports. Consider introducing a requirement for internal 
briefing/training of colleagues by training participants and interns, with country 
authorities taking responsibility to ensure that such sharing takes place.  
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  1  INTRODUCTION, BACK GROUND AND STRUCTURE  OF THE REPORT  
1.1.  This is the report of the external evaluation of the trade -related technical assistance provided 
between 2010 and 2015 by the WTO under its biennial Technical Assistance Plans.  
1.2.  Since 1995, the WTO has served as the world' s principal forum for negotiating multilateral 
agreements aimed at reducing obstacles to international trade and ensuring a level playing field 
for all, with the aim of contributing to economic growth and development. Without necessarily 
labelling or progr amming it as such, WTO and its predecessor have long provided technical 
assistance to Members and potential Members to help them prepare for Accession and then to 
exercise their rights and responsibilities under the Agreements. Since 2002, a larger volume of 
WTO TA activities for developing country members, mainly funded through a Global Trust Fund 
and other voluntary contributions, has become a much more prominent part of its work.  
1.3.  With the passage of ten years since the previous external review and the ev olving context of 
trade negotiations, the significant shifts in the demand for TA and how WTO has organised itself to 
respond to these needs, this external Evaluation provides a timely opportunity to assess the 
activities undertaken and the results they ha ve achieved.  
1.4.  The Evaluation Team reports to the Steering Committee (SC) for the Evaluation and 
ultimately to the Committee for Trade and Development. The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the 
Evaluation, available in Annex 2, outlines the broad objective and sc ope of work for the 
assignment. These were further defined and agreed upon in an Inception Report (IR), which was 
approved by the SC on 12  May 2016.3 The substantive work for the Evaluation was undertaken 
during the three and a half month period up to 31  August  2016.  
1.5.  The main users of the Evaluation are expected to be WTO management, beneficiary Member 
countries, contributing Members, and other interested groups and citizens. Efforts have been made 
to ensure that the Evaluation Report and process would be u seful and interesting to these different 
groups of stakeholders. With this usefulness in mind the Evaluation Team has produced a 
relatively short Final Report with a self -standing Executive Summary.  
1.6.  The structure of this report follows directly from the Ev aluation's objectives and the agreed 
methodology to carry it out:  
 Chapter 2 spells out the objective, scope and context of the evaluation;  
 Chapter 3 briefly outlines WTO's technical assistance operations and portfolio that are 
the subject of study;  
 Chapter  4 specifies the Evaluation methodology, process and limitations;  
 Chapter 5, the central part, sets out the Evaluation's findings and key supporting 
evidence. It is organised in five sections - around the accepted programme evaluation 
criteria of Relevance ; Effectiveness, Efficiency, Sustainability and Impact - with 
sub-sections under each, covering the 22 evaluation questions that provided the spine of 
the study, including the specified coverage of issues of gender equality and the 
empowerment of women;  
 Chapter 6 provides a requested specific assessment of the Doha Development Agenda 
Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) the most important funding source for the WTO TA 
Programme;  
 Final chapters 7 and 8 present Conclusions and lessons to be learned, and a set of 
strate gic and practical Recommendations, while key supporting materials are found in 
the annexes. A brief Executive Summary is also supplied.  
                                                
3 Accessible at http://www.saana.com/about -saana -main/project -micro -sites/wto -trta-evaluation/.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  2  OBJECTIVE, SCOPE AND  CONTEXT OF THE EVALU ATION  
2.1.  Objective : As stipulated in the ToR, the objective of the Evaluation is: to independently 
assess the functioning of all WTO TRTA, analyse WTO TRTA delivery, best practices, and lessons 
learned, paying particular attention to progress towards the achievement of the targeted results 
outlined in the TA biennial plans. A dedicated chapter on the DDAGTF will address the 
contributions that have been made to the targeted results through that major funding source.  
2.2.  Scope : The evaluation is expected to cover all WTO TRTA activities during the 2010 -2015 
period. The technical assistance cov ered by the biennial Plans h ave encompassed approximately 
2 000 "activities" coordinated through ITTC at the national, regional and global levels during the 
six calendar years in question. At the same time, the Evaluation work has highlighted the 
important  influence on the Organization of various other forms of technical support that WTO has 
always provided to its Members and potential Members, often without being labelled, programmed 
or tracked as "technical assistance". The relationships between these dif ferent strands of WTO 
technical support have been explored in the Evaluation, alongside the "particular attention" paid to 
those activities with targeted results under the biennial Plans.  
2.3.  WTO's "Plan" TRTA primarily entails four delivery modes (face -to-face training, e -learning, 
internship opportunities and academic partnerships), as well as targeted technical assistance for 
accession, trade facilitation and dispute settlement, in addition to support to WTO Reference 
Centres.  
2.4.  In terms of the financial resou rces channelled to "Plan" TRTA, the main source is the 
DDAGTF, which provided approximately two -thirds of funds during the evaluation period. Given 
this substantial share and focused interest from DDAGTF donors, the Evaluation report includes a 
particular focus on activities (and results) financed by the Fund in a dedicated section. While the 
DDAGTF (60 -70%) and the regular budget (20 -25%) are the key sources of funding for WTO 
TRTA, it is important to note the Evaluation also covers the following sources o f funding:  
 Netherlands Trainee Programme  
 WTO Chairs Programme  
 The French -Irish Internship 
Programme (formerly MIP)  
 WTO-China Least Developed Country 
(LDC) and Accessions Programme, 
including the China Internship 
Programme   Trade Facilitation Needs Assessme nts 
 Trade Facilitation Negotiating Group  
 Support for participation of LDCs in 
Ministerial Conferences  
 
2.5.  The ToR specified that the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) and Trade 
Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) were not to be covered withi n the scope of this evaluation.4 
The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for supporting trade development in LDC – a major 
partnership hosted and co -sponsored by WTO – was also outside the Evaluation's scope, having 
been separately evaluated in 2012 and 20 14. 
2.6.  Context: To situate its understanding and assessment of WTO TRTA, the Evaluation has 
outlined and kept in view important features in the current and emerging context for these 
activities, including overall trends in Aid -for-Trade (AfT) and trade policy  and negotiations.  
2.7.  In summary, WTO has had a formal technical assistance mandate, as well as an informal 
tradition of technical support to Members and potential members, since its establishment in 1995. 
                                                
4 The STDF was independently reviewed by Saana Consulting in 2013 and this mid -term review 
provided lessons on  its performance and recommendations for future direction, which will be borne in mind by 
the Team. The TFAF was launched in 2015 and is not yet fully operational. The evaluation has looked at the 
interaction  of WTO TRTA with the operations of STDF and the  planned work under TFAF, especially given the 
importance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement for developing member countries over the medium -term. 
Interestingly, of the 142 requests for national -level training in 2014, 25 % were for standards related topic s 
(SPS and TBT) and 10 % for trade facilitation, underlining the importance of these two sets of issues.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 13 - 
 
  The activity has grown over the period along with the  share of developing country and LDC 
membership as well as the launch of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) round in 2001. Growth 
was sustained through the subsequent global WTO -led AfT initiative beginning in 2005, putting 
greater focus of the internationa l community on issues related to trade and development.  
2.8.  Alongside its wide convening and leadership roles in the global AfT Initiative, WTO has 
provided its own substantial technical assistance activities, concentrated on its specialised 
functions and expe rtise in multilateral trade rules, negotiations and dispute settlement.5 It is worth 
noting that this specialisation, while possibly limiting potential growth of the activities, has 
maintained a distinctive space and "comparative advantages" for WTO among TRTA providers (See 
section 5.1.4 below). From its initial major growth in 2005 to a peak in 2009, financing for the 
Organization's TRTA decreased steadily over the 2010 -2015 period covered by this Evaluation 
(Figure 1). The regular budget input was gradua lly reduced until 2013, while the volume of 
voluntary contributions and the numbers of Members contributing have been progressively 
reduced. The Evaluation has explored explanations for these trends.  
Figure 1 WTO technical assistan ce resources 2007 -15 (CHF  million)  
 
 
2.9.  Several contextual factors, most notably trends in multilateral and regional trade negotiations 
in international aid and development agendas, and the spread of other trade capacity -development 
offerings have clearly ha d an influence on the supply, demand and nature of WTO TRTA over the 
period. While there is always a requirement from existing and new members for some measure of 
basic capacity building to participate in the multilateral trading system, and growing demand  for 
learning in more specialised areas, the major initial wave of demand is seen by many to have 
gradually abated over the Evaluation period6, although the Evaluation findings yield a more refined 
picture. But the period did see some parallel waning of gl obal focus, enthusiasm and consensus 
around the DDA as such. This likely reflects negotiations fatigue, the achievement of some key 
objectives - e.g., on agricultural export subsidies, rules of origin and trade in services waiver for 
LDCs, and tariff phase -out on IT products – but also the increased focus on regional and 
preferential trade agreements (PTAs). The launch of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in 
2015 signals a shift of focus by donors and institutions toward Trade Facilitation activities f rom 
more conventional trade policy capacity -building. After WTO's helpful catalytic contributions in the 
TFA Negotiating Group and TFA Needs Assessments, WTO's own TFAF will be a modest source of 
"funding of last resort".  
2.10.   Over the period the wider aid supp ly context has also been changing with budgetary 
pressures in donor countries (especially affecting aid to LDCs), new uses for aid, greater 
                                                
5 The international statistical totals of claimed 'AfT' spending and the modest component on 'trade policy 
and regulation' contain so many disparate ele ments that they do not allow for meaningful comparative 
assessments of relative volumes from different sources.  
6 As WTO TA activities (with the partial exception of 'national activities') are initiated through discussion 
with the WTO Secretariat rather th an simple responses to demands or applications from beneficiary countries, 
it is not possible to put hard numbers on trends in demand.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 14 - 
 
  earmarking of multilateral contributions7, new actors and resource flows challenging established 
donors, as well as the integration of the aid and sustainability agendas into a wider framework of 
the SDGs. All these pressures on the aid supply side have reinforced the insistence of most donors 
on seeing evidence of the results achieved by TRTA.  
2.11.   In this regard it is wort h noting here a finding of the Evaluation that may shed some light 
on recent funding trends. Alongside other groups of stakeholders, Members contributing 
extra-budgetary resources were surveyed to ascertain their initial perceptions on various aspects 
of the programmes. While there was a range of views among the nine contributors responding, on 
comparable questions the average perception was less positive on most questions than the 
assessments of participants on the basis of their experience with programmes . These results point 
not only to a certain intitial scepticism among contributors but also the importance of an 
independent Evaluation and continuous credible reporting to provide objective assessments as an 
input to decisions on funding and other issues.  
2.12.   Looking ahead, recent developments have sharply highlighted the uncertainties raised by 
spreading scepticism and resistance in some countries around trade agreements and rules, and 
even the benefits of trade itself. The global SDGs - in which the WTO is n ow mapping out its role - 
reflect the rising concern internationally to ensure more equality in the incidence of benefits and 
costs from trade. The evolution and political resolution of these pressures will clearly affect the 
future context for trade -related technical assistance from WTO and other sources. The Evaluation 
takes into account these pressures that will have a major influence on WTO's overall strategic 
directions and planning, including its technical assistance work.  
3  UNDERSTANDING WTO'S TECHNICA L ASSISTANCE OPERATI ONS AND PORTFOLIO  
3.1.  Because the Evaluation covers a six -year period, during which a number of significant 
changes have been introduced, the account given here represents the Evaluation Team's 
understanding of the programmes over the perio d as a whole, while noting the most important 
changes of direction along the way. In general, as seen in the Biennial Plans and Annual Reports8, 
the directions and operation have remained quite constant, but with efforts at more purposive 
management and ex plicit results since about midway through the period in 2013).9 
3.2.  The core mandate for the WTO "Plan" TRTA is "to enhance the human and institutional 
capacities to take advantage of the MTS, deal with the challenges emerging from it and enforce 
their rights and obligations".10 More specifically, the expected outcomes (Key results) of WTO 
TRTA, as outlined in the 2014 -15 biennial Plan are:  
 Outcome 1: Members implement the WTO Agreements and make full use of their rights;  
 Outcome 2: Acceding governments are part icipating in accession negotiations, in line 
with WTO accession processes and procedures;   
 Outcome 3: Members are accessing and using the WTO -related information enabling 
them to raise awareness of WTO matters with all their stakeholders;   
 Outcome 4: WTO -supported academic institutions are addressing trade policy and 
WTO-related topics and su bjects in their courses and research.   
                                                
7 Reaching a new high of 31 % in 2013. See 
http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing -sustainable -development/multilateral_aid_2015 _in_figures.pdf.  
8 Annual performance reports on technical assistance and training, and Biennial Plans, WTO, ITTC.  
9 For example, a "Practical Guide for Technical Assistance and Training" was produced in 2010 and (with 
some adjustments in 2013) can be take n as the formal guidance on how the programme was supposed to 
operate over the period. The Guide has been updated in 2016, which allows the Evaluation Team to track what 
formal changes have been introduced, presumably in light of experience during the peri od under examination.  
10 This basic mandate has been relatively constant all through the 2010 -15 period, while the results 
statements have evolved over time. A draft log -frame was introduced in the 2012 -13 biennial plan and later 
revised for the 2014 -15 and  2016-17 biennial plans (the latter of which is not covered by this evaluation). In 
the following we judge the 2014 -15 log -frame to be a reasonable representation of the WTO TRTA results 
framework over the evaluation period.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 15 - 
 
  3.3.  Some 70 % of the total cost of the 2014 -15 WTO TRTA Programme is counted as being 
directed to Outcome 1 and this is clearly the primary focus of the WTO TRTA. Previous biennial 
Plans did not break down resources along  these outcome areas, as the latter were based on a draft 
logical framework introduced only as part of the RBM initiative in 2013. Total TA spending for the 
2010-15 period was CHF 110.5 Million, financed by 80 % through voluntary contributions and 20 % 
by th e regular budget. General and specialised training represented almost two thirds of TA 
spending for the 2012 -15 period (Figure 2).11 
Figure 2 WTO technical assistance spending 2012 -15 
 
 
3.4.  In terms of the delivery mechanisms for capac ity building, there are four main modes, with a 
broad expectation that some important synergies can be created among them:  
3.5.  Face -to-face courses: including the in -depth Regional Trade Policy Courses (RTPCs) (8 
weeks), ATPCs (8 weeks), Advanced Thematic Cour ses (e.g. 3 week Sanitary and Phyto -Sanitary 
Standards course with 8 months of follow -up), one -day Geneva "focus" activities, as well as the 
150 to 200 shorter national level training sessions and workshops requested by Members on a 
yearly basis (typically  1-3 days). In addition, there are a number of other Geneva based activities 
such as the Geneva Weeks, the Introduction Course for LDCs and topic -specific symposia.  
3.6.  Web-based courses (e -learning): 66 courses in the three official WTO languages offered 
both with and without certification, as part of WTO outreach activities. In addition, the e -learning 
programme includes interactive activities such as daily tutoring, Chat Sessions (twice a week) and 
News Fora (launch of topics twice a week) and e -Lectures (we binars). Virtual classrooms and 
alumni platforms are used as supporting tools for blended learning. Several online courses (e.g. 
intro to WTO, Multilateral Trade Agreements, SPS, TBT, TRIPS, GATS, etc.) are regularly used as a 
prerequisite to register for further face -to-face courses. See Box 1 below.  
                                                
11 To ensure consistency over th e period total spending on TA is reported according to the chapters and 
main programmes of the TA Plans (which have retained the same structure over the 2010 -15 period) in Annex 
5, and not by Outcomes. The amounts have been calculated using cost data at ac tivity level provided by ITTC, 
since the WTO does provide a detailed break -down of TA costs in its official TA Annual Reports. Reliable 
break -downs of expenses were not produced for 2010 and 11.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 16 - 
 
  Box 1 Innovation: Progressive Learning Strategy  
Focusing on the core mechanisms, the training provided via face -to-face courses and the e -
learning platform, in the latter part of the Eval uation period the WTO adopted a Progressive 
Learning Strategy (PLS) approach with two “learning paths”, one for generalists (officials 
requiring broad knowledge) and another for specialists (officials requiring in -depth knowledge in a 
specific Agreement or  area).  
Each learning path is divided into three distinct levels: introductory, intermediate and advanced. 
The introductory course is largely the same, as a prerequisite for both paths, and is primarily 
delivered through the e -learning platform, though wi th a significant number of national level 
workshops. The intermediate level includes a wider selection of areas (see below), particularly for 
the specialist path, and is also delivered largely through the E -platform, but also through a range 
of face -to-face activities at regional and national levels and in Geneva. The ATPC, the most 
advanced training offered, was reformed in 2014 to focus on more practical case -study oriented 
approach and to move away from the traditional Agreement -by-Agreement exposition.  
 
3.7.  Internship opportunities : 274 internships funded since 2010 through the Netherlands 
Trainee Programme, the French -Irish Internship Programme, Regional Coordinator Internship and 
Accessions Internship pillar of the WTO China Programme.  
3.8.  Academic partnershi ps: the WTO Chair's Programme (currently in its second phase with a 
total of 21 Chairs supported), as well as ad -hoc support to academic institutions through the 
Academic Support Programme and through the PhD programme which has supported 75 doctoral 
stude nts since 2004. Support has also been provided to the European Law Students' Association 
(ELSA) Moot Court competition. Outreach to other targeted groups (e.g. media, parliamentarians) 
is also supported.  
3.9.  Beyond these four main modes of technical assistance  the WTO has several other channels.  
3.10.   Tailored technical assistance : The WTO has also provided technical assistance for 99 
developing country governments to assess the conformity of their regulations vis -à-vis the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement, as well as te chnical assistance on accession to WTO and to individual WTO 
agreements such as Government Procurement and in resolving legal disputes.  
3.11.   Reference Centres: The WTO has provided resources for over 150 "Reference Centres" to 
provide access to WTO -related mate rial for stakeholders across academia, the private sector and 
civil society.  
3.12.   The Evaluation Team has recognised that there are potential and intended synergies 
between the different modes and activities and has checked for evidence of these through the 
implementation phase. During the whole 2010 -15 period some 80 000 participants took part in 
some 2 100 TA activities. Most activities were of general nature, covering several or all WTO 
subjects (Figure 3). A significant share were global activities, with Afr ica receiving a third of 
national and regional activities (Figure 4).  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 17 - 
 
  Figure 3 Share of WTO TA activities by subject 2010 -15 
 
 
Figure 4 Share of national and regional WTO TA activities by region 2010 -15 
 
 
4  EVALUATION METHODOLO GY, PROCESS AND LIMI TATIONS  
4.1.  Inception stage and methodological design: The methodology designed and applied in this 
Evaluation was outlined in some technical detail in the guiding Inception Report (IR). That Report 
constitutes the fina l terms of reference and full "road -map" for the Evaluation, as agreed with the 
Evaluation Steering Committee. In view of the space limitations on this Report, the presentation 
here of the methodology followed has been reduced to a short summary treatment,  supplemented 
by Annex 3 outlining the Evidence base.  
4.2.  The Evaluation has been "theory -based", tracking and testing the programme's "Theory/ies 
of Change" – how WTO TA is intended to achieve its targeted results – as the framework for 
assessing the extent t o which WTO technical assistance has produced or influenced observed 
results. Thus an early step was to clarify and validate the operative theory/ies in WTO technical 
assistance, with some differences among different forms, levels and/ or fields of assista nce.12 
                                                
12 From 2013 on, these theories have been captured quite expli citly in the TA "Results Framework", but 
the Evaluation Team found the more implicit guidance that preceded this to have been sufficiently aligned to 
treat this as the framework for the whole period.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 18 - 
 
  4.3.  The evaluation approach has been a "realist" one focusing on the actual responses of 
intended beneficiaries to the resources or opportunities resulting from WTO assistance. It has 
relied on analysing "contributions" of WTO assistance to outcomes and impacts in different 
contexts13 rather than expecting a technical assistance intervention to be able to aim or claim 
direct or sole "attribution" of higher level results. This approach recognises that WTO's technical 
assistance interventions are only part o f a complex web of influences affecting broader outcomes, 
and especially longer -term impacts.  
4.4.  The methodology has centred on a structured, transparent and verifiable approach to 
answering the 22 core evaluation questions that were designed to test the rele vance, 
effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact of the programmes.14 These questions, together 
with indications on how they would be answered, were set out in an Evaluation Matrix (Annex 3). 
That Matrix served as the spine of the entire exercise , and of this report on the Evaluation results.  
4.5.  The Evaluation focused its main attention on results at the levels of short and medium -term 
effects ("outcomes") while pursuing as far as possible evidence of longer -term and higher -level 
effects or "impacts"  of the Programme. The Evaluation Team applied mixed methods to the 
analysis, including the maximum use of reliable quantitative data as well as systematic qualitative 
methods, as specified in the Evaluation Matrix.  
4.6.  To address the distinctive challenges of  evaluating capacity building through professional 
training activities, the Evaluation was structured to assess results at three levels: the individual, 
institutional and, to the extent possible, societal. This recognises that the bulk of WTO's TRTA work 
is training aimed at the individual level, but in order to be successful, the training and other 
activities need at least to enable change at institutional levels (e.g. the Ministry of Trade being 
better prepared and more engaged in trade negotiations, disp ute settlement, WTO 
agreement -related notifications, etc.). This is as far as the direct objectives of the WTO 
programme extend, although ultimately they are expected to contribute at a societal level (e.g., 
through the private sector being able to take ad vantage of increased trading opportunities).  
4.7.  Thus the Evaluation Team took WTO's technical assistance activities as a starting -point and 
aimed to trace the contribution that they have made to higher levels of capacity and participation 
in the MTS, which ca n be graphically tracked by moving to the right through the Theories of 
Changes illustrated in Annex 4. This tracing was guided by a well -recognised four -level model for 
evaluating professional training which assesses: i) Trainees' reaction to training; ii ) Their actual 
learning; iii) Effects on their behaviour in their work; and iv) Effects on results in their work.15 
4.8.  Taking account of existing practice in other broadly -comparable training programmes, the 
Evaluation also considered the design and quality of  the training provided by WTO TRTA. This 
included issues such as pedagogical and learning methods, learning atmosphere, training 
curricula/content, quality of trainers, selection of participants, and logistical support.16 This took 
account of the special ch allenges in the provision of adult/professional training relating to the 
needs to combine course participation, work and responsibilities for households and children.  
4.9.  While recognising that the Biennial WTO TA plans have not requested the ITTC to promote 
gender equality and the empowerment of women within the TA, but that these are key objectives 
for development cooperation, the terms of reference for the evaluation specified that it "should 
make a short assessment of the gender dimension of WTO TRTA. The e mphasis, however, should 
be to identify recommendations and best practices in this area for future TRTA delivery". The IR 
detailed the approach that would be adopted, building on the recognition that women and men are 
                                                
13 This is in line with the general insights set out in t he 2012 DFID Working Paper "Broadening the range 
of designs and methods for impact evaluations".  
14 The presentation of evidence in the Report is structured around these recognised criteria for 
programme evaluation.  
15 See Kirkpatrick, D. Evaluating Training  Programs . San Francisco: Berrett -Koehler Publishers, Inc. 
1994.  
16 With a view to the present and future operation of the programme, the Evaluation takes into account 
the WTO's Progressive Learning Strategy (PLS) which is intended 'to complement RBM in the  successful 
implementation of WTO's TRTA activities'. As with the RBM system itself, however, it must be recognised that 
these systems have been formally introduced relatively late in the period under evaluation. Therefore, as the 
evidence permits, the Eva luation Team has considered the approaches that preceded them and the extent to 
which the new systems can be seen to have introduced needed clarification, coherence and improvement, as 
well as the effects of their current operation and their future prospec ts. WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  affected differently by international trade itself, as well as in the conception and implementation of 
many technical assistance activities. Therefore, each of the facets of gender equality and women's 
empowerment specified in the terms of reference have been fully reflected in the Evaluation 
Questions and Matrix.  
4.10.   Data-collection stage: As planned, the data -collection tools included a combination of 
desk-studies of extensive documentary sources (Annexes 5 to 7), preliminary questionnaires, 11 
surveys targeted to different groups of stakeholders , and a total of 381 interviews with informed 
respondents coming from different perspectives. The general data -collection was deepened and 
cross-checked through eight "ground -truthing" field missions in countries rigorously selected by 
the Evaluation Team to be as representative as possible.17 The countries selected – all of which 
accepted and assisted the missions – were Benin, Botswana, Fiji, Iran, Jamaica, Laos, Morocco, 
and Paraguay.18 
4.11.   The Evaluation Team found the documentary sources provided by the WTO Secretariat to be 
relatively complete and to often display a refreshing candour and openness to constructive debate. 
The materials, and interviewees, were made readily accessible through responsive cooperation 
from WTO Secretariat staff, especially in the Technical Assistance Monitoring and Evaluation Unit 
(TAME) section of ITTC as the primary point of contact. Interviews and group meetings in Geneva 
in April and July with WTO staff, Member Country representatives and serving interns provided 
important inpu ts, although there was relatively limited availability of beneficiary country 
representatives.  
4.12.   For most of the targeted survey groups, the Evaluation Team judged that the response 
rates equalled or surpassed what could be expected for ex -post surveys. The responses were 
deemed to be sufficiently informative and in most cases representative to support the analysis, 
with the most important exception being the survey of beneficiary country governments (Table 1, 
see also Annex 6).19 Only 13 responses were receiv ed to the beneficiary member survey, which 
gives a response rate of only 9 %. Given the limited direct input from most of beneficiary 
governments, the Evaluation has had to rely somewhat more heavily on inputs from individuals 
surveyed (mostly past governme ntal participants in different training programmes) and on the 
more intensive sample assessment at country level though the eight field missions. Overall, the 
missions succeeded in complementing Geneva perspectives, deepening and cross -checking the 
analysi s, by meeting with a total number of 303 informed respondents across ministries most 
directly concerned, other official agencies, and academic and private sector institutions.  
                                                
17 The Inception Report specifies the selection process and criteria and outlines the type and volume of 
different categories of WTO TRTA in each country selected.  
18 Special senior consultations in the margins at UNCTAD XIV were also pursued, but were f ound to be 
impracticable.  
19 For the survey of training participants, the response rate is sufficient to yield statistically significant 
results (e.g. with 95 % confidence level and 5 % margin of error). However, the small population sizes of the 
other survey s mean that unrealistically high response rates would have been necessary to yield statistically 
significant results according to common standards. This means that the result of the smaller surveys (with the 
exception of the survey to WTO Divisions) should  be interpreted with caution and only in relation to other 
sources of evidence. In response to a question from the Steering Committee on whether there were variations 
in response rates from different regions, the Team went back to the raw survey data and t abulated by region 
the numbers of participants and interns surveyed and the respective response rates. The results showed that 
among former training participants there are regional variations (from a high of 9.94 % in Africa to a low of 
5.08% in Latin Ameri ca). While these variations are significant, the Team's assessment is that on samples this 
large, all the regions still yield reliable participant responses. Among the much smaller populations of 
Internship participants, the lowest response rates by region  are still exceptionally high (at 40 %) in CEECAC 
and the Middle East, while the average response rate is 49 % as it is for the African region, which accounted for 
56% of total participants. In response to another question, the break -down by year was analyse d in 
participants' ratings of the effectiveness of each set of courses in meeting their professional needs. The ratings 
look fairly consistent over time (around 3.6 out of 4.0 for the total). Notable are perhaps also the slightly 
falling ratings for e -learning and the increasing appreciation of RTPCs over time. The ratings for ATPCs are 
high, but variable, which may be due to the fact that the numbers of respondents on ATPCs are quite small. 
Overall, the temporal breakdown supports the Evaluation's findings  and conclusions.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  Table 1 Survey coverage  
Stakeholder 
group  Target group  No 
recipients  No 
responses  Response 
rate 
TA participants  Training Participants  20 777  1 479  7% 
 Internship Programme  224 109 49% 
 PhD 26 10 38% 
 WTO Chairs  23 14 61% 
 WTO Chairs - Advisory Board  24 12 50% 
WTO members  Beneficiary members  142 13 9% 
 TA contributing members  34 9 26% 
TA providers  Partner survey  23 11 48% 
 WTO Divisions  27 22 81% 
 Individual TA providers (consultants)  127 26 20% 
 Individual TA providers (WTO staff)  231 69 30% 
Total  21 658  1 774  8% 
 
4.13.   The findings generated on each que stion through all these different lines of evidence were 
checked, quality assured and then triangulated and synthesised. They were then summarised into 
a central "Compilation of key evidence", allowing for a systematic comparison of findings on each 
questi on across the main sources of document review (in particular TA Plans, TA Annual reports, 
BTOR, PEF and internal evaluations), Geneva interviews, survey results and country mission 
reports. The full compilation (and summary reports of Country missions) mus t remain as internal 
working tools for the Evaluation Team in order to protect the anonymity of informants, but the 
Team has been able to refer to them as necessary when further original evidence has been 
requested.  
4.14.   Analysis, synthesis and reporting stages : The Evaluation Team has applied a systematic 
approach to assessing the strength of the evidence presented and the clarity of the analysis, as 
well as triangulating evidence from different methods and sources.20 Question -by-question, 
findings from these di fferent lines of evidence was gathered by different Team members. To guard 
against possible bias and strengthen triangulation, each finding from each source was 
cross-checked by at least two Team members to meet the threshold for adequate supporting 
eviden ce, and assessed for both the quality and strength of the evidence presented and the clarity 
of the analysis. This allowed for calibrating findings to the strength of the evidence and ensuring 
their robustness.  
4.15.   After analysing assembled findings across rep orts and categorising responses, the results of 
all the internally -generated reports and supplementary materials were then synthesised in this 
policy -oriented synthesis report. Especially given a limited specified length, the report is designed 
to refer to  these supporting sources and be able to account for the evidence on which it is based, 
without becoming a heavy, densely footnoted document. Readers seeking further information on 
the basis for the Evaluation results can refer to the sources of key eviden ce, reproduced in 
Annexes 5 to 7, or raise more specific questions for reference by the Evaluation Team to the full 
Compilation if required.  
Limitations of the Evaluation  
4.16.   By the Evaluation Team's own assessment, it confronted relatively few major limitatio ns in 
carrying out this work, and none that would bring into question its basic validity and usefulness. 
Where limitations did arise, they are explicitly acknowledged and allowed for in the Report. The 
limitations actually encountered were as follows:  
 Major changes in the Programme's content and management took place in the second 
half of the Evaluation period, leaving less information about the earlier years and a 
limited time over which to assess the effects of the mid -stream changes. In particular, 
WTO T A has begun to be guided by an RBM approach since the biennial TA plan 
                                                
20 Detailed in the Inception Report.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 21 - 
 
  2012-13, but it is still a work in progress and provides very partial performance 
information. This is reflected as appropriate.  
 While response rates for the most of the Evaluation's su rveys, country missions and 
interview requests were good by comparative standards, the availability of beneficiary 
government representatives in Geneva and their survey responses were relatively 
limited, perhaps because of the time of year. However, with t hose responses that were 
received, the representativeness of the sample of eight countries for study missions and 
good results on the ground, as well as a wide and strong range of documentary data and 
survey responses from training participants and other s takeholders, there are good 
grounds for confidence that key perspectives have been taken into account.  
 The diversity of the TA portfolio, to a large degree involving short -term TA and training 
and some other small and fairly scattered components, makes it difficult to assess wider 
impacts of individual activities. It required instead looking at aggregated and 
compounded results. This was largely successful.  
 There were delays in missions to some of the sample countries because of scheduling 
difficulties at t heir end, but it was deemed preferable to maintain the original sample 
and intensify the effort to make up for the delays. Good cooperation and mission results 
proved that decision wise.  
 As agreed, the focus in the Evaluation has been on the functioning of  WTO TRTA, 
analysing delivery, best practices, and lessons learned, and paying particular attention 
to progress towards the achievement of the targeted results. Although the Evaluation 
took account of key management factors, it could not encompass a system atic and 
detailed study of WTO's internal management and operations affecting TA. The findings, 
conclusions and recommendations in this Report take account of that limitation.  
5  EVALUATION FINDINGS ON WTO TRTA AGAINST THE EVALUATION QUEST IONS  
5.1.  The findings se t out below are distilled from a combination of the main lines of the 
Evaluation's Compilation of key evidence, weighted for their strength and reliability in the light of 
the Evaluation Team's triangulation.  
5.1  Relevance  
5.1.1   Question 1.1 To what extent do the WT O TA biennial plans and activities respond 
to the needs and priorities of the beneficiaries?  
5.2.  All the evidence sources converge to affirm that, while the Plans themselves are not 
well-known, their component activities (mainly training) over the period have responded to a very 
large extent to the professional needs and responsibilities of the individual beneficiaries and their 
national systems in the trade policy field.  
5.3.  The near -unanimous positive survey ratings among training and internship participants on 
this question average out to a high score of 3.36 out of 4. Five of the Evaluation's eight country 
missions corroborated this finding, concluding that the programs had responded "very closely", 
with the other three country missions finding they had responde d "closely". This strong 
appreciation was linked to the fact that the WTO is seen as a major, authoritative, and often 
almost unique source of training in particular fields essential to their work. Beneficiaries are 
hungry and grateful for this training, b oth to carry out their duties and to enhance their 
professional standing and careers.  
5.4.  The positive survey affirmations of the relevance and usefulness of WTO training in particular 
were supported by  hundreds of assessments and added comments citing particu lar contributions 
to the professional competence, performance and career progression of individual participants. A 
few representative samples are given below from the country mission reports, and more are linked 
to higher -level contributions in responses t o subsequent questions.  
5.5.  All the interviewees affirmed that the activities in which they participated were very useful in 
their work and for some, had aided them in their professional development. To quote one WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  respondent from a Ministry of Trade in a benefi ciary country the "technical assistance has been 
worthwhile in given areas and negotiations and we are better off for it". Likewise all the trainees 
indicated that the training they attended was relevant to their individual and institutional work, 
often gi ving concrete examples such as the following selection:  
 'The WTO TRTA is very useful for us as it is divided into specific topics (e.g. trade in 
services, IPR, market access ...) which also corresponds to our internal organisational 
structure and set -up he re at the Ministry.´  
 ´The training provided is very much aligned towards our needs in terms of content, 
structure and accessibility. Especially the e -learning courses provide a certain degree of 
flexibility which is very important when you are taking the c ourse while working full -time 
at the Ministry´.  
 ´Trade in Services course was very useful, especially as we were in the process of 
developing a services policy. It was also useful in terms of the classification of the 
different services as well as norms an d regulations related to services´.  
 ´The regional courses provide you with an opportunity to interact with participants of 
other countries face to face which is not the same like participating in an online chat 
forum. The networking aspect is extremely imp ortant and I am still in touch with other 
participants´.  
 'Practically all staff had gone through some TA activities. If somebody had participated in 
some of the longer trainings (RTPC, ATPC or internship) it was indicated that she/he was 
considered more of  an expert.'  
5.6.  The Evaluation's documentary sources and Geneva interviews generally bear out this positive 
rating on the responsiveness of training, but they also confirm that to date it has been achieved 
mainly through informal and somewhat intuitive proces ses. As the answers to the next question 
(Section 5.1.2) show, with the significant exception of many of the requested national activities, 
most of the programme is broadly "demand -led" but still heavily dependent on steering from the 
Secretariat.  
5.7.  Against the background of this very positive overall reading on responsiveness to needs, 
there are some recurring themes found in constructive criticisms and suggestions for 
improvements. A key one is a need expressed across many countries in different regions for  more 
tailoring of the WTO institutional training offer to national and regional priorities and conditions. 
This is expressed mainly in terms of how key WTO Agreements and issues play out in key sectors, 
etc. and sometimes in looking for guidance on actual ly working through country positions or 
handling issues still un -negotiated or regional and preferential trade negotiations while awaiting 
further multilateral progress. The insistence on sticking to WTO's institutional mandate and 
neutrality is understood , but some suggest that greater use of regional expertise in the training 
could help to more responsively "ground" the learning in this way.  
5.8.  A second recurring issue relates to the definition of the audiences whose needs are being 
served by WTO training an d information. With the exception of some national training sessions 
(where private sector and civil society participants may take part) the practice and policy appears 
to be that WTO TA is restricted to officials of beneficiary Governments. In some cases it is also 
monopolised by or overly represents a single focal point ministry or agency. In the course of the 
Evaluation, numerous suggestions were received to the effect that there are great needs for 
awareness -raising and capacity -building around multilat eral trade agreements among other 
agencies, private sector actors, and even among new representatives and officials in countries 
other than Developing Country Members. It was suggested that appropriate e -learning and 
face-to-face courses might be opened up  to some of these groups on a fee -paying basis.  
5.9.  Meanwhile, however, any suggestions about possible extensions of the Programme have to 
be seen against the background of another set of concerns expressed about its existing 
responsiveness. A significant numb er of complaints were recorded from respondents about what 
was seen as tight rationing of training places to countries in some courses. Also related to overall 
resource and budgetary constraints, a separate concern was registered about lesser training WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  opportunities in French, Spanish (and other languages such as Arabic where essential) than in 
English. These issues are treated further in Section 5.2.3 below.  
5.10.   National activities are delivered on request, with increasing efforts to link to the TA plan 
objecti ves and tailor activities according to needs. The current national request form is more 
results -oriented than the 2010 version, but there is no explicit requirement to base the request on 
a needs assessment. The emphasis has thus been on formulating intend ed results from training 
rather than on needs directly. Regional training activities have been based on regional 
consultations, increasingly with a regional delivery partner engaged.  
5.11.   Assessing the responsiveness of WTO TRTA activities beyond training and i nternships is far 
more difficult. For whatever reasons, in spite of announced competitive selection processes, the 
existence and terms of support for WTO Reference Centres, Academic Chairs and Ph.D. research 
are in effect unknown to key actors in large num bers of beneficiary countries. As one indication, on 
first registering their existence during this Evaluation, several sample country authorities 
expressed a strong interest in learning more and potentially accessing them. Since they each have 
gone through  some process of application and competitive selection at some point, these activities 
are responsive in some sense, but since they are so small and scattered it is difficult to see how 
they offer a significant response at present to the overall needs amon g beneficiary countries. 
Other issues around these activities will be treated in the following sections, and the WTO Chairs 
programme, with its own Advisory Board, is scheduled for a final evaluation in 2017.  
5.12.   A clear question of continuing relevance does a rise in relation to the existing pattern of 
support for WTO Reference Centres, particularly in light of rapid technological developments 
around electronic access to documentation. As the WTO's ITTC has frankly documented in its own 
TA reports it is now dif ficult even to know which and how many of the Reference Centres 
supported over the years remain active and useful (see Section 5.2.1). Corroborating this concern, 
in the Evaluation's ground -truthing missions to eight sample countries, a total of five Refer ence 
Centres had been supported, two in one country. Four of them were clearly semi -active (1), 
inactive or completely moribund (3). In fairness, it should be noted that the other, relatively new 
Centre appeared to have enthusiastic support from a private sector institution, but almost all the 
rest were visibly irrelevant. Direct online computer access to WTO documentation by officials 
concerned is increasingly available and reliable in almost all countries, so that the benefits of a 
dedicated Centre and ra pidly-outdated computer equipment have been greatly diminished.  
5.1.2   Question 1.2 What is the involvement of national and other stakeholders in the 
design and implementation of training and TA activities?  
5.13.   In assembling the evidence to address this question, the  Evaluation Team recognised that 
issues around different involvement and roles in implementation would be more appropriately 
covered under Question 5.2.5, so the main focus here is on different stakeholders' involvement in 
design.  
5.14.   Focusing on the results a chieved, the Evaluation found that the relatively low rates of 
beneficiary participation in planning, combined with loose and Geneva -centric processes of needs 
assessment and prioritisation of the WTO training "offer" have not yet detracted in major ways 
from overall responsiveness. Nor are they the result of any deliberate "supply -push" from WTO 
headquarters, but more of a combination of factors. These include the complexity of obtaining and 
weighting preferences of beneficiary governments, the good grasp of key current and emerging 
issues on the part of the WTO Secretariat, and a modest degree of informal feedback from 
previous training offered. The large -scale modifications over the period – such as the expansion of 
e-learning, the introduction of a PLS, and more results -oriented management practices – have 
been appropriate Secretariat initiatives that were based on programme experience and duly 
approved. The Evaluation finds the amount of participation at the beneficiary government, senior 
management and governance levels somewhat low, considering the policy and financial stakes in 
these activities for the Organization and its Members. The design of the programme is a complex 
challenge involving multiple stages and consultations of Members and other stakeh olders, external 
and internal. The Evaluation Team's understanding of the steps in the basic process and sequence, 
and some of the findings around it, are outlined in Box 2.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  Box 2 The process and sequence of designing the TA programme  
 A questionnaire to members on priorities for the two years to come (in terms of substantive 
areas – not TA instruments). For the most recent plan, the Secretariat received a response from 
75 countries, representing approximately half of total potential be neficiaries . The depth and 
quality of the data assembled is considered relatively low. The relatively low response rate of 
beneficiary governments to the survey for this Evaluation may be consistent with a finding of 
limited interest and/or ability to part icipate in the design of the programme.  
 Regional consultations on  proposals for  regional activities. This runs a risk of creating quota 
competitions among regions.  
 Consultations with Members providing voluntary funding.  
 Some, but not systematic, feedback  from participant and trainer views expressed in the 
PEFs and Back-to-Office -Reports ( BTORs).  
 The French -Irish Internship Programme (formerly MIP)  and the Netherlands Trainee 
Programme  (NTP) interns also work on the TA needs  of their respective countries.  
 Request for contributions from Divisions through the Technical Assistance Task Force, with 
a varied response between more and less -engaged Divisions.  
 Delivery partners (regional institutions, etc.) and regional consultants are consulted as 
needed to formul ate the proposals. But some responses suggest that the partners do not always 
feel sufficiently engaged in implementation.  
 The draft TA Plan is circulated to the Committee for Trade and Development (CTD) for 
comment as a relatively minor agenda item, with limited attention and discussion. Over the 11 
CTD meetings during the Evaluation period there were a total of 36 interventions by countries and 
groups, roughly equally divided between beneficiary and non -beneficiary countries.  
As a final stage, a ll TA inv itations go through  the Geneva missions, a step which  is reported in 
many cases to result in delays and gaps as it relies on hard-pressed  missions to transfer 
information to capitals  and the focal point in capital in turn to organise the proper distributio n and 
enlistment of training candidates. This clearly does not always function smoothly, with numerous 
complaints registered during the surveys.  As an ultimate test of the interest and priority of 
proposed activities, of course, Members can also  “vote in with their feet ” – activities can be and 
have been changed or cancelled if too few suitable participants  apply.  
 
5.15.   As indicated, the WTO Secretariat makes considerable efforts to collect and reflect inputs 
from all stakeholders on the design of the Plan but  must be ready to finalise proposals by fixed 
deadlines. The main inputs of Members appear to be in the identification of overall priorities and 
themes, additional inputs on national activities when they request them, and their role in formal 
approval and monitoring programme progress. The Evaluation Team's country mission findings 
suggest that Members' involvement is highly variable depending on the level of interest and 
engagement by different country representatives. The survey results below show good le vels of 
satisfaction with their involvement by different groups of stakeholders.  
5.16.   In general, beneficiary authorities, training participants, trainers, contributor and WTO 
division staff rate their involvement as moderately good, with an average rating of a round 3 out of 
4 (Figure 5). Those 13 beneficiary representatives that responded rated their and other national 
stakeholders involvement more highly at 3.5 on average.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 25 - 
 
  Figure 5 Survey ratings of involvement of national and non -WTO stakeholders  
 
 
5.17.   While it is important to acknowledge this record of effort and the general levels of 
satisfaction among the main groups of stakeholders, a more ambitious vision of involvement put 
forward by one Divisional respondent would clearly raise the  bar much higher, if it were sufficiently 
shared (and resourced) across the Organization: "At a broader level, the overall coordination 
between stakeholders, partner institutions, WTO divisions and ITTC needs to be improved. It is 
necessary for training ne eds and objectives to be better identified by national stakeholders and 
delivery partner institutions, so that they have a greater role in the design and implementation of 
WTO TA activities as it relates to the substance and content of these activities. It  is not sufficient 
to mainly (or only) have their inputs in relation to the general logistics and organisation of TA 
activities. In this regard, at the Divisional level, some units are in the process of modifying their 
approach to the coordination of natio nal and regional activities, in order to better address the level 
of involvement of national stakeholders and delivery partner institutions in TA activities 
(e.g. SPS)."  
5.1.3   Question 1.3 Have WTO TA instruments been evolving in response to the changing 
context  of TRTA?  
5.18.   The Evaluation's different lines of evidence all indicate that the instruments in the WTO 
TRTA programme have changed significantly over the 2010 -2015, both to respond to the shifting 
policy priorities in the field and also to strengthen the peda gogical quality and management of 
training.  
5.19.   The Evaluation's survey results show that training participants agree strongly (with a mean 
score of 3.37 out of 4) that WTO TRTA has adapted and kept to date to the needs of beneficiaries 
over the past five year s. However, the TA trainers and WTO division staff have lower scores – 3.09 
and 3.01 respectively. TA contributing members' initial impressions, as in many other areas, were 
more sceptical at 2.75.  
5.20.   The Evaluation Team's eight missions to sample countries c onfirmed the judgement that 
change has been significant and responsive to evolving needs and experience, and beneficiaries 
testified to how key advances had affected their own participation and benefits. Some differences 
were apparent in the countries' ent husiasm for different instruments and subject matters, 
reflecting their different situations (See especially Section 5.2.4 for more detailed analysis). One 
continuing sub -theme was a concern to be better -equipped to engage with the private sector in 
unders tanding and working with the multilateral trading system.  
5.21.   On substance, the content of courses has been adjusted throughout the period - while 
maintaining and improving the essential foundational training - to reflect the growing importance 
of non -tariff b arriers to trade, "including trade facilitation issues, compliance with standards of WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  various types, and services regulations".21 Major innovations in substance and a participatory 
training process have been pioneered in the Advanced SPS course, inspiring th e launch of an 
adapted model in TBT in 2015. At the end of the period the substantive priority needs expressed 
by beneficiaries and the responsive offerings of WTO TA were summed up in the biennial TA Plan 
for 2016/17 in the following terms:  
"The main expe cted outputs mentioned were to deepen knowledge on WTO 
Agreements and negotiations and to gain expertise. The consultations showed that in 
their responses beneficiaries had assumed that the current institutional TA offer of the 
Secretariat (i.e. trade poli cy courses for generalists at each of the three PLS levels 
and e -Learning courses) would remain available during the next biennium. The 
priorities identified should consequently be interpreted as complementing this 
institutional offer. Nine topics out of t he 25 listed in the questionnaires represented 
70% of the replies: trade facilitation, services, SPS, TBT, Trade -Related Intellectual 
Property Rights (TRIPS), trade remedies, agriculture, general capacity building and 
NAMA. This is entirely consistent with  the pattern observed in the recent past".  
5.22.   In terms of pedagogical evolution, the Evaluation has found that substantial progress was 
achieved over the period on different fronts and in the face of resource constraints and 
coordination challenges in the de -centralised and negotiation -focussed culture of WTO.  
5.23.   In training methods, the most important changes have been in the expansion and 
elaboration of e -learning over the period and the introduction of a Progressive Learning Strategy, 
especially since 2013.  
5.24.   E-learning. E-learning has made possible a steady expansion22 of the numbers of people 
trained by WTO (+27 % in total between 2010 and 2015), and the Programme has succeeded in 
having the foundational E -learning courses accepted as pre -requisites for face -to-face courses. 
Rates of success (measured by exams), trainee satisfaction and progression are generally high. 
The E -learning offer has expanded to cover all main WTO areas of work (dispute settlement was 
added in 2015) and efforts have been made to increase interactivity. Section 5.2.4 below will 
assess the general effectiveness of this and other instruments, but it is important to record here 
that a substantial number of concerns have indicated that the staff support resources provided for 
E-Learning at WTO have so far failed to keep pace with its elevated importance and demands. The 
development and intensified use of more advanced e -Learning tools, such as is being pioneered in 
some areas of WTO work, could play a role in this respect.  
5.25.   Progressive Learning S trategy: The PLS was developed from 2010 -2013 on, with a view to 
bringing greater coherence and cumulative learning results to WTO training offerings across such a 
wide range of topics and levels of instruction. It was worked out in consultation with Divis ions, 
who are responsible for subject specific content, setting benchmarks for three levels of offerings: 
Level 1 – foundation; level 2 – comprehensive overview of subject, looking at legal texts; level 3 – 
building on that, using case studies, practical a pproach. The ITTC stated in 2015 in its own report 
that the PLS was still a "work in progress", largely because it has proved easier to apply to 
specialist rather than generalist courses, and therefore may ultimately depend on some other 
major choices and adjustments being made. There are also still challenges in establishing the right 
levels, content and expectations for some courses. Nonetheless the Evaluation finds that this 
pedagogical change has been largely successful in making training more structure d and targeting 
needs better, and is an example of WTO good practice compared to some other TA providers (See 
Section 1.4) This assessment is supported by the general positive ratings by course participants - 
many of whom have themselves progressed through  different levels (around half of survey 
respondents reported having participated in two WTO TA training or internships or more, but this 
was a voluntary question) - and specific appreciation of the PLS expressed during two country 
missions.  
5.26.   In addition, t he Evaluation has identified some areas where additional changes and efforts 
may increase the effectiveness of WTO TA instruments:  
5.27.   Helping build self -sustaining capacity -development : An issue that cuts across the range of 
WTO TA activities is the need to c ontribute to greater ongoing training capacity in developing 
                                                
21 As recognised by the WTO DG in his 2013 intervention at the CTD.  
22 Up to 2015 when a security breach caused a substantial break in service, since reportedly resolved.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  countries and regions. The direct engagement of WTO subject experts and exposure to how the 
Organization functions with its Members in Geneva are essential contributions, but the Evaluation 
has f ound a growing expectation that the WTO effort should result in rising knowledge and 
engagement in training by experts and institutions in developing countries and regions 
themselves. The programme includes a number of elements intended to advance this obj ective – 
including partnerships for delivery, academic support, and the use of regional and local experts in 
regional and national courses, but it is clear that they have not yet gained the more self -sustaining 
traction expected, particularly in some regio ns. 
5.28.   Training of trainers and trainer assessment: Overall, the available feedback is positive on 
the performance of trainers in WTO TA. This is true both in the Evaluation's independent surveys 
and interviews and in WTO's normal feedback systems, mainly PEF s (which are generally collected 
and compiled by the trainers themselves). Negative remarks are the exception to the rule, but 
reportedly a number of trainers repeatedly get negative feedback in PEFs but are still used 
because there is no systematic way of  acting on these evaluations for WTO staff. On the other 
hand, for consultants much higher levels of accountability for performance are enforced.  
5.29.   Regardless of the generally positive reading, the Evaluation finds that WTO falls short of 
good practice in no t having an effective system for both trainer -training and assessment of 
Subject Matter Expert (SME) trainers. This expectation simply recognises that not all SMEs are 
necessarily good at conveying their subject matter, especially to diverse groups, but th at 
appropriate training can often help. Over the 2010 -2015 period partial (voluntary) training options 
have been offered by an external consultant but irregularly used. WTO's trainers themselves point 
to the unmet need: training -for-trainers opportunities were rated by trainers and WTO Division 
staff respectively on average at 2.55 and 2.38 out of 4. Several were unaware of offerings, while 
others criticised their ad hoc and formalistic character. The Evaluation has noted that this need has 
apparently been repeatedly and inconclusively discussed over the period between ITTC, other 
Divisions, the TA Task Force and Human Resources. The 2015 Financial Performance Report (p. 
31) notes: "a revised programme for Technical Assistance facilitator was also establishe d in 2015. 
This modular programme addresses not just how to deliver training but also new instructional 
design methods geared at ensuring highly participative and engaging learning experiences for 
Members".  
5.30.   Interactive and innovative training methods : The last-mentioned point above also relates to 
a moderate but repeated critique, particularly in comparing WTO with some other TA providers, 
that the Organization's training could benefit from applying a greater share of their more 
innovative and interactive t echniques, building on its own moves in that direction to date. In one 
country's mission report, for example, "Most comments were related on how to enhance the actual 
learning experience (for example a mix of different formats such as virtual lectures, pre sentations, 
reading of course materials, video conferences/webinars and chat forums) and make it more 
interactive and less ´dry´". The level and trends of interactivity of training methods are monitored 
by ITTC. 40 % of training is still provided as lecture s (Figure 6).  
Figure 6 Share of training methods in TA activities  
 
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  5.1.4   Question 1.4 What are the key comparative advantages and complementarities of 
WTO TRTA in the bigger picture of all TRTA and the multilateral trading system in 
general?  
5.31.   The Evaluation has found that there is no programme of trade -related technical assistance 
closely comparable to that of WTO. It can offer unique advantages of knowledge and practical 
immersion in its specialised areas of multilateral negotiations an d rules. At the same time, the 
Evaluation Team has identified a good number of relevant comparisons, complementarities and 
good practices with many other TRTA providers. These help confirm WTO's particular added value 
and limitations, show potential for fu rther work in partnership, and offer lessons to improve WTO's 
own TA performance.  
5.32.   When asked for their comparisons of WTO's TRTA with that of other providers, the 
Evaluation's informants mentioned a total of nearly 40 organisations, programmes and bilatera l 
donor agencies with which they had direct experience. These differ widely in the auspices, volume, 
mission, subject focus, and geographical reach of their activities and have limited overlaps with 
WTO programmes as they have been designed to date. The mo st frequently mentioned 
"comparators" were the Inter -American Development Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade 
and Development (UNCTAD), the European Union (EU) and International Trade Centre (ITC). 
Informants also often referred to the UN African Inst itute for Economic Development and Planning 
(IDEP), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Trade Policy Training Centre 
in Africa (TRAPCA). A quarter of these frequently -mentioned providers and the other three dozen 
identified have wor ked in partnerships or collaboration with WTO over the period, either in a 
functional focus (for example with WHO, WIPO and others around SPS) or in supporting regional 
engagement in training (See also section 5.3.4 assessing partnerships). The ITC, as a j oint agency 
of the WTO and the UN, with its focus on supporting the internationalisation of small and 
medium -sized enterprises, has a parallel and complementary mission, as does the EIF, a 
multi-donor programme co -sponsored and hosted administratively by t he WTO, with its specific 
purpose of helping the LDCs tackle supply -side constraints to trade.  
5.33.   Against the background of this highly varied picture of TRTA, one of the Evaluation's country 
mission reports captured the assessment from that country, which su ccinctly reflects, a wide 
consensus from other country missions and a solid majority of other informants and participants 
with exposure to different programmes: "…other TA activities are complementary to WTO and they 
ought not to be compared since each org anisation has a different mandate. They noted that WTO 
was the most knowledgeable on WTO Agreements and the kind of TA they provide cannot be as 
competently provided by other organisations".  
5.34.   Because of its pivotal position in the MTS and the scale and exte nt of its activities, WTO was 
seen in different sample countries as: "the leader" or "the main source" or "the key partner" in 
providing trade -related training and TA activities. The Organization's global reach, breadth and 
depth of offer, especially for e -learning, and professionalism were often cited.  
5.35.   Looking at the Evaluation's survey responses (and bearing in mind possible influence from 
the focus on WTO), training participants generally rate WTO TRTA as better than training from 
other providers. Howeve r, results are more guarded when looking at the ratings of the TA trainers 
and WTO divisions and the views of TA contributors (Table 2).  
Table 2 Survey responses: Share of respondents rating WTO TRTA higher than other TA 
providers  
 Training 
participants  External 
trainers  WTO trainers  WTO 
Divisions  TA 
contributors  
Relevance  60% 50% 29% 24% 44% 
Effectiveness  57% 41% 29% 35% 22% 
Efficiency  55% 41% 29% 18% 11% 
Sustainability  55% 32% 29% 24% 22% 
Impact  64% 33% 22% 24% 33% 
 
More spec ific strengths, weaknesses and possible lessons from others:  
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  5.36.   While accepting the caution against carrying too far comparisons among dissimilar 
programmes, the Evaluation did take note of perceptions of strengths, weaknesses and useful 
potential lessons th at had been stimulated by this evaluation question.  
5.37.   The bulk of the evidence collected, though not quite all, would support the following 
assessment of strengths mainly assembled from country missions:  
i. WTO's "professional" focus in its mandate area, "lack of bias" and neutrality among 
Members are valued attributes, contrasted with some others;  
ii. In terms of content and course materials the WTO training offerings are the best;  
iii. Instructors very well trained and knowledgeable;  
iv. Courses (online as well as face -to-face) are very detailed and well structured;  
v. E-learning: allows you to complete the course at your own pace as long as you finish 
it within the overall allocated time frame (flexibility is very much valued);  
vi. Internships at WTO Secretariat or WTO member mis sions offer on -the-job learning of 
how the Organization really works.  
vii. Specific unique services, for example: Trade Facilitation Needs Assessments and 
inputs during the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreements negotiations; the use of 
information databases and too ls accumulated by the WTO Secretariat since 1995 
(through notifications from WTO members); explaining the significance of WTO 
dispute settlement cases for WTO jurisprudence; and explaining the substance, 
arguments, positions and movements in current negoti ations.  
5.38.   On the other hand, significant numbers of informants in the countries raised differing 
perceptions and perceived weaknesses of WTO TA pointing to possible lessons, drawing on their 
experience with other models:  
i. The focus on WTO's mandate for multil ateral system issues limits does not always 
give enough weight to the context of specific member states or allow for addressing 
practical issues with which countries are dealing such as regional or preferential 
trade agreements;  
ii. Similarly, because of its n eutral mandate, WTO does not advise member states of 
various options that they may take and why a given option may be better than 
another, e.g. on types of commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in 
Services (GATS);  
iii. WTO TA is much less region and country -focused than TRTA provided by some other 
donors that have a country and/or regional presence, and thus more access to local 
expertise, participation from outside officialdom and relevant case examples;  
iv. WTO training methodologies can be old -fashione d: less interactive, with too many 
participants, too much information, less Q&A and discussion, too much reliance on 
lecturing, a need for more video presentations, webinars (compared by respondents 
to WIPO, BID, UNCTAD and some World Bank methods);  
v. The sh eer numbers of WTO training places are tightly rationed;  
vi. Not always sufficient WTO offerings in Spanish, French and other languages;  
vii. E-learning support is sometimes strained and there are issues with availability and 
access, including across time zones;  
viii. One other organisation forges a special, continuing link with a key individual in each 
country charged with keeping up to date with developments and training WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  opportunities in good time to ensure appropriate candidacies, selections and 
follow -up. This has not  always been the case for WTO links with capitals.  
5.2  Effectiveness  
5.2.1   Question 2.1 Have the WTO TRTA objectives been achieved?  
5.39.   The answers here to this cross -cutting question are supplemented by the assessments of 
the relative effectiveness of different WTO TA instruments in Section 5.2.4, without duplicating all 
the supporting evidence. Some summative judgements on contributions to higher -level results are 
provided under Questions 5.1 -5.3 in the "Impact" Section.  
5.40.   There is sufficient evidence to show that planne d outputs of WTO TA have largely been 
delivered as planned, even without objective indicators for an important part of the portfolio. 
Attaining intended outcomes and higher level results depends on a range of external factors, so 
that WTO TA can only be ex pected to contribute to such objectives. Nevertheless, there is 
compelling evidence that in the aggregate, WTO TA has been largely effective in achieving the 
overall objective of contributing to the capacities of developing country members to take 
advantag e of multilateral trade rules and negotiations. The focus of this section is on assessing the 
achievement of the four Key intended results of WTO TRTA by compiling existing and new output 
and outcome data.  
5.41.   As noted earlier, there has been a sizeable reduct ion in TA activities since the peak in 2008, 
while the numbers of participants have increased due to the expansion of e -learning (Figure 7). 
Several factors make it difficult to assess the consequences of the shrinking TA volume on the 
achievement of progr amme objectives: several years have passed since the shift, the last review 
was in 2006; and there has not been a system in place over the period to track results 
methodically. Since 2011, levels of activity have stabilised, and there have been shifts in t he 
quality, efficiency and composition of the TA portfolio, in addition to changes in the demand for TA.  
Figure 7 Number of activities (left panel) and participants (right panel)  
 
Key result (outcome) 1: Government officials are i mplementing WTO Agreements and 
making full use of Members' rights  
 
5.42.   This results area represents by far the bulk of WTO TA and encompasses a wide variety of 
global, regional and national face -to-face training and capacity building activities, dispute 
settle ment support (Art. 27.2 of DSU), internships and e -learning. During the evaluation period 
there has been a notable reduction in national and regional activities, while participation in 
WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  e-learning has surged. Support to dispute settlement is a small compone nt, a stipulated service 
mandated by the WTO Agreement on Dispute Settlement.23 The results are difficult to assess and 
the Evaluation received very little feedback to its questions about this particular area of assistance.  
5.43.   To assess systematically the effe cts of training on the achievement of this Key Result, we 
need to trace the effects through the different levels of the Kirkpatrick learning model applied for 
this purpose. At level 1 of the learning model (reaction to training) overall there is strong evi dence 
that points to very high satisfaction with WTO training among beneficiaries. A compilation of the 
internal Participants' Evaluation Forms (PEFs) distributed at the end of individual activities gives 
ratings of between 4 and 4.5 on general appreciatio n and achievement of objectives (5 being the 
maximum on this scale), and participants testify to marked improvements in their knowledge 
thanks to the training.  
5.44.   For the only two programmes where participants are evaluated objectively through exams – 
e-learning and RTPCs - the success rate is high to very high (corresponding to Kirkpatrick's second 
level – learning). The success rate in e -learning was 60 % in 2014 and 2015, down from 80 % in 
2012, while it was close to 100 % in the seven RTPCs organised in both 2014 and 2015. For the 
other training activities, the objective assessment of outputs is hampered by the lack of objective 
indicators. The BTOR give a report from each training session. Since the level and quality of detail 
differ between reports it is dif ficult to extract general lessons from them. Nevertheless, the review 
of a sample of 76 BTORs by the Evaluation Team indicates that trainers are generally satisfied with 
activities, even though there are occasional complaints about participation. Some succ ess factors 
include: right background and mix of participants, interactivity during training, and participation of 
local experts in training delivery.  
5.45.   Across all the WTO's internship programmes, interviews with a majority (37) of the current 
interns pointe d to an extremely high satisfaction level. 32 interns rated their experience at 4 out of 
4, while 5 interns gave ratings between 3.5 -3.8 out of 4. The intern interviews and survey by the 
Evaluation Team indicate that the benefits include learning about WTO , exposure to work of 
missions and the WTO Secretariat, attending committee meetings, and networking. The perceived 
usefulness of training and internships to the participants' work is confirmed in the surveys. 
Satisfaction and relevance to work were given ratings above 3.3 out of 4 by both training 
participants and interns (with no major differences between women and men).  
5.46.   Higher up on the Kirkpatrick scale (levels 3: behaviour; and 4: results) interns consistently 
give higher (but not dramatically higher) scores than training participants, as should perhaps be 
expected given the much longer duration and deeper exposure of internships (Figure 8).  
Figure 8 Assessment of WTO training by participants  
 
 
5.47.   At these highest (results) levels  of the learning model, the training survey in particular also 
gives substantial qualitative evidence on meeting the key objective, as 326 respondents (out of 
739 who answered the question) gave "concrete" examples (i.e., named or implied negotiations, 
agreements or policies) where the WTO training made it possible for them to make a positive 
                                                
23 It is provided by two consultan ts at marginal cost and on an apparently confidential basis.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  contribution to their countries' trade policy -making, multilateral/regional trade negotiations or 
implementation of international trade agreements. Interviews with cur rent interns revealed several 
examples of former interns remaining in ministries or joining national missions and contributing 
directly to national trade policy. With one exception in a country with already well -developed 
capacity, the Evaluation Team's co untry missions show that staff in the main ministries are widely 
exposed to WTO TRTA, which has had a moderate to major contribution to the development of 
capacity to understand WTO agreements, formulate trade policy and conduct negotiations in the 
core mi nistry or ministries. In one country it was argued that "our own chief negotiator is a 
product of the RTPC and other intensive negotiations skills trainings".  
5.48.   These findings corroborate the responses of country officials made during a series of 
so-called I mpact Assessment Missions produced by the WTO Secretariat during the 2009 -11, 
which pointed to WTO TRTA contributing to increased involvement of beneficiaries in various WTO 
negotiations; better compliance with Members' WTO obligations; improved internal o rganisation 
and capabilities of the governments to deal with WTO matters. However, the country missions also 
clearly demonstrate that the impact of WTO TRTA is much less significant in peripheral ministries 
or among other national stakeholders.  
Trade Facil itation Needs Assessment and Participation  
 
5.49.   The TF needs assessments (TFNAs) played a material part in helping countries categorize 
their implementation time frame under the TFA. The TFNAs were generally one -week workshops 
which brought together 30 -50 nati onal stakeholders, including from the private sector, for dialogue 
on the TFA. This helped to strengthen nascent national trade facilitation committees and helped to 
bring attention from a wide variety of stakeholders. In many cases the more technical heav y lifting 
on the national implementation capacities appear to have been done separately by the World 
Bank, UNCTAD, and the World Customs Organization (WCO). Often the key decision -makers were 
not in the room for the workshops, which reduced their effective ness. The TF Negotiating Group 
fund has likely helped to build the political buy -in in capitals and get customs authorities on -board.  
Key result (outcome) 2: Acceding governments are participating in accession 
negotiations, in line with WTO accession proce sses and procedures  
 
5.50.   This Key Result area is focused on activities supporting the WTO accession process and 
includes training and workshops, round -tables on accession and accession internships (funded by 
the China Programme), and e -learning. It should be n oted that WTO accession countries benefit 
from general WTO TA activities as documented in the WTO Accessions Annual Report. 720 
participants from acceding governments participated in TA activities in 2015.  
5.51.   A challenge for the Evaluation is that a share of the accession TA is provided outside the TA 
Plan and not entered into the TA database. To illustrate, the Accessions Annual Report 2015 states 
that 22 Technical Assistance and Capacity -Building activities were held by the Accessions Division 
in 2015, but o nly 13 TA activities are listed in the TA database, excluding the e -learning course on 
accession. The Accessions Annual Report 2014 specifies that in addition to TA activities: "… the 
Secretariat also initiated and/or participated in video conferences; tel ephone conferences; and 
dedicated electronic exchanges, in the supply of accession -related technical assistance and the 
formation of institutional partnerships." (p. 7). Table 3 below shows the national 
seminars/workshops on accession in the countries that  acceded during the evaluation period (in 
addition to Iran) in the TA database. Support to accession also took place in the TA in other areas 
to these countries, so the full impact is difficult to assess.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  Table 3 National seminars/w orkshops on accession in TA database  
 2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  Accession date  
Montenegro        2012 
Samoa   1     2012 
Russia        2012 
Vanuatu  2 1     2012 
Laos   1    2013 
Tajikistan    2    2013 
Yemen  2      2014 
Seychelles  2   2 3 1 2015 
Kazakhstan    1   1 2015 
Liberia       1 2016 
Afghanistan       1 2016 
Iran     1 1 On-going  
 
5.52.   By its nature, there is greater potential to measure successful, if usually very gradual, 
outcomes from accession support than for general training and TA activit ies. Nevertheless one has 
to be cautious about causality, as stated in the WTO Accessions Annual Report 2015 "The pace of 
[…] accessions […] depend on the integrated submission of negotiating inputs for comprehensive 
review and for dynamic engagement of me mbers." (p. 29). In addition, many other donors are 
involved in supporting some accessions, as testified by the case studies included in a recent 
flagship publication on WTO Accession.  
5.53.   Among the Evaluation's eight mission countries, two have recent or curr ent experience. In 
Laos the accession process (completed in 2013) received support from some 20 bilateral and 
multilateral donors, with a relatively low profile reported for the WTO Secretariat. As an acceding 
country, Iran is in an earlier stage with all WTO activities relating to accession. But WTO -provided 
training is reported to have been the primary vehicle for providing training on WTO -related issues 
and the accession process in the country.  
5.54.   It is noteworthy that the context of the support to Governme nt Procurement is similar to 
that of TA for general WTO Accession. It is focused on accession to the Government Procurement 
Agreement, and is delivered through several TA modalities and sometimes informally. The 
Evaluation Team accessed detailed references  to discussion of TA in formal and informal meeting 
minutes. While this is not definite evidence of the effectiveness of WTO TA in the area of 
government procurement, the material illustrates well the appreciation of such activities among 
committee members . 
Key result (outcome) 3: Members are accessing and using WTO -related information 
enabling them to raise awareness of WTO matters with all their stakeholders.  
 
5.55.   This results area includes the WTO Reference Centres and outreach activities for 
parliamentarian s, journalists and civil society. Some 150 Reference Centres have been supported 
since the inception of this kind of support in 1997. 37 Reference Centres were established or 
rehabilitated during 2010 -15, including 17 in LDCs and an additional six in small -islands states 
(SIDS).  
5.56.   Over time, the WTO Secretariat has lost touch with many of the Reference Centres and 
efforts have been made to revitalise the programme. 57 Reference Centres are listed as active on 
the WTO Website. However, when a Secretariat surve y was sent out to the Reference Centres in 
2015, only 38 responses were received.24 At the Biennial Colloquium for Reference Centres, held 
at the WTO on 18 -20 January  2016, 25 Reference Centre managers attended.  
5.57.   More recently, the Evaluation's country missi ons revealed that four out of five Reference 
Centres in these eight countries were only semi -active (1), inactive or completely moribund (3). In 
                                                
24 The survey results reported on types of activities among these responding Centres and numbers of 
visitor received, mainly government employees.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  the other case a relatively new Centre appears to have enthusiastic support from a private sector 
institution, but almost all the rest were visibly irrelevant.  
5.58.   The Information and External Relations Division also organises around 6 -7 activities per 
year, classified as TA, that focus on awareness -raising among journalists, Parliamentarians and 
non-governmental organ isations (NGOs). Tracing, documenting and measuring the results of these 
activities, with the broad objective of raising awareness, is unavoidably challenging.25 The Team 
was shown some 25 articles produced by journalists that attended Geneva -based events a nd a 
regional event in Dakar. This evidence shows that these events contribute to increased media 
coverage of WTO issues, but the Team was not in a position to assess to what extent this in turn 
contributes to increased awareness of WTO matters among natio nal stakeholders.  
Key result (outcome) 4: WTO -supported academic institutions are applying trade policy 
and WTO -related topics and subjects in their courses and research.  
 
5.59.   This results area includes the WTO Chairs Programme and the Academic Support 
Program me. The first phase of the WTO Chairs Programme was reviewed in 2012 (by Advisory 
Board members). They found that the programme had been successful in stimulating academic 
activity, but less so in terms of quality of outputs and in linking up with decision  makers or the 
private sector. By 2013, the Advisory Board raised issues with some of the research that was too 
descriptive and not analytical enough. In 2014 Chairs were asked to contribute to a book 
"Connecting to Global Markets: Challenges and Opportuni ties", which according to the Advisory 
Board contributed to raising significantly the quality of the outputs of the chairs.  
5.60.   Results in 2015 for the seven new Chairs of the second phase include 45 working papers 
and 13 articles in peer -reviewed journals. Th e Chairs in Benin, South Africa and Turkey reportedly 
worked with the ministry dealing with trade issues and certain business groups. 1 044 students 
participated in courses organised by the Chairs in 2015, of which 800 students were in South 
Africa. Exclud ing South Africa, the other six Chairs trained a total of 244 students, i.e. 40 students 
each on average. The Chairs also designed or updated 26 new or existing courses and offered 8 
new or updated diploma programmes. 33 outreach events were organised gath ering 2 477 
participants, mainly from ministries dealing with trade policy formulation and implementation.  
5.61.   Quantitatively, these results broadly meet the targets established for the WTO Chairs 
programme in the WTO TA results framework. Challenges remain in  attributing these outputs to 
the programme given that support is provided to on -going activities, and also in assessing the 
quality of these outputs. In particular, the Evaluation Team's missions to two of the countries with 
WTO Chairs found that it is un clear what impact if any the WTO Chairs have had on trade 
policy -making. The WTO Chairs survey shows that Chairs themselves value highly the three core 
pillars of the Chairs Programme (outreach, research, curriculum development), but that the most 
highly v alued component is the use of the WTO brand. No separate assessment has been done of 
the effectiveness of the academic outreach programme.  
5.62.   The 10 WTO -supported PhDs who responded to the survey reported a high general 
satisfaction with their experience (3.4 4 out of 4), but lower scores for contribution to career (2.67 
out of 4) and contribution to national capacities in trade negotiations and policy (2.44 out of 4). 
There is no systematic career tracking of supported PhDs, but the Evaluation Team heard sever al 
examples of several supported PhDs continuing their careers in trade policy (e.g.  World Bank, 
London School of Economics, and various universities, including as one WTO Chair).  
5.2.2   Question 2.2 What role have external factors played in advancing or impeding  the 
objectives?  
5.63.   A number of external factors have influenced WTO TA achievements in the Key Result areas 
during the period, both by advancing and impeding its objectives. The main external "shock" 
during the period was initiated by the fall in TA resource s that started in 2010 and was at least 
temporarily stemmed in 2015. The fall in TA resources was almost certainly linked with lagging 
progress in the DDA, whch reduced donor interest in certain types of AfT. This was reflected in a 
decline in annual TA ex penditures from around 25 Million CHF to around 15 Million CHF. Inevitably, 
                                                
25 For the future this would suggest that if such activities are to be continued they should build -in some 
reasonable measures to trace results, e.g., at a minimum, participants' immediate assessments supplemented 
by ex -post assessments/surveys if this can be done at reasonable cost.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 35 - 
 
  this had implications for the volume of TA activities, in particular at national and regional levels. At 
the same time, there are strong indications that the pressure on volume tri ggered or supported 
several reforms to improve the quality of the TA being provided. These included the 
implementation of RBM and PLS, a move away from one -off and short -term national and regional 
activities, rationalisation of instruments such as the ATPC  and RTPC, general cost -savings, more 
active partnerships and, last but not least, the development of e -learning. A more short -term 
pressure, resulting from the tendency of donors to contribute resources at the end of the year, 
was manageable through carry -overs between years through this period.  
5.64.   In terms of sheer capacity to deliver TA, the most serious constraint has not resulted from 
the fall in voluntary contributions, but the budgetary and staffing ceilings imposed on the WTO 
Secretariat, in conjunctio n with the increased use of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism that has 
fuelled a transfer of internal resources and staff to support this function.  
5.65.   On the more positive side, technological developments have made it possible to expand 
e-learning and interact ive learning methods, in addition to potentially streamlining TA work 
streams. At the same time IT systems are still causing practical problems with TA management 
and are vulnerable to intrusion, as evidenced by the shut -down of WTO e -learning last year. T here 
are signs that WTO has not invested sufficiently in IT systems related to TA to keep them up to 
date and meet the expectations of users, but also indications that remedial action may be 
underway.  
5.2.3   Question 2.3 Are the intended beneficiaries participati ng in WTO TRTA activities? 
Is there a reasonable gender balance in participation?  
5.66.   The evaluation finds evidence that, to a great extent, the intended groups of beneficiaries 
are participating in WTO TA, and that changes over the period such as e -learning, the PLS and 
better definition of the objectives of activities have improved targeting. At the same time, 
challenges still remain in assuring the appropriate participation from countries, especially from 
beyond core ministries. In absolute numbers, more men  than women still benefit from most 
programmes.  
5.67.   The introduction of e -learning pre -requisites for participation in face -to-face courses has 
been greatly appreciated, even though it is not always applied, as shown in an internal RTPC 
evaluation from 2014. M eanwhile the internal evaluation from 2014 on the ATPC reports more 
general problems in upholding the selection criteria and securing the right candidates for this 
coveted course in Geneva. In national activities, national authorities are responsible for s election, 
which at times can lead to very large attendance surpassing 100 participants, which is unlikely to 
be effective. The ITTC is aware of this issue and has an internal recommendation to limit the 
number of participants to 30 (compared to average of 29 participants in regional activities and 37 
in national activities in 2015).  
5.68.   A concern that cross -cuts a number of WTO (and other) international training courses is the 
complex challenge of ensuring that participants selected from very diverse countries and systems 
are at the expected and sufficiently comparable levels of knowledge, aptitude and experience to 
participate and benefit effectively. While the overall ratings on selection of participants and the 
level of instruction provided are quite strong, the Evaluation Team did encounter significant 
patterns of disagreement, with some countries and participants reporting either that they found 
the course offerings too difficult or too easy.  
5.69.   The Evaluation Team's surveys found that trainers, WTO Divisional staff, beneficiaries, and 
training participants rated the selection of participants as 2.84, 2.7, 3.43, and 3.17 out of 4. At the 
same time, complaints around participant selection were particularly strong in the optional 
comments of training participants,  with 47 expressing dissatisfaction with their opportunities to 
progress and/or the fairness of selection by their own governments, especially from beyond core 
or focal point ministries. Others, including trainers in their BTOR, echoed concerns about 
inapp ropriate selections, including insufficiently skilled or repeat participants.  
5.70.   This challenge is related to the issue of evaluation of participants, particularly but not only 
as it relates to progression to further courses. At present, only e -learning and R TPC trainees are 
evaluated through exams providing a much more objective basis for further placement, as well as 
for the credibility of the credential earned through a course. This is an important motivation for WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  participants and a key to capitalising on in dividual training to strengthen institutional performance 
through increased responsibilities, promotions and recognition. This set of issues is further 
examined in relation to the Evaluation's assessment of individual instruments.  
5.71.   In the Evaluation's eight  sample countries it was reported that the selection of participants 
was generally appropriate within core ministries in terms of level of experience and, to a large 
extent, gender. However, the country missions also report concerns that core ministries te nd to 
monopolise the training opportunities and not adequately inform other ministries about e -training 
and other training opportunities. In several mission countries the authorities had the impression 
that one had to be a government official in order to p articipate in e -learning. Our informants (and 
our own Team) were not aware of the nuances that governmental interns could take full part or 
that WTO online training materials can be freely accessed by anybody (public or private sector, in 
developing and de veloped countries), for self -study (i.e. without tutoring and certification). This 
needs to be better communicated. As with its other forms of training, there could be a good case 
made for allowing wider full participation, perhaps on a fees -paying basis w here appropriate.  
5.72.   The rate of participation of women to face -to-face and e -learning activities has been 
relatively stable over the period at around 41 -45%, but with significant variation between regions 
(Figure 9).  
5.73.   Probing a bit deeper in 2015, the share o f women per PLS level is relatively even. There is 
some significant variation between key TA programmes (Figure 10). It is possible that the higher 
share of men in regional seminars compared to national activities might suggest some gender bias 
in internat ional travel when countries select participants. The relative equality in RTPCs, ATPCs, 
and Geneva -based specialised courses suggest that the WTO Secretariat is doing a good job in 
balancing participation of women and men in the courses where it controls t he selection of 
participants . Survey responses show that both trainers and training participants themselves 
believe that there is good gender balance in the participation in WTO TRTA activities (scoring 3.36 
and 3.14 respectively out of 4). It is notewort hy that on average contributing members were more 
sceptical on this question at 2.22. Importantly, according to the participant survey both women 
and men agreed that they did not face any serious obstacles to participation in WTO TA.  
Figure 9 Rate of women among face -to-face participants per region 2010 -15 
 
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 37 - 
 
  Figure 10 Share of women among selected WTO TA programmes  
 
 
5.74.   In the TA internship programmes as a group, the share of women rose from 37 % in 2010 to 
42% in 2015, but this is still far below the general WTO Internship Programme open to all WTO 
Members for which the share of women has been around 60 % during the period.26 There are large 
differences among the individual internship programmes.27 
5.75.   Only two of th e 13 WTO Chairs in Phase I were women, but this was reversed in Phase II 
during which four out of seven Chairs are women. There is very low representation of women in 
the WTO Chairs Advisory Board.  
5.76.   The LDC group is quite active in the CTD in calling for mo re participation from those 
countries. The proportion of activities in which LDCs are participating reached 61 % in 2015. There 
were some activities specifically designed for LDCs, even though the Introduction Course for LDCs 
was cancelled in 2015 due to in sufficient registration. LDCs are also given priority in some 
activities such as internships and Reference Centres. Over half of long -term interns were from 
LDCs in 2015. Participants in e -learning correspond roughly to the share of LDCs among 
beneficiary members (30 %). 
5.2.4   Question 2.4 Which WTO TRTA programmes or activities have been most and least 
effective in terms of meeting the needs of beneficiaries?  
5.77.   This section builds on and complements the analysis and evidence in Section 5.2.1 and 
attempts to minimis e repetition of supporting evidence.  
5.78.   The effectiveness of most of the WTO's training and internship programmes in meeting their 
needs is rated highly in the Evaluation's surveys by direct beneficiaries themselves - past and 
some current participants. Almos t all were rated above 3.5 out of 4, and not markedly different 
from each other. It is perhaps important to note that most of these voluntary respondents would 
have no further vested interest in the programme. Consistent with a general pattern in the 
surve ys, trainers are somewhat more restrained but still very positive, rating only one training 
programme at less than 3. As seen below, the Evaluation's other lines of evidence, including the 
sample country missions, internal evaluations and interviews do pro vide a somewhat more varied 
picture, and also shed light on the weaker findings on effectiveness for the non -training activities.  
5.79.   Importantly, the relative financial and other costs of different activities need to be 
considered alongside the breadth and de pth of their benefits. For example, less expensive 
activities might be held to less exacting standards of effectiveness than high cost activities, as long 
                                                
26 For data on both th e WTO Internship Programme and the Developing Country and LDC Focused  
Internships funded by the TA budget, see the Annual Reports on Diversity in the WTO Secretariat.  
27 With 14 % women in the WTO Regional Coordinator internship, 35 % in the WTO French -Irish 
Internship Programme, 43 % in the Netherlands Trainee Programme, and 80 % in the WTO Accession Internship 
as shown in Figure 10. In the survey of former interns the Regional Coordinator programme scores lower than 
the other programmes on gender balance.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  as they do not impose heavy management burdens or detract from coherence. Some relevant 
comments on c osts are cited here, but a more systematic analysis – and some striking facts and 
trends - are found under Section 5.3.1 on the cost -efficiency of WTO programs and instruments.  
5.80.   Given the generally high and close ratings on different training instruments in  the surveys, 
the disparate numbers and levels of participants, as well as essential differences in the types and 
objectives of instruments, no single set of ratings or rankings would be valid. Therefore the 
Evaluation has opted to group the various instru ments according to the combined quantitative and 
qualitative evidence of effectiveness that it was able to assemble.  
Instruments showing stronger evidence of effectiveness  
 
5.81.   WTO Internships: With some minor variations between the different programmes (which  are 
already reportedly being adjusted, these "learning -on-the-job" programmes are highly valued by 
participants and others, and show tangible immediate and longer -term contributions to the overall 
intended results of the programme, at individual, institut ional and policy levels. They attracted the 
highest average score among sample country informants (Rated at 3.6 out of 4 in country mission 
reports).  
5.82.   E Learning courses : Have become recognised by all stakeholders and rated very effective as 
an indispensabl e and relatively low -cost entry portal, equipping large numbers of learners with the 
necessary basic information on WTO and the legal texts for the various agreements, and 
increasingly on other key issues. There is fairly wide consensus on the quality and relevance of 
course materials to daily work in ministries, and on the flexibility allowing trainees to work at their 
own pace. The pre -test and concluding exams are very useful as are the sequential steps (basic, 
intermediary, advanced) with e -learning as a pre -requisite. At the same time there have clearly 
been issues with internet access in some countries, as well as security (with the major hacking 
attack in 2015) as well as limited staffing and capacity of WTO to handle the required interactions 
across different time zones and languages (Rated by the Team's regional evaluators at 3.1 across 
sample countries).  
5.83.   Regional Trade Policy Courses: RTPCs are also valued as highly effective by almost all 
stakeholders as a deeper exploration of some of the issues c overed in e -learning, with a practical 
orientation in regional contexts. The use of pre -tests, post -tests and simulation techniques are 
positive features, together with the sharing of best practices amongst participants, and useful 
networking thereafter. T here are clear impacts on the capacity of participants to take on increased 
responsibilities in their professional work and advance in their careers, as many key officials 
encountered by the Evaluation Team demonstrated personally. There are some varying v iews on 
the intensity and duration of the courses, costs, logistical arrangements and some other issues, 
but this programme was confidently rated by the Team members at an average of 3.5 out of 4 
across the sample countries.  
5.84.   Trade Facilitation Needs Assess ments and support for the TFA Negotiating Group: These 
transitional activities, laying the groundwork for the wider international negotiation and 
implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement have been appreciated as highly effective 
wherever encounte red (They were rated at 3.3 out of 4 in country missions).  
5.85.   Geneva -based advanced thematic courses and workshops: These activities, especially those 
with innovative, hands -on and sustained approaches like the SPS and new TBT course show signs 
of responding well to increasingly advanced and specialised needs and are much appreciated by 
participants and by trainers, who rated them at 3.6 as against 2.8 for other Geneva -based general 
courses and activities (e.g.  Geneva Week). During the country missions underta ken by the 
Evaluation Team, strengths cited included case studies, simulations, the opportunity to get to 
know other Geneva -based organisations, and networking with other participants. Reservations 
were expressed about the limited numbers of places and tou gh competition for them – reflected in 
the fact that interviewees in only five of the eight mission countries had experience with them - 
but their purpose and effectiveness were not in doubt.  
5.86.   National seminars, workshops and activities: It appears probable  that the major reduction in 
the numbers of these national activities over the period covered by the Evaluation has been 
accompanied with a more selective and targeted approach to accepting proposals, hinged to the 
PLS and to a raised requirement for a cle ar rationale and plan for each activity. The result has WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 39 - 
 
  been a relatively strong and improving record of overall effectiveness. Most of the sample country 
missions undertaken by the Evaluation Team found that these sessions are considered a useful 
way to r each out to wider circles of national participants on topics of relevance and, for example, 
prepare for the trade facilitation negotiations and the WTO trade policy review. In one country 
mission, the well -prepared 2013 legal aspects course was described a s "fantastic" and "excellent".  
5.87.   These courses and seminars can also allow for illustrating with specific country cases and 
sharing experiences, although there was some concern that the Geneva experts, while excellent at 
the Agreement and legal levels, somet imes stick to "off -the-shelf" approaches on topics where 
more national and regional experts could add to local relevance. Some difficulties of proper 
participant selection and depth of treatment are cited, but this may be a trade -off with wider 
participati on. There is less evidence of this type of activity leaving any major mark on the 
continuing capacity of individual participants, but that is perhaps to be expected with the shorter 
duration and narrower focus. Some informants were still under the impressi on that previous 
quotas on the numbers of requests that could be made for these courses were still in effect. The 
fact that they are not needs to be fully communicated to beneficiaries.  
5.88.   Regional and sub -regional seminars: These seminars have probably gone through some of 
the same tightening and sharpening as national activities over the period and are valued, among 
other things, for bringing in regional experts and practical applications of issues. Generally 
favourable ratings of their effectiveness (for ex ample in all eight sample mission countries) are 
supported by specific examples in different regions and topic areas, such as WTO notifications 
around PTAs, a regional trade negotiations simulation, a regional workshop on services, and a 
course on Intellec tual Property (IP) and public health. The levels of the courses were generally 
considered about right, while several past participants felt that their respective courses needed a 
longer duration to be fully effective.  
5.89.   Support for Accessions and Advisory Ro le on Legal Issues: As detailed under Question 2.1, 
Support for Accession is a long -term process served by a single -purpose Division through a 
combination of formal and informal advice and training, in some cases with acceding countries also 
receiving subs tantial support from other sources. It is often treated as highly confidential and is 
handled only in a subsidiary way through the overall Training Plan, so that the Evaluation Team 
did not have a complete view. The Organization as a whole obviously tracks  the outcomes of 
Accession processes closely, with nine completed accessions during the period (one in an 
Evaluation sample country) and 19 more in various stages of progress (including a second sample 
country).  
5.90.   For its part, the Evaluation Team was able t o validate the effective contribution of the 
dedicated Accession internships, and general satisfaction by acceding countries with the overall 
support received from WTO (See also Section under Question 2.1). The Advisory Role on Legal 
Issues is a responsive  service mandated and financed by the Organization where requested, also 
on a confidential basis. It was encountered in one instance by the Evaluation Team in one of the 
Evaluation's sample countries, to the reported satisfaction of country authorities.  
Instruments showing mixed or weaker evidence of effectiveness  
 
5.91.   ATPCs : The role and effectiveness of ATPCs are issues of some controversy. On the one 
hand, to the extent that there has been a hierarchy of experience (and importantly, prestige) in 
WTO training , these extended courses in Geneva are viewed as the top of the pyramid, which is 
indeed the raison d'être  of these courses within the PLS. Accordingly, they have become a 
sought -after credential for many officials with senior responsibilities in countries . Past participants 
rate them highly (an average of 3.77 in the survey), noting such features as simulations, cases 
and the chance to see WTO and Committees in action and strengthen their professional networks. 
On the other hand, there are persistent doubt s among some trainers about the appropriateness of 
an advanced generalist course within the PLS. Together with "other Geneva -based general courses 
and activities", the ATPCs were rated lowest in effectiveness by trainers in the survey (an average 
of 2.96).  The country missions, while finding positive opinions on ATPC among past participants, 
raised other questions, e.g., about the compatibility of the levels of knowledge and experience 
among participants, the limits on the numbers of people who could benefi t, and the depth and 
value -added beyond RTPCs.  
5.92.   Other Geneva -based general courses and activities (e.g.  Geneva Week). The trade -off in 
these activities between their familiarisation function or general content coverage on the one hand WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  and necessarily limite d participation (with considerable cost for travel, etc.) on the other seems to 
be reflected in the critical rating by trainers and only muted and non -specific approval in the five 
country missions where there was any comment made to the Evaluation Team.  
5.93.   Support for accessing and using WTO -related information to raise awareness with all 
stakeholders: Consistent with the findings reported in WTO TA Annual Reports on the whole family 
of WTO Reference Centres, four countries in the Evaluation's sample of eight  country missions had 
some experience with a total of five Reference Centres, of which only one still showed significant 
interest and support at present. As noted elsewhere in this report, this activity is emerging as a 
dated and ineffective way to respond  to an objective which is increasingly important and urgent to 
the WTO and the Multilateral Trading System. The Evaluation Team did not find any significant 
evidence on the role or effectiveness of the other small outreach activities to parliamentarians, 
journalists and civil society that have been categorised as WTO TA.  
5.94.   Academic support (including WTO Chairs and PhD support):  These activities are scattered 
and little known among many of the stakeholders in WTO TRTA. In more depth - accepting that 
the eight  country missions made up a relatively small sample of all eligible countries - the WTO 
PhD Support programme was not only unused but virtually unknown in all these countries, while 
the WTO Chairs programme was active in one and known in three others. This  said, there are a 
few interesting and promising examples of how the WTO Chairs programme activities can 
potentially contribute to widening and deepening relevant research and training strengths. There is 
some evidence of wider engagement and possible long er-term benefits from the support to the 
ELSA Moot Court. While the limited familiarity with these instruments among this interested 
population does not necessarily imply that they are ineffective in particular niche functions, and 
perhaps in synergy with other activities, it does raise serious questions about their strategic 
contributions to the whole programme to date.  
5.2.5   Question 2.5 Has the sharing of responsibilities between the various stakeholders 
in implementation of activities been appropriate?  
5.95.   The Ev aluation Team examined the sharing of responsibilities among several sets of 
stakeholders: between WTO Members and the Secretariat, within Member country governments, 
and among different parts of the WTO Secretariat involved. As detailed below, it found th at all 
these sets of working relationships operate in formally appropriate ways, but that in practice they 
could be improved to bring more active and effective engagement and to reduce inefficiencies and 
"transaction costs".  
5.96.   Between Members and the Secreta riat, the TA programmes have been governed according 
to normal WTO processes, with apparently satisfactory arrangements for consultation and 
reporting to contributing Members, as documented earlier. But there is less discussion on TA 
activities in governan ce forums and engagement by top management and beneficiary Member 
representatives than might be expected for activities of this importance. It has not been made 
sufficiently clear to beneficiary countries whether, how and how much the Programme can and 
should reach out beyond Member Governments to private sector and civil society actors.  
5.97.   With respect to implementation proper, the first working linkage between the Secretariat 
and Member representatives in Geneva missions has operated with varying effectivene ss, but in 
many cases does involve delays and bottlenecks in essential communication with capitals. In turn, 
the Evaluation has found a good number of instances where communication within beneficiary 
Member governments has been slow and sometimes restricte d to a single Ministry, resulting in 
lesser involvement of other ministries and agencies in relevant training.  
5.98.   The Evaluation did not encounter evidence of any major problems around the sharing of 
responsibilities with delivery partners on TA activities, r elationships that appear to be operating 
well for the programme and in the mutual interest of WTO and its partners. With academic 
partners, especially WTO Chairs and Academic Coordinators, in several cases dynamic cooperation 
and synergies have developed, with roles in supporting RTPCs, relevant research and course 
offerings, although the academics were not all as involved with planning RTPCs as they had 
expected. There is still a widespread perception and concern among training participants that 
regional a nd local experts could and should be called upon to a greater extent in training, both to 
strengthen its relevance and to contribute more to building local and regional training capacity.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 41 - 
 
  5.99.   Within the WTO Secretariat, the "matrix management" of "Plan" TA pro grammes has not yet 
been sufficiently integrated into the overall working culture and practice of the Organization, 
resulting in uneven cooperation and performance. Running counter to the fact that "TA" in various 
forms has always made up an important shar e of WTO's total workload and expenditure, it 
continues to be handled on a separate and subordinate side track from what is considered to be 
WTO's core work, and there is a perceived need by WTO informants at several levels to repeatedly 
insist that the "W TO is not a development organisation".The Evaluation observed that the degree 
of engagement and active cooperation in Plan TA varied across different Divisions according to the 
level of interest and commitment of leaders and individual officers, as well as  the relative 
prominence of their subject matter for these beneficiary countries. Meanwhile, the ITTC has been 
striving under somewhat unpredictable conditions, with a mix of inherited and fixed term staffing 
and makeshift organisation, to introduce a kind  of modern programme management not previously 
required of WTO.  
5.100.   The TA Plans detail the overall direction and instruments of WTO TA but the DG's senior 
management meetings rarely discuss TA, although this is the forum that assembles Directors of all 
the Di visions that are mainly responsible for TA content and ITTC which manages the overall 
programme. This raises questions about the extent to which the TA Plans represent a vision shared 
and is owned by the leadership of the Organization as a whole. Senior ma nagement meetings 
might normally be expected to play a significant role at the senior level as needed in the smooth 
operation of this cross -cutting set of activities.  
5.101.   At the working level, meanwhile, a Task Force on Technical Assistance has existed since 
2007. It is an information forum without official status or formal linkages to the senior 
management level. It has a formal membership of some 63 officials providing liaison across the 
Organization, and met for information exchange, updates and discussion o f relevant issues over 
the period, with nine meetings each in 2011 and 2012, three in 2013, and five each in 2014 and 
2015. While the mandate of the Task Force, with whom the Evaluation Team met, is not entirely 
clear, it does not serve as a senior problem -solving body on TA.  
5.102.   Finally, for the working guidance of all the WTO actors involved in implementing an 
inescapably complex TA programme, the Evaluation Team did encounter a manual entitled the 
"Practical Guide for WTO Technical Assistance and Training" r eleased in 2010 and then updated in 
2013 and 2016. This Guide "aims to clarify the allocation of responsibilities between ITTC and 
other divisions in respect of logistics, coordination, design and delivery of the activities foreseen in 
the Technical Assist ance and Training Plan (TA Plan)". Originally more than 60 pages long (now 
somewhat reduced) a reading of this Guide drives home the fact that organising and delivering 
such a TA programme is inevitably a highly complicated and multi -faceted challenge for the 
Organization.  
5.2.6   Question 2.6 Has the WTO TRTA contributed to gender equality and the 
empowerment of women?  
5.103.   The Terms of Reference for the evaluation called for a specific assessment of results in 
these areas, while recognising that they had not been spec ifically included in the TA plans over the 
period. The Evaluation found that, reflecting WTO Agreements and trade negotiations, issues 
relating to gender equality and the empowerment of women did not emerge significantly within 
WTO TA over the period, othe r than with monitoring for reasonably balanced gender participation 
in the training itself. Going back to the checklist on these issues adopted in the Inception Report 
for the Evaluation, the experience is briefly outlined in Table 4.  
5.104.   Beyond monitoring the  participation of women in activities, the Evaluation Team finds an 
almost complete absence of gender issues being reflected in the design and delivery of TA, a 
reflection of the WTO agreements on which the training is based. So the terms "gender" or 
"wome n" do not feature in the title of any of the around 2 000 TA activities of the period, and 
there are no "gender" modules in the curricula of the ATPC or the RTPC, even though there is a 
separate two -day module on Development in the RTPC curriculum. Unsurpr isingly, there is no 
evidence from the eight sample countries visited by the Evaluation Team that WTO TRTA has 
contributed to gender equality or the empowerment of women, beyond their participation and 
professional and career benefits from training. Since WTO TA is strictly focused on what is 
contained in the WTO Agreements and rules, more gender -sensitive content in the TA will depend 
on more gender sensitivity being built into the Agreements in the future by Members, with the WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  support of the WTO Secretaria t. Thus it will hinge on the Members themselves advocating and 
promoting acceptance of such changes.  
5.105.   Perhaps reflecting the rising concern internationally to ensure more equality in the 
incidence of benefits and costs from trade (as reflected in the SDGs) the Evaluation Team found 
one main recent exception to the absence of gender issues in the content of WTO TA. Albeit 
coming after the evaluation period, gender issues were raised in the Joint WTO/World Bank Trade 
and Poverty Forum organised in collaboratio n with the WTO Chairs Programme in May  2016. The 
Forum was organised within the framework of the joint WTO/World Bank initiative on the role of 
trade in ending poverty and built on a WTO -World Bank report on this topic launched in June  2015. 
Both the Forum  and report contains a session/chapter on dealing with gender issues. This work will 
be followed -up by the WTO Economic Research section that so far has only produced one working 
paper specifically dealing with gender issues (in 2003).  
5.106.   There are other indi cations that gender and trade issues are on the rise. The WTO Forum 
in September  2016 will focus on "Inclusive Trade" and there are several issues pertaining to 
women in the preliminary programme. In addition, the Outcome Document of the 2016 Annual 
Sessio n Of The Parliamentary Conference on The WTO encourages "…policymakers to 
mainstreaming gender in macro -economic policies, especially in trade policy." (Paragraph 11)  
5.107.   Structurally, within WTO, it can also be noted that the share of women among WTO staff is  
on the increase from 41.9 % of professional staff in 2010 to 44.5 % in 2015. While there was a 
majority of women among grade 9 posts at the end of 2015, there was still a minority of women 
among grade 10 (35 %), 11 (26 %) and 12 (0 %) posts.  
Table 4 Analysis of gender equality and empowerment of women  
IR Provision  Action and result  
1. Applying a gender filter to the document 
review, focusing in particular on whether and 
how gender has been considered in strategies, 
TA plans and course c urricula and design.  Done. The finding was that since the WTO TA is 
primarily based on WTO Agreements and 
processes which are mainly silent on gender 
issues, they also have little place in the content of 
WTO TA courses.  
2. Disaggregating the available dat a on WTO 
TRTA activities by gender to the extent 
possible, in particular regarding applications, 
participation, and results in relation to training. 
Considering the adequacy and potential for 
improvements of these data.  Done. Data on participation are full  and 
disaggregated, showing female participation in 
the main training and internship activities 
between 41% and 45% over the period, with no 
marked trends.  
Data on applications (male and female) are not 
collected, perhaps because the applications come 
in various forms and levels of formality.  
3. Distinguishing between women and men in 
the data collection, e.g. by asking for gender in 
surveys and noting it in interviews to enable 
gender -sensitive analysis of the replies, in 
addition to making sure that bot h women and 
men are represented. The representativeness 
achieved will be explicitly reflected in the 
Evaluation Report  Done. The numbers and shares of female and 
male respondents to surveys and interviews are 
reported as relevant in the text. As to the 
representativeness in survey responses, among 
training participants it was 43% women and 57% 
men, corresponding roughly to participation. For 
interns, the respondents were 39% women and 
61% men.  
4. Including specific questions on constraints 
and prospects fo r women and men in relation 
to WTO TRTA in surveys and interviews, in 
particular when communicating with intended 
beneficiaries and management within 
ministries. This aspect will also be specifically 
provided for in the protocol for country 
missions.  Done.  This opportunity was freely available in all 
8 countries, and in several countries the senior 
managers were female. No major constraints or 
limitations on the basis of gender were identified. 
Generally high satisfaction levels (female and 
male) on specifi c questions about gender 
empowerment seem to suggest that the question 
is understood to imply an absence of 
discrimination in training participation and 
balanced professional and career benefits to 
women from that training. Gender -sensitive 
programming in WTO's work, and thus the TA, 
was apparently not expected.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  IR Provision  Action and result  
5. On the basis of the evidence assembled, the 
evaluation report will include the Team's 
assessment of how "gender issues were 
implemented as a cross -cutting theme in 
programming, and if the subjec t being 
evaluated gave sufficient attention to promote 
gender equality and gender sensitivity".28 
Where appropriate, lessons and possible 
recommendations will be provided.  See Conclusions se ction and Recommendations  
 
5.3  Efficiency  
5.3.1   Question 3.1 Has the implem entation of the WTO TRTA made effective use of time 
and resources toward achieving results as described in the TA biennial plans? Which 
have been the most important factors facilitating/obstructing efficient implementation?  
5.108.   There is clear evidence that WTO  TA has taken a number of steps to use time and 
resources more effectively over the period, without significantly reducing its contribution to 
results. Significant efforts have been made to make WTO TA more coherent, purposeful, and 
quality conscious, whic h have strengthened the ability of the Organization to increase the 
transparency and quality of its TA. The Evaluation finds that beneficiary countries and training 
participants, while largely unaware of these reform processes, are broadly satisfied with t he 
evolving results. Internally to WTO, however, these changes in combination with the ways that 
results -based -management systems have been introduced have generated significant concerns 
and even discontent within the Secretariat about bureaucratisation an d loss of flexibility as well as 
instances of severe cost -cutting.  
5.109.   There are some indications that the cost of different types of training activity has on the 
whole been reduced over the period, even though a complete assessment is difficult to make 
princi pally because of incomplete reporting for 2010 -11. Savings in the cost per participant seem 
clear in the case of RTPCs and ATPCs, mainly due to having been reduced in duration (Figure 11). 
With higher relative transportation expenses, the costs per partici pant per day for these 
programmes have increased over the period. In the case of RTPCs, other savings were made by 
discontinuing pre -course seminars and by increasing the contributions from the WTO's delivery 
partners. The data also indicate reductions in the cost per participant per day in the national and 
regional activities. Comparing instruments, it is clear that even though the total cost per 
participant of the internship programmes is high, the cost per participant/day is lower than in 
regional and gl obal training activities.  
5.110.   The direct cost of an e -learning participant is minimal at between 100 -157 CHF per 
participant over the training period, compared to 400 -600 CHF for national activities, and currently 
around 14  000 CHF for a participant in an ATPC  or RTPC. Other evidence of instrument -specific 
cost savings includes the WTO Chairs Programme, where cost saving measures were introduced to 
strengthen value -for-money taking account of the Mid -Term review, adjusting the scope of the 
programme and not pro viding funds for Chairs with lower financial needs.  
5.111.   It is important to recognise that activity costs do not take into account the amount of staff 
time spent on the programmes, nor its efficiency. The latter issue was noted in the internal ATPC 
evaluation f rom 2014, in a context of overall efficiency: "An inordinate part of [staff] time was 
actually wasted to reinvent past solutions as a consequence of a worryingly high loss of 
institutional memory and know -how in the [Geneva -based Course Unit] over the last  few years" 
(p. 24). It is not clear how wide -spread this situation may be.  
5.112.   Undoubtedly, implementation of TA absorbs a significant amount of WTO resources. 13 % 
of staff resources and 30 % of total WTO (staff and non -staff) resources were dedicated to capac ity 
building (one of nine WTO outputs) in 2015. There is significant variation between Divisions as to 
the share of staff resources dedicated to capacity building. ITTC has been among the largest 
Divisions the last years and, as can be expected, dedicates around 90 % of staff resources to 
capacity building. A fifth of those resources were attributed to support activities (mainly under the 
                                                
28 In line with Standard 4.8 of the UNEG Standards for Evaluation in the UN System, available at 
http://www.uneval.org/document/detail/22 . WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  heading monitoring, evaluation and reporting) during the 2013 -15 period, with the rest being 
distributed among different TA activities (Table 5). Most striking is perhaps that the disparate 
activities contained in Other Regional Courses and Other Geneva Based Courses absorb such 
significant shares of resources. Additionally, the high cost of administering the internships is 
striking, in particular compared to the relatively modest resource spent on e -learning.  
Figure 11 Cost per participant CHF (above) and per participant/day (below)  
 
 
Table 5 ITTC staff resources in Capacity  Building by activity 2013 -15 
Output  Thousand CHF  Share of total  
Building Capacity Support Activities  5 439  20% 
Other Regional Courses  3 640  13% 
Intermediate Trade Policy Courses  3 394  12% 
Trainee Programmes and Internships  3 367  12% 
E-Learning Cou rses  2 864  10% 
Other Geneva Based Courses  2 816  10% 
ATPCs  1 751  6% 
National Activities  1 663  6% 
WTO Chairs Programme  1 182  4% 
Reference Centres  652 2% 
Other Academic  650 2% 
Conferences  216 1% 
Total 27 634  100%  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  5.113.   The Evaluation's survey respons es indicate an overall satisfaction with the efficiency of 
WTO TA. The efficiency and effectiveness of WTO's management and organisation of its TRTA 
activities are given favourable ratings by contributing members (3.17 out of 4), WTO Divisions 
(3.13) and e xternal TA trainers (3.67). Internal trainers are more self -critical with a 2.79 score. 
The survey responses also show that participants, WTO Divisions and trainers generally perceive 
WTO to be more efficient than other providers. These relatively favourab le ratings are partly 
corroborated by the PEFs. These show consistently high levels of appreciation of the efficiency of 
activities in general (annual averages of 4.2 -4.3 out of 5 during 2011 -15) and in particular a 
steady improvement in the rating for log istical arrangements (on average 4.0 in 2011 compared to 
4.3 in 2015). The country missions did not produce strong evidence of inefficiencies with the 
exception of some concerns mainly regarding the duration of training.  
5.114.   Overall, the survey responses seem more favourable regarding efficiency than what 
emerges from interviews with WTO staff. There is a perception among ITTC staff that other 
Divisions are critical of their work. This perception is confirmed in interviews with management 
and staff from some of  the other Divisions (and in some cases from within ITTC) that point to 
cases of what is seen as increasing bureaucratisation, centralisation, inflexibility and 
micro -management on the part of ITTC. However, in some other Divisions the interviewees were 
clearly understanding and appreciative of ITTC's management and efforts to organise TA. The 
Evaluation Team's overall impression is that the complaints encountered concern relatively specific 
issues that make work harder for TA -providing Divisions and staff,  rather than any general concern 
with the directions in TA management and implementation.  
5.115.   During the period covered by the Evaluation, a number of changes were introduced in 
order to better manage WTO and increase efficiency, including: the introduction of  RBM disciplines 
(see Question 3.2); often severe cost -cutting, including changes in the payment of Daily 
Subsistence Allowance; implementation of electronic work -flows; development of the TA database; 
updating of the TA guidelines; and clearly accountable  financial management (with the Director of 
ITTC having the final say on almost all TA activities).  
5.116.   In the assessment of the Evaluation Team, these were necessary and to a large degree 
beneficial changes that have increased the transparency and efficiency of WTO TA. One reason for 
the discontent by some staff may be that the reforms have not been carried far enough in the 
absence of investment in human capacity and IT infrastructure to manage the new TA systems 
smoothly (this issue is discussed further unde r Question 3.2). In addition, there are some signs 
that ITTC's management's concerns with cost control may have gone too far in some cases, 
resulting in frustration among implementing staff at the loss of flexibility.  
5.117.   The Evaluation has also found that the  way TA is governed and managed within the 
Organization reduces the potential efficiency of WTO TA. Some of these issues are inevitably linked 
to the wider vision, strategic directions, high level management and coordination of cross -cutting 
activities in the Organization as a whole. They are treated in some depth above in Section 2.2.5 
assessing the sharing of responsibilities among the leadership and different parts of WTO.  
5.118.   The current leadership of ITTC, with more continuity of tenure than predecessors, has 
been able to drive reform of TA and to pioneer more results -based management in a complex 
context that is resistant to change. At the same time ITTC as a Division suffers from a reputation 
of inefficiencies. It is a large Division and has the largest p roportion of L staff (fixed -term staff, 
funded by the General Trust Fund or the so -called Programme Support Fund that finances TA 
expenses of a general nature). Its internal structure is not optimal for efficient coordination, 
development and delivery of T A. There have been plans for reforms of ITTC's internal structure, 
but they seem to have been deferred. The Evaluation Team was particularly struck by the limited 
resources assigned to managing e -learning, a finding supported by significant participant 
complaints. Only one ITTC staff member was playing a significant role in animating the training 
and staffing the interactive exchanges during the Evaluation period, supported part -time (since 
2014) by a team of interns, and with occasional substantive contrib utions from other Divisions as 
required. A second staff post that had been vacant for eight months has subsequently been filled, 
but this still appears insufficient.  
5.119.   In spite of a number of efforts to rectify the situation, the current WTO IT tools are not  
user-friendly and flexible enough to meet the expectations of modern users. This is an issue that 
has been pinpointed repeatedly in the recent TA Annual Reports and it is particularly serious since 
the absence of well -functioning IT systems appears to hav e contributed substantially to the WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  frustration felt among staff involved in TA. There are currently a number of initiatives under -way 
to address the IT constraints, including a Learning Management Platform for e -learning; a new 
platform and greater usabili ty for the TA database; and an external revision of the TA workflow.  
5.3.2   Question 3.2 How appropriate and useful is the WTO RBM/ M&E System in driving 
and measuring progress towards WTO TRTA objectives?  
5.120.   Over the period covered by the Evaluation, the WTO has ma de significant progress in 
initiating a system of results -based management to bring clearer direction and accountability to its 
TA activities. But implementation remains incomplete and this structured programme management 
approach is not yet well -integrate d into a management culture traditionally based on supporting 
Member driven negotiations, rules and dispute settlement. Significant achievements with the 
system during the Evaluation period include:  
 Results framework . A logical framework for the programme has been introduced and 
refined. This is the essential back -bone of any RBM system.  
 Result orientation . The programme has been increasingly steered at the strategic level to 
focus on the targeted results with the organisation and costing of TA Plans and An nual 
Reports. In addition, these documents now contain frank and critical analysis of TA 
plans, trends, and results.  
 Monitoring outputs . There is now almost universal completion of BTOR and PEFs to 
provide feedback on activities, with documents/data proper ly stored. This greatly 
facilitates assessing activities ex -post. 
 Monitoring activities . Real efforts are made to keep the TA database updated in terms of 
participants, activities, cost and other information - another vital component for 
monitoring, course -correction and other follow -up. 
 National requests . A more rigorous national request procedure has been implemented, 
which is said to have contributed to fewer, but higher quality requests.  
5.121.   Nevertheless, implementation of RBM in relation to WTO TA remains a work -in-progress, 
as has been acknowledged in the recent TA Plans and Annual Reports. Document review and 
interviews by the Evaluation Team with WTO staff point in particular to a number of weaknesses.  
5.122.   RBM for the TA programme was announced in 2010, but the first couple of years saw little 
progress. Then the Results Based M&E Toolkit that was produced by an external consultant in 
2012 was not found particularly useful for the realities of WTO. It was only with the merger of the 
Technical Cooperation Audit  Unit with ITTC and the creation of the TAME team in 2012, in 
combination with the recruitment of the current Director of ITTC, that significant progress can be 
noticed.  
5.123.   Nevertheless, the Evaluation Team has identified a number of elements of successful an d 
useful RBM systems that are not yet in place in WTO. These gaps include: a lack of demonstrated 
support from top and senior management; weak organisational ownership of key strategic TA 
documents (log -frames, TA Plans, TA Annual Reports, TA guidelines); log-frames needing 
improved results -areas definition and indicators; better links needed between results areas and 
Plan chapters; difficulties in collecting data on TA from Divisions and a dearth of effective feedback 
mechanisms to deal with lessons emergi ng from the system at different levels.  
5.124.   The current system has to focus almost completely on monitoring activities and outputs 
based mainly on the opinion of participants. The use of objective tests of acquired knowledge 
remains confined to RTPCs, e -learni ng and the project work in the Advanced SPS course. 
Higher -level results were assessed to some degree by the Evaluation Team through internal 
evaluation reports, but 18 out of the 30 reports identified by the Evaluation focused on on -site 
reviews of differ ent instruments. In addition, while there is evidence that the internal evaluations 
promoted change, they were "free -floating" in that they did not have an official WTO document 
number and there was no formal mechanism for follow -up. In any case, because o f resource 
constraints no internal evaluation has been produced since 2014.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  5.125.   A related issue is the lack of external validation of WTO TA, in particular given the absence 
of an independent Technical Cooperation Audit Unit. Even if TAME could release resourc es to 
resume internal evaluation work there are obvious risks of conflicts of interest given the Unit's 
involvement in TA planning and follow -up. A way to compensate for this is to commission external 
evaluations, not only of the entire WTO TA portfolio, b ut also of individual TA programmes or 
instruments.  
5.126.   The two main explanations for the slow implementation of RBM given to the Evaluation 
Team in interviews and documents are the lack of resources and the absence of a culture of 
results -oriented programmes within WTO. The former claim seems valid. For example, IT systems 
have not been sufficiently user -friendly, and the post as Head of the TAME Section within ITTC was 
vacant for 9 months for unclear reasons. The cultural gap is more difficult to assess. Some  
interviewees questioned the credibility of intended results that are over -simplified or over -claimed. 
Few (but notable) cases of direct opposition to RBM were encountered among WTO staff by the 
Evaluation Team; but there have been more wide -spread complai nts about the way RBM has been 
implemented, related to the concerns under Question 3.1 around efficiency. The interpretation of 
the Evaluation Team is that the focus to date on control of activities and outputs has had 
significant transaction costs, which have not yet been sufficiently offset by the benefits a 
functioning RBM system can bring to all concerned.  
5.127.   The Evaluation surveys show that the efficiency and effectiveness of WTO's follow -up, M&E 
of its TRTA activities are less appreciated than other aspe cts of WTO TA. The most appreciative 
group is external trainers (3.59 out of 4), while internal trainers (2.62), contributing members 
(2.43) and WTO Divisions (2.27) are less satisfied. No further comments were made about RBM in 
the comments fields of the Evaluation surveys. CTD minutes show that both contributing and 
beneficiary members clearly supported RBM when it was introduced.  
5.3.3   Question 3.3 Has management of risk been adequate and is there a sufficient 
degree of flexibility to facilitate rapid response s to changing circumstances?  
5.128.   Through a combination of wider WTO policies and provisions and more specific measures 
or implicit standards observed by the ITTC, other participating personnel, implementing partners 
and Member countries, WTO TRTA has adequatel y managed most kinds of possible risks over the 
period. One exception was the damaging cyber -attack on the WTO's e -learning operation, causing 
a major shut -down for a period in 2015.  
5.129.   The management of risk in an international programme like WTO TRTA has se veral distinct 
dimensions. There are potential safety risks of various kinds to trainees and staff involved which 
must be seriously taken into account. Technological risks are more prominent than in the past. 
There are always fiduciary risks of potential c orruption, conflict of interest, waste or misuse of 
budgetary and voluntary funding and other resources in the operation. There are operational risks, 
alluded to in the question above, that the programme may not adjust sufficient flexibly to 
changing circu mstances, and thus be misdirected. And related to all the other risks is the 
reputational risk for the Organization and its Members if any of the others should materialise to a 
serious degree.  
5.130.   At a higher level, there are two overarching policy risks. One is that the programme could 
fall short of its intended objectives and/or Members' expectations in a changing environment of 
AfT. The second, related one is that WTO's Plan TA might lose, or be seen to lose its relevance if 
countries move away from the MTS or if new forms of technical assistance displace the existing 
PLS and WTO should decide to provide new assistance outside the strategic framework. These high 
level risks for the future will be further addressed in the Conclusions, Lessons and 
Recommendatio ns sections of this Report.  
5.131.   Looking at the more conventional risks, a current risk management policy for the WTO 
Secretariat, dating from 2014, covers financial management, occupational safety and health in the 
workplace, compliance with regulations such a s the WTO Financial Rules & Regulations, Staff Rules 
& Regulations, or Procurement Policy and Procedures, political, and technological risks. Reports of 
the WTO Secretariat Risk Management System during the period identified two risks: an actuarial 
issue a round a health insurance provision and an "advanced persistent threat" of "targeted, skilled 
cyber -attack".  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  5.132.   On safety and fiduciary risks, WTO has a highly cautious approach which can sometimes 
reduce flexibility to a significant, but not critical, degree.  Examples are in refusal of WTO staff to 
travel to some high risk areas, and a reported inability to remunerate government officials as 
trainers. The general approach to expenditure is relatively conservative and budgets for many 
activities have been cut o ver the period, feeding a moderate volume of complaints about low per 
diems, low -cost airlines, etc.  
5.133.   With respect to possible inflexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, the Evaluation 
Team has registered a fairly normal volume of generalised complai nts about bureaucratic 
procedures and some specific examples, both positive and negative, about adaptations made. 
Interestingly, the internal survey scores for WTO's management of emerging risks and 
opportunities for its TA activities over the past five ye ars are relatively low from the perspective of 
the WTO Divisions at 2.90, while they are at 3.47 from the perspective of external trainers and 
only 2.65 for internal trainers. This relative negativity internally, which may be related to 
increasing requirem ents to plan and account for results, clearly requires attention but is far from 
being a crisis.  
5.134.   The Evaluation's overall assessment – taking account of major changes such as expanded 
e-learning and the Progressive Learning Strategy, as well as highly inno vative approaches such as 
the SPS and TBT courses - is that the ability of the WTO to adapt and innovate across the 
programme is reasonably strong.  
5.3.4   Question 3.4 To what extent have external partnerships contributed to the 
efficient implementation of WTO TR TA? 
5.135.   WTO works extensively with partners in implementing its TA activities, but to varying 
degrees depending on the programme and region. The importance of partners has been a 
recurring strategic theme in TA Plans and Annual Reports. The TA Annual Report fo r 2015 sums up 
the scope of this work: "In 2015, the WTO cooperated with 48 different partners to organise and 
deliver 51 different activities. One should also add to these figures the 21 TA activities of other 
institutions to which the WTO contributed as a partner. Together, these 72 activities represent 
25% of the TA activities which the WTO organised or in which it participated in 2015" (p. 40).  
5.136.   With the reduction in donor resources the work with partners has become more 
systematised with a view to incre asing the value -added of the collaboration and reducing the costs 
of WTO TA. Data on this aspect, compiled by ITTC for the first time in 2015, estimated that 
partners contributed 13 % of the substance, 29 % of the costs, 44 % of the logistics. In 42 % of the 
collaborations they had opened up access to new audiences. Working with partners is thus an 
important way for WTO to spread its substantive expertise cost -effectively to more people.  
5.137.   The Evaluation Team's interviews with WTO staff show that the idea of work ing in 
partnership is well anchored at all levels of the Organization. Some partnerships run deep – to 
mention just a few examples selected to capture the range of partnerships:  
 The Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division is working 
in partnerships to cover a wider range of issues than just individual WTO agreements, 
e.g. in the area of health with United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), WHO, 
and WIPO, on climate with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Unit ed 
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and on food in internal 
partnership with WTO colleagues working on SPS and TBT.  
 In addition, the Division works closely with the European Bank for Reconstruction & 
Development (EBRD) (35 joint acti vities 2010 -15) in the area of Government 
Procurement to support countries in the CEECAC region to accede to the Government 
Procurement Agreement.  
 In Latin America, the Inter -American Development Bank (IADB) is the key partner, with 
20 joint activities dur ing the evaluation period. As a general practice, IADB finances 
almost fully the activities co -organized (only WTO officials and participants from Cuba 
are covered by WTO) and takes care of most of the logistics.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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   The regional and global workshops on outrea ch for journalists, parliamentarians and 
NGOs are co -financed with partners, in particular the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.  
 The Advanced SPS course includes speakers from WTO, WHO, ITC, Codex, the 
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), the World Organisation for Animal 
Health (OIE) and the Advisory Centre for WTO Law. In addition, the coaching approach 
of the course relies on the contribution of external consultants.  
 An MoU (2013 -2017) has been signed with United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development (UNCTAD) that stipulates that all joint activities will be implemented on the 
basis of 50 -50 contributions.  
 Local universities are central to the organisation of the RTPCs.  
5.138.   There is no doubt that WTO's work with partners in TA is important and va luable. A 
particularly valuable contribution of national and regional partners is to add perspectives to 
training and activities that the WTO Secretariat cannot cover because of its neutral mandate. Many 
of the 76 BTOR reviewed are silent on this important  point - occasionally the value of local or 
regional presentations are emphasised, while in some cases WTO was the sole presenter. The 
country missions reiterate that partnerships are valuable, but that more efforts are needed to 
involve national stakehold ers in particular as delivery partners.  
5.3.5   Question 3.5 How fully and how well does the WTO communicate about its TRTA 
activities with each key set of stakeholders in the activities  
5.139.   As things now stand, WTO's ability to communicate about its TA activities wit h each key 
set of stakeholders is often dependent on communication being transmitted in turn by Member 
missions in Geneva and the focal point ministries in capitals. For purposes of course organisation 
and participant selection, the Evaluation has received  evidence of numerous delays and 
bottlenecks in this chain, resulting in many cases of gaps or skewed representation in training 
courses. There is also evidence of considerable efforts by ITTC and the SPS Team to supplement 
and expedite these communication  flows.  
5.140.   For purposes of accountability, the communication needs are met through the Annual 
Report and TA Plans presented to the CTD, together with financial reporting as required, although 
there is a definite appetite for more reporting of results. On two of the other intended results of 
the Programme the effectiveness of communication has been limited by the programme design. 
Reaching and supporting academic institutions to encourage research and teaching on trade policy 
and WTO -related topics has had only  scattered results, and Reference Centres have not been 
effective in enabling Members to access and use WTO -related information to raise awareness of 
WTO matters with all their stakeholders. Increasingly, these must be seen as key strategic issues 
for WTO as a whole, and the TA role can only be part of a much wider WTO communications effort 
with full involvement of its External Relations Division and top management.  
5.141.   Most training participants rank ITTC's website as their main source of information, and 
with a view to coordination, ITTC supplements it with activity postings on the inter -agency Global 
Trade -Related Technical Assistance Database (GTAD).29 ITTC produces a periodic Newsletter and 
WTO Members are provided with specific bulletins and circulars highl ighting key information.  
5.142.   As an important example of detailed information, an extensive programme document 
restricted to Members has been sent out annually since 2011. The January  2015 version was 
entitled "WTO Global and regional TRTA in 2015: Important In formation and Dates" 
(JOB/TC/8Rev.1 ). It provides information on e -learning and the 2015 WTO PLS Training Calendar 
for some key global and regional activities. "It also seeks to facilitate delegations' planning and 
prioritising of WTO training options avai lable for their government officials". In Annexes are 
included the e -learning course catalogue and a calendar with dates for the ATPC, RTPC, 
Introduction Course for LDCs, Intermediate Thematic Course for LDCs, and 12 advanced (level 3) 
specialised courses.  National and regional seminars are not included. The document refers to a 
                                                
29 GTAD was developed with the objective of serving as the portal f or an exchange and sharing of 
information between partner agencies on the future execution of TRTA and CB activities. It includes the WTO 
TA Plans.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  website30 for updated information on activities. On that page appear the categories of technical 
assistance and training courses for 2016 -2017 organised under the key results of the log-frame. 
Clicking on a link leads to an excel sheet with some 250 activities (both already implemented and 
planned), again organised by key results.  
5.143.   Thus substantial efforts are made to convey the essential information, at least through 
formal beneficiar y channels, although a number of beneficiary country representatives complain 
that they do not receive sufficient notice to coordinate at their end and select and prepare 
candidates. The Evaluation also still encountered a substantial number of requests fo r more timely, 
accessible and user -friendly materials on course offerings, schedules, etc. that would reach 
potential training participants themselves.  
5.144.   The outreach of the e -Learning programme was enhanced through the use of social media 
during 2015, with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube deployed to provide more detailed information 
and interact with users. Google+ and LinkedIn accounts were also introduced at the end of 2015 
to update participants – actual or potential – on developments in the e -Learning prog ramme. 
Participants are encouraged to use these tools to interact with each other with a view to fostering 
communication and interactivity.  
5.145.   In other courses too, training participants are encouraged to follow -up and maintain 
professional networks with form er classmates and many are doing so. Significantly, although many 
past trainees come back for further courses survey respondents noted that they receive no 
follow -up or further direct contact from WTO, even to feed back the aggregate results of their own 
course evaluations. The Secretariat has noted that past participants regularly receive an electronic 
copy of the ITTC Newsletter.  
5.3.6   Question 3.6 Did the origin of the TRTA funding (regular budget or trust funds) 
and the earmarking by donors influence the effi ciency of TRTA offered by the WTO and 
its capacity to respond to the needs of beneficiaries?  
5.146.   The Evaluation has found the reported attribution of different activities between regular 
WTO budget sources and the main DDAGTF sources (as set out in the Annual Reports) still follows 
an early logic in attributing to the regular budget as a priority mostly Geneva -based training 
activities that were in 2002 viewed as the core of the programme. Once specified, this broad 
pattern of attribution has been maintained bu t with increasing difficulty, as the nature of the 
programme has been transformed, especially with the explosion of e -learning and the PLS and the 
falling demand for introductory -level Geneva -based activities. The shrinkage of the Regular Budget 
share - compounded by inflexible WTO requirements on line -by-line budgeting for that portion - 
has been increasingly difficult to reconcile with the changed character and demands of the 
programme.  
5.147.   The earmarked contributions - for internships, limited special suppor t for accessions and 
LDCs, and the WTO Chairs Programme (WCP) - represented some 14 % of total funding during the 
Evaluation period. While rising as a share of the total expenditure, most of them were still basically 
targeted to accepted priorities of WTO T RTA and the Plan, and are almost all activities that are 
now highly rated by this Evaluation. Thus they did not divert from meeting the substantive needs 
of beneficiaries. In terms of administrative efficiency, however, the management by WTO's 
services of several different sources, specifications, payment schedules and reporting 
requirements unavoidably adds unneeded complexity. The Evaluation finds that these efficiency 
costs were still manageable, given the number and nature of the different earmarked sou rces 
during the period, but increasingly difficult.  
5.148.   The contributors' rationales for earmarking contributions to particular activities are not 
fully clear, although they no doubt reflect an expectation that the activities, mainly internships, 
would be of s pecial value, and also that the sponsoring Member/s also wish to be directly 
associated with them as sponsors. There is ample evidence that most of the areas of work 
earmarked for support, mainly internships, have been well -used and highly -regarded through out 
the period.31 
                                                
30 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/train_e/course_details_e.htm.  
31 The WCP will have a separate f inal evaluation in 2017.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  5.149.   With the possible exception of a somewhat lesser "hands -on" emphasis in the NTP – which 
is reportedly now being adjusted in line with others32 – the Evaluation found no evidence of 
reduced benefits to beneficiaries so far as a result of ear marking. The vast majority of the 
stakeholders surveyed or encountered outside Geneva had little awareness of the earmarking and 
consequently no perception that it might have affected the benefits of the activity. The interns 
themselves, their immediate as sociates and respective national Missions were obviously aware of 
the separate sponsorship, but in light of the very high satisfaction rates expressed, no negative 
effects were identified.  
5.150.   There is no way of precisely calculating the costs of added adminis trative burdens to WTO 
and the resulting reductions in efficiency, but in the Evaluation's observation, the limited number 
of relatively similar contributions without especially onerous terms or reporting requirements has 
meant that the efficiency costs of  these earmarking have been much more modest than those of 
delivering a transforming programme with the inflexibly -constrained Regular Budget allocation. At 
the same time, there is also some loss of transparency in not being able to see the whole portfolio  
and its financing in one picture.  
5.4  Sustainability  
5.4.1   Question 4.1 Does the current distribution in the sources of WTO TRTA funding 
between regular budget, DDAGTF and earmarked trust funds support the sustainability 
and coherence of the WTO TRTA in the longer -term?  
5.151.   As noted in the evidence and analysis presented in response to Question 3.6, the 
Evaluation has not detected any serious impairment to date of the substantive benefits of WTO 
TRTA as a result of the prevailing distribution of sources of funding and t he conditions attached 
over the 2010 -2015 period. The widening mismatch between a dynamic, innovative programme 
and a rigid budgeting structure for the Regular Budget share has been a growing problem, but 
reportedly this may now be eased. The additional ad ministrative costs imposed by earmarking, 
while somewhat burdensome, have been manageable to date.  
5.152.   Substantial savings have already been achieved, and the probable outlook is for continued 
tight ceilings on WTO expenditure, substantive and administrative c apacity. In terms of future 
sustainability, both the efficiency and hard -won cohesion of the overall TRTA effort could be 
severely impaired if it were forced to depend on a rising share of disparate earmarked funds and 
reduced reliable core funding from th e Regular Budget and a substantial Global Fund of 
extra-budgetary contributions.  
5.153.   The prospects for maintaining such a viable distribution of funding sources appear 
uncertain, reflecting the current status and outlook for international trade negotiations, c ontinuing 
external and internal funding constraints on the WTO, and the pressures and choices facing 
potential contributors of extra -budgetary resources for TA. New potential uses for technical 
assistance emerge during negotiations, as happened for example  with the requirement to carry out 
needs assessments and negotiate arrangements to implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement, 
when funding was required to finance this critical preparatory work through WTO and to finance 
the last -resort TFA Facility of th e Organization. This funding, much larger TF assistance through 
other channels, and other emerging responses will all draw on some of the same finite donor 
resources, when some donors are also inclined to direct more of their aid bilaterally and/or 
earmark  their contributions through multilateral channels. The record of WTO Plan TRTA over the 
past five years testifies to a capacity of the Organization to adjust and accommodate new 
requirements with increasingly professional technical assistance, but if the main pillars of 
budgetary and extra -budgetary funding are seriously weakened or new activities handled through 
separate, less rigorous arrangements the cohesion and critical mass of WTO technical support 
capacity will no longer be sustainable.  
5.154.   It is worth noting that in at least one of the Evaluation's eight sample countries, key 
officials were highly alert to the risks of diminishing and diverted resources. They proposed a 
number of provocative strategic ideas, as summarised below, to prepare for such a co ntingency 
while also building new foundations of longer -term sustainability:  
                                                
32 According to the TA Plan 2016 -17: "In the next biennium, NTP interns will be provided with an 
opportunity to directly participate in the work of the WTO in Geneva through exposure to on -going activities of 
the Secretariat, in ord er to enhance their understanding of the functioning of the WTO and MTS".  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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   WTO should consider hosting the advanced courses in various regions as they will reach 
more people, as opposed to bringing only a few people to Geneva.  
 WTO should consider engagin g more regional / local expertise and collaborating partners 
to deliver various TA activities, as opposed to always having the experts coming from 
Geneva.  
 In the longer term, WTO should aim to have a pool of trainers and trainers of trainers, 
spread across  the globe to support more regional TA activities.  
5.155.   It was also proposed that governments in a position to do so should be allowed to sponsor 
additional staff from their own training budgets in cases where WTO can only sponsor a limited 
number of participan ts to a course / activity. This idea - which of course has pros and cons that 
would need to be carefully weighed - echoed a suggestion made earlier to the Evaluation Team by 
other thoughtful stakeholders that some courses might well be of interest to parti cipants from all 
countries on a fees -paying basis. This is a possibility that others have suggested might also be of 
interest to private sector and civil society participants .. 
5.4.2   Question 4.2 To what extent have the WTO TRTA activities produced sustainable 
benefits in beneficiary countries?  
5.156.   When discussing the sustainability of the benefits of WTO TA it is important to bear in mind 
that much of WTO TA consists of one -off training events or relatively short courses. By their nature 
the sustainability of direct  benefits of such activities can therefore be expected to be limited. In 
addition, sustainability depends to a large degree on the beneficiary country context, which include 
a range of factors beyond the control of WTO. This being said, the Evaluation find s both direct 
evidence and plausible chains of contribution to the effect that WTO TA in the aggregate has 
produced sustainable benefits in beneficiary countries in terms of enhanced capacity to engage in 
the multilateral trading system.  
5.157.   The key factors su pporting this assessment are the broadly demand -driven nature of WTO 
TA, the quality of its outputs, and the fact that WTO TA is provided on a continuous basis. While 
individual TA activities may be one -off, the total WTO TA offer is not – it evolves in co nstant 
dialogue and interaction with beneficiaries. The eight country missions conducted by the 
Evaluation Team, with one exception, show that this offer assists at least core beneficiary 
ministries to teach and sustain a certain level of trade policy expe rtise and advance their capacity 
in specific areas. The Evaluation's country missions, interviews and survey comments also 
produced numerous credible examples from beneficiaries of targeted TA contributing to 
sustainable changes in their trade institutions , in legislation, WTO accession, WTO and other 
negotiations and agreements.  
5.158.   Beyond individual capacity it is, however, more difficult to systematically identify 
sustainable results of WTO TA, as these are dependent on so many other factors. The Reference 
Centre and WTO Chairs programmes clearly illustrate the challenge for WTO TA to help bring 
sustainable change. Many Reference Centres have with time either become inactive or have lost 
contact with the WTO Secretariat. In the case of the WTO Chairs Programm e it remains to be seen 
if participating universities are able to sustain a higher level of research, outreach and course 
activities in the area of trade policy. This is a key question for the up -coming final evaluation of 
the WTO Chairs Programme. This Ev aluation has found some interesting cases in which there are 
links and progression between participants in the PhD programme, RTPC Academic Coordinator 
and WTO Chairs, but has not been able to assess the extent to which this has supported 
sustainability on ce support ended.  
5.159.   Three factors in particular have been found to limit the sustainability of WTO TA. First, is 
the lack of focus on training local trainers and involving local stakeholders in the design and 
implementation of activities, even though some po sitive steps are taken in delivering regional 
activities with regional partners and economic communities. Second, individual TA activities can be 
more geared for sustainability (and impact). The BTORs provide some interesting examples 
regarding national ac tivities, such as strong dialogue with local hosts to target assistance, and the 
organisation of pre -training and follow -up events. The Advanced SPS Course is the most visible 
effort to increase sustainability, and it is notable how little take -up of this approach is reported WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  from other Divisions (with the exception of TBT). Third, the TPRs also hold an opportunity to 
embed WTO TA in national processes, but progress on this front seems very slow.  
5.4.3   Question 4.3 Have beneficiary countries begun to show reducin g needs for WTO 
TA and/or increasing capacities to support the needed training internally or from 
alternative sources of assistance?  
5.160.   There is no indication that this set of questions has been considered in any coherent way 
prior to this Evaluation. Drawing  on its different lines of evidence, including eight sample country 
missions, the Evaluation has found quite diverse trends in needs for WTO TRTA across the very 
wide range of eligible beneficiary countries, with a number of different regional patterns.  
5.161.   The overall picture is one of evolving needs and demands, unevenly growing indigenous 
training capacity, remaining wide continuing needs for excellent foundational training, and no 
alternative sources of assistance that can fully substitute for WTO in its ar eas of particular 
engagement and expertise (taking account of its comparative advantages as identified in Section 
5.1.4 above):  
 There is a small number of formally eligible countries that have now developed and can 
sustain their own capacities to the point  that they no longer require TRTA from WTO or 
other sources.  
 In another group (in which five of the Evaluation's eight sample countries might best be 
placed) substantial capacity has been built up, including some capacities for 
self-generating training in three countries, but where all five still look to WTO assistance 
as a basis for their own efforts, a key source on complex emerging issues, and a portal 
for the most credible foundational training on the MTS for new and emerging staff.  
 Another wide group o f countries (in which three of the more in -depth sample might be 
placed) still have major, sustained needs for the whole range of WTO TRTA and for 
diverse reasons their fully self -sustaining capacity in the MTS is still a distant and highly 
uncertain prosp ect. 
5.162.   The Evaluation's cross -cutting surveys of different groups of stakeholders show that all 
surveyed groups believe that the needs of beneficiary countries have increased or remained more 
or less constant over the period covered by the Evaluation (Table 6). 
Table 6 Survey responses: How beneficiary countries' needs for WTO TRTA have evolved 
in recent years  
 WTO 
Divisions  TA 
Contributor  External 
trainers  Internal 
trainers  Beneficiary 
members  
Increased  54% 67% 67% 57% 63% 
Remained more or less 
constant  46% 33% 10% 24% 25% 
Decreased  - - 14% 6% 13% 
No responses  13 9 21 49 9 
 
5.163.   On the basis of these findings, any simple assumption that WTO TRTA was only a short to 
medium term transitional need for new Members would not stand up to the  evidence, and nor 
would the proposition either that countries or TRTA have failed or that there are credible 
alternative ways for the international community to help countries play their full part in the MTS.  
5.5  Impact  
5.5.1   Question 5.1 Are results generated thro ugh research, reference centres, outreach 
contributing to informed policy positions of decision makers and policy debate on the 
MTS?  
5.164.   A number of relevant outputs that should be considered under this heading were produced 
during the period, such as the outr each events organised within the WTO Chairs Programme and WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  by the Reference Centres, together with the limited number of activities focusing on outreach to 
journalists, NGOs and parliamentarians. Additionally, other WTO TA activities target decision 
makers in various ways, e.g. when a government minister opens a national TA event or when the 
WTO team makes a presentation in a policy arena back -to-back with a training event. There are 
also more outreach -oriented TA events at global and regional level, such as  the China Round Table 
on WTO Accessions.  
5.165.   The extent to which these activities have influenced policy is extremely difficult to answer 
with certainty without detailed assessment of the activities concerned, which has not been within 
the scope of this Evalu ation. However, the eight country missions undertaken by the Evaluation 
Team gave no indication of any significant influence of academic support or outreach on trade 
policy making. Both the WTO Chairs and the Reference Centres Programmes appeared to be 
peripheral to the core ministries.  
5.166.   The most focused attempt to influence policy -making can undoubtedly be found within the 
outreach component of the WTO Chairs Programme. A significant number of outreach events that 
targeted policy makers were organised durin g the period by the Chairs. For example, as already 
reported in section 5.2.1, Chairs organised 33 outreach events with 2  477 participants in 2015 
alone. The potential value of these activities should be recognised. The Chairs themselves and the 
Advisory B oard rank support to outreach and communication very highly in the surveys (3.2 out of 
4 for both groups) compared to other aspects of the WTO support.  
5.167.   Nevertheless, the policy results are difficult to assess from the existing documentation of 
the WTO Chai rs programme. This may be partly because the reporting builds on self -reporting by 
Chairs and partly because of the inherent difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of outreach. It 
should also be recognised that bridging the gap between research and poli cy-making is a particular 
challenge in any context since the two spheres operate under such different logics.  
5.5.2   Question 5.2 Can observed changes in enabling or direct capacities to participate 
in the MTS (human, institutional, policy or legislative) at coun try level be plausibly 
linked to the contribution of the WTO TRTA?  
5.168.   The Evaluation Team had anticipated that tracing plausible links from the evidence on 
different WTO TA activities to these capacities to participate in the MTS would prove increasingly 
difficult. In fact, the pathways upward, from evidence on individual training programmes (more 
easily followed as the PLS has taken hold) strongly bear out the basic objectives in the 
programme's theory of change.  
5.169.   Section 5.2.1, drawing together the different lines of evidence, found that WTO TA has 
been largely effective in directly and indirectly achieving the overall objective of contributing to the 
capacities of developing country members to take advantage of multilateral trade rules and 
negotiations. The w idespread impact of WTO TA on the human capacities of beneficiary countries 
is real and tangible, and (as detailed by the "contribution analysis" test in Section 5.5.3) the 
Evaluation finds highly plausible evidence that WTO TA has also contributed to capa cities at 
institutional and policy -making levels. Corroboration of this finding comes from an unexpectedly 
overwhelming volume of powerful direct testimony in surveys of past training participants. A total 
of 739 training survey respondents provided an opt ional response to the question below, and 326 
of them provided specific examples of where WTO training had contributed in this respect.  
5.170.   "Please give concrete examples of where the WTO training made it possible for you to 
make a positive contribution to tra de policy -making, multilateral/regional trade negotiations or 
implementation of international trade agreements in your country". A few representative 
comments were as follows:  
"WTO Mission Internship [now French -Irish Internship Programme] training as well  as 
the regional intensive negotiating skills workshop provided me with the necessary 
training and exposure to become one of the chief trade negotiator for my country to 
the WTO and in Geneva more generally."  
"The RTPC and other Training or Workshops, help  me to understand WTO agreement 
and issues and make me able me to contribute to [our] accession to WTO and WTO 
meetings."  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  "Prepared a National Trade Policy Management System for the Country where I 
worked; prepared trade negotiations strategies at the nati onal and regional level; 
provided training in trade and investment for the private sector; prepared national 
trade policy briefs for the government; actively participated and contributed to policy 
positions for regional, international, bilateral and multil ateral trade policy 
negotiations."  
5.171.   More generally, the quantitative survey responses from trainees and interns strongly bear 
out these comments. Asked to rate the degree to which WTO participation contributed to 
"Strengthened trade policy and negotiating c apacity of staff", Interns gave a 3.3 out of 4 rating 
and training participants 3.1 (compared to 2.4 for former recipents of PhD support). Around half of 
trainers reported being aware of "some" cases where WTO has contributed to strengthening the 
trade pol icy and negotiation capacity of beneficiary countries, while an additional 22 % reported 
that they were aware of "many" such cases.  
5.172.   The evidence from the eight country missions of wider impact is varied, beyond the 
undisputed positive impact on human capita l. In one country WTO TA was linked to the formation 
of a committee on obstacles to trade and the Trade Facilitation Needs Assessment was reported to 
have involved close interaction of different stakeholders, normally not found in the country. In two 
count ries, people trained by WTO could contribute to resolving potential trade disputes. From one 
country, it is reported that WTO TA helped to strengthen technical capacities within the 
government, both in preparation for the accession process and for ongoing bilateral and regional 
negotiations, as well as the development of trade remedies legislation and institutions. In one of 
the mission countries alone, these concrete examples of strengthened capacity and negotiating 
impact were reported:  
 A respondent who h ad attended a trade in services course in Geneva stated that it 
helped in formulating trade in services schedules.  
 WTO TA was directly associated with an improvement in WTO notifications.  
 Training on TRIPS made it possible to advise the Ministry on issues around public health 
flexibilities in terms of access to generic drugs and on acceding to the Protocol amending 
the TRIPS Agreement. The training also helps in undertaking the TRIPS Council Reviews 
as staff are more knowledgeable and have capacity to under take them easily.  
 Training on Trade & Environment allowed a participant to provide advice to the Ministry 
of Environment in their formulation of a policy to conserve fish in a sensitive river 
system.  
 The training on the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the  needs assessment was 
considered very timely and was cited as a reason the country was amongst the first to 
submit their Cat. A measures to WTO and amongst the first to ratify the Agreement.  
5.5.3   Question 5.3 Is the WTO TRTA making contributions to the overall goal of a more 
effective participation in the MTS?  
5.173.   As expected from the outset in an evaluation of the effects of training and 
capacity -building, establishing and measuring clear contributions from WTO technical assistance to 
the overall goal of more effec tive participation in trade by beneficiary countries is the most difficult 
step in this Evaluation, as so many other factors are at work in shaping that participation.  
5.174.   Prior to this Evaluation, the documented evidence of impact within the TA programme has 
been very limited for the period. It was basically limited to a handful of country visits/reviews 
conducted in 2009 -12, and the internal (ex -post) evaluation of the Advanced SPS course in 2013, 
in addition to anecdotal data on e.g. the contribution of WTO TA to WTO Accession. It should be 
noted that while there is an understandable desire to see hard numerical indicator of actual 
impact, this prospect is likely to continue to be elusive. For example, the hope that countries' 
performance with notifications w ould yield such numbers, as tested in the most recent Annual 
Report, raises major questions of attribution after examination of the timeframes in the data of the 
Central Registry of Notifications (CRN).  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  5.175.   However, drawing on its different lines of evidence t he Evaluation has been able to trace 
demonstrated results from the training of individuals (including Interns) and groups through to 
strengthened contributions and rising levels of responsibility in their work, to more effective 
institutions in the field, and finally to collecting an unexpectedly large volume of plausibly -linked, 
concrete examples of more effective participation in the system by the countries concerned. 
Training participants rated their contribution to actual trade policy 2.87, compared to 3.26 for 
interns, while the corresponding ratings for contribution to regional trade agreements were lower 
at 1.74 and 3.03, as can be expected.  
5.176.   It is noteworthy that on these questions the ratings and observations of WTO Divisions and 
funding contributors , which in many other cases are less positive or more reserved than trainees, 
saw more contributions of the training to these outcomes. The survey responses also broke down 
the ways and stages where former trainees and interns assessed that they had made t heir 
contributions, which helps to refine and validate these data (Table 7).  
Table 7 Survey Responses  
How did you share what you learnt with colleagues after the WTO training? (multiple 
choices possible)  
 Training  Interns  
Briefed colleagues  32% 25% 
Briefed management  23% 18% 
Produced written report  28% 40% 
Made presentation to committee or broader group of stakeholders  13% 15% 
Did not share with colleagues  4% 2% 
Total 100%  100%  
How did you apply what you learned at the WTO tr aining in your work? (multiple choices 
possible)  
 Training  Interns  
In analytical work  48% 38% 
When preparing national positions ahead of trade 
negotiations/committees  32% 36% 
When implementing legislation/changing my country's legislative 
framework  15% 23% 
Did not apply knowledge  5% 3% 
Total 100%  100%  
 
5.177.   In addition to contributions to WTO Accessions completed or underway (which are difficult 
to isolate because of the extended and confidential nature of the processes) documentation and 
interviews highl ighted quite specific contributions on Trade Facilitation and to Government 
Procurement Agreement accessions, notably in transition economies. Meanwhile, the eight country 
missions heard concrete examples of the impacts of training on national negotiation and 
implementation across a wide range of issues, with the following frequency:  
 Trade Facilitation Agreement preparations: 5 countries;  
 Contributions to regional/preferential negotiations: 3;  
 Strengthening on notifications, TBT, and services: 3 each;  
 TRIPS : 2; 
 Dispute Settlement and SPS: 1 each.  
5.178.   According to the accepted evaluation standards for assessing contributions, as summarised 
below33, this body of evidence meets or exceeds the conditions for a reasonable causal claim that 
                                                
33 Adapted from http://betterevaluation.org/plan/approach/contribution_analysis  For a further useful 
summary treatment, see http://betterevaluation.org/resources/guides/contribution_analysis/ilac_brief . WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  the training interventions m ade substantial contributions to countries' more effective participation 
in the Multilateral Trading System:  
 There is a reasoned theory of change for the training intervention as a whole, made 
more explicit from 2013 on  as a more results -oriented TA approa ch began to be 
introduced and made explicit in WTO. The key assumptions behind why the intervention 
is expected to work make sense, are plausible, were supported by substantial evidence, 
and are explicitly or implicitly agreed upon by most of the key playe rs. As documented, 
there were significant variations and deliberate improvements introduced for different 
components to strengthen and sharpen the training portfolio as a whole over the period.  
 The activities of the intervention were implemented as set out  in the theory of change.  
 The theory of change is supported by and confirmed by evidence on observed results 
and underlying assumptions. The chain of expected results occurred to a substantial 
degree. The theory of change has not been disproved.  
 Surveys an d interviews asked explicitly for views on the nature and extent of the 
project's contribution to enhanced capacity, and successful attempts were made to 
triangulate the findings.  
 Risks and other influencing factors have been acknowledged and their relativ e role in 
contributing to the desired result has been recognised.  
5.179.   On the other hand, the Evaluation's assessment is that at this stage, the non -training 
components of the WTO TRTA programme – the WTO Reference Centres, the WTO Chairs 
programme, PhD support , "other academic outreach", and outreach activities for parliamentarians, 
journalists and civil society – cannot be demonstrated to meet these tests. As noted earlier, all or 
some of them may serve some particular niche functions and needs, but their cont ributions to 
intended results of the whole programme are unproven. With respect to support for the ELSA Moot 
Court, the WTO's materials stress that 'The WTO has been a sponsor and partner in the ELSA 
competition since its inception 13 years ago. It is an e xample of the WTO's broad support for 
capacity building over its 20 year history.' They document many different roles and contributions 
of WTO to the Court at several levels, not all of which would presumably be supported by TA 
funding. Nonetheless it is s till important to be systematic in specifying and assessing the expected 
contributions, along the lines of the tests set out in the preceding paragraph.  
6  SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT OF THE DOHA DEVELOPM ENT AGENDA GLOBAL TR UST FUND  
6.1.  The DDAGTF was established in 2002  in order to receive extra budgetary contributions from 
WTO Members to finance the implementation of the annual Technical Assistance Plans.34 It has 
formed the largest single funding source for the WTO's technical assistance activities during the 
2010-2015 period.  
6.2.  On this basis, the detailed assessments of the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, 
sustainability and impact of the WTO TA throughout the Evaluation can safely be read as 
assessments of the Trust Fund itself since they can be credited more to the  Global Trust Fund than 
to any other funding source. Going beyond this general attribution, however, there are significant 
features that are specific to this funding vehicle and they are analysed below.  
6.1  Flexibility  
6.3.  Since the other main funding sources – the WTO Regular Budget and several smaller 
"earmarked" Trust Funds – carry some inflexible budgeting restrictions or limited uses, the Global 
Trust Fund also has been the funding source that has made possible the major strategic changes 
and qualitative stren gthening of the Programme over this period.  
6.4.  The reported attribution of different TA activities between regular WTO budget sources and 
the main DDAGTF source (as set out in the relevant Annual Reports) has retained an early logic in 
                                                
34 https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/teccop_e/financing_trta_e.htm  sets out the basic facts 
on the DDAGTF.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  attributing to the regu lar budget as a priority mostly Geneva -based training activities that were in 
2002 viewed as the core of the programme.  
6.5.  Over the period the spending on TA from the Regular Budget has continued to fall. In 
addition, inflexible WTO requirements on line -by-line budgeting for that portion and limitations on 
recruitment of staff have been increasingly difficult to reconcile with the changing character and 
demands of the programme. Meanwhile, the earmarked Trust Funds, accounting for some 14 % of 
total income, wer e almost entirely directed to funding Internships, a valued activity but not an 
area requiring radical change.  
6.6.  Thus, recognising some measure of fungibility, the dedicated funding of the Global Trust 
Fund was essential in providing more responsive financia l and human resources (through fixed 
term L -posts) that enabled the rapid expansion of e -learning, the launch of the innovative 
Progressive Learning Strategy, and initiating more results -oriented management, among other 
improvements.  
6.2  Fund effectiveness  
6.7.  Between 2010 and 2015, the DDAGTF funding continued to be allocated somewhat 
selectively in specific areas in line with the initial logic from 2002. According to the analysis 
compiled by the Evaluation Team, the DDAGTF funded a total of 888 activities with a total value of 
CHF 61.5  million (Table 8). Spending has been reduced dramatically over the period from around 
CHF 16  million in 2010 to around CHF 8  million at the end of the period (Figure 12).  
Table 8 DDAGTF expenditure per main h eading 2010 -15 (CHF)  
Category  Total expenditure 
2010 -15 % of 
DDAGTF  
I - General WTO -related Technical Assistance and Training  21 744 926  35.4%  
II - Specialised & Advanced Training and Technical Assistance  17 971 933  29.2%  
III - Academic Support for Tra ining and Capacity Building  4 671 622  7.6%  
IV - Support Training & Technical Assistance Facilities  1 537 692  2.5%  
V - Other Programmes and Support activities with Funding 
Requirements  15 552 102  25.3%  
 
Figure 12 DDAGTF expendit ure per year 2010 -15 (CHF)  
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
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6.8.  Within these five categories, the sub -categories that add up to more than 5 % of the total 
value of expenses are:  
 Regional workshops providing specialised and advanced training and technical assistance 
(25.5 %); 
 RPTCs (23.4 %); 
 L (fixed term) posts funded within the WTO Secretariat (21.4 %); 
 Geneva -based thematic courses and events (6.2 %); 
 Regional short courses (5.8 %); and  
 WTO Chairs Programme grants (5.4 %). 
6.9.  Together, these six sub -groups constitute more than 87 % of total expendit ure under the 
DDAGTF. Thus, a good starting point for understanding the effectiveness of the fund's 
contributions is to look at how well each of the individual components have performed.  
6.10.   As a finding of the Evaluation, the Team has classified RPTCs, Geneva -based advanced 
thematic courses and workshops and regional and sub -regional seminars as having strong 
evidence of effectiveness over the period. These activities with more proven effectiveness would 
account for some two thirds of DDATGF funding, or close to 75 % if a proportional share of L -Post 
funding is attributed to them.  
6.11.   On the other hand DDAGTF -funded activities with mixed or weak evidence of effectiveness 
include WTO Reference Centres, the WTO Chairs programme and other academic activities. To 
these activities only about 9 % of DDAGTF funding can be attributed excluding the relevant work 
carried out on L -Posts.  
6.12.   The significant share of DDAGTF funding WTO Secretariat staff on L -post contracts also 
merits particular attention. While ITTC has tracked the overall number, cost and duration of 
activities per theme in its own operations, there appears to be no immediate correlation between 
the availability of L -post staff and the volume of activities delivered within a given year. However, 
in other Divisions w here funding of these TA L -posts has been consistent over a period of time – 
such as the Intellectual Property and Agriculture and Commodities Divisions – qualitative  evidence 
from surveys and interviews would appear to suggest that the incidence of succes sfully applying 
innovative approaches and receiving positive feedback may be higher than elsewhere.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  Figure 13 Global Trust Fund resources on L -posts 2010 -15 (CHF)  
 
 
6.13.   A plausible explanation may be that staff working on L -post contr acts can work exclusively 
on TRTA -related issues, meaning that these Divisions can dedicate staff members to focusing 
completely on servicing requests from developing countries. This is in definite contrast to 
substantive divisions without L -posts, which h ave to manage and juggle time around servicing 
negotiations, dispute settlement, and other functions. The use of Global Trust Fund resources on  
L-posts has been reduced and become more concentrated over the evaluation period (Figure 13).  
6.3  Financial trends and controls  
6.14.   Total contributions of over CHF 73.8  million were made by 25 WTO members over the  
six-year period, underlining DDAGTF's importance as a vehicle for donor collaboration and 
coordination. According to financial statements reviewed by the Evalua tion Team, total 
expenditure from the Fund (incl. overheads) was CHF 67.9  million. This represented an annualised 
average of 61.4 % of the total funds disbursed in WTO's TRTA, ranging from a high of 72 % in 2010 
to a low of 47 % in 2013. Annual contributions to the Global Trust Fund from Members, in line with 
tightening expenditures by the Programme, have been reduced by nearly half over the period to 
come into a cash -flow balance in 2014 -2015. Partly as a result of the prudential General Council 
requirement t o ensure continuity against payment of voluntary contributions being staggered 
through each year, the Fund has accrued an available balance of CHF 16.9  million.  
6.15.   Over the same period, the number of national contributors to the Global Fund narrowed 
from 19 i n 2010 and 2011 to 14 in 2012, 15 in 2013 and 13 in both 2014 and 2015. Meanwhile 
five donors have supported the other earmarked trust funds over the period, and another 20 
contributions came in during the latter part of the period to support the WTO's Tra de  
Facilitation -related activities.  
6.16.   In terms of financial controls, the Global Trust Fund is operated against periodic 
benchmarks and supervised by the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration and the 
CTD. The Evaluation encountered no evidence of concerns regarding the management and use of 
the funds. Progress with RBM systems in WTO TRTA, meshing with activity -based financial 
reporting, should begin to place this programme at the forefront for substantive transparency and 
accountability. In terms of governance, the Evaluation's surveys and interviews of contributing 
Members (not just to DDAGTF) show moderate levels of satisfaction with the information and 
consultation arrangements provided on WTO TRTA, while noting that there is a stronger appetite  
for further information on results.  
6.17.   While recognising the Trust Fund's indispensable benefits, the Evaluation must also note the 
additional administrative work and transparency challenges that inevitably come with having to 
maintain separate accounts and accounting by source and activity. Receiving further trust funds WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  adds to the challenges. While it would not be realistic to expect a mid -stream shift to a 
consolidated set of formal TA accounts, tracking the financial aspects of the entire TA portfolio, it  
would be beneficial for Programme -wide transparency to at least supplement the current tracking 
and presentation of the DDGTF financial statements with a tracking by TA Plan chapters or the Key 
results areas.  
6.4  Conclusion  
6.18.   This brief analysis of the DDAGTF d uring the Evaluation period has shown that its dominant 
quantitative role in the TA funding earns it and its contributors the central funding credit for the 
achievements of the programme documented throughout the Evaluation. There was no evidence of 
the Tr ust Fund inhibiting the programme's relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability or 
contributions to impact. Just as important as its size, its flexibility has allowed the programme to 
undertake substantial and timely reforms and improvements that would not have been possible 
without it. The Evaluation's analysis also suggests that the particular activities in the Programme 
that have been primarily supported by the Global Trust Fund are among the most effective.  
6.19.   From an overall strategic perspective , the DDAGTF has provided the initial central impulsion 
and essential resources to bring a model of greater professionalism and accountability to technical 
assistance in WTO. This investment, with substantial up -front costs incurred and management 
challeng es already overcome, will only be fully justified and secured if the improvements underway 
are completed and extended as appropriate to the other streams of TA that may be provided or 
proposed in WTO.  
7  CONCLUSIONS AND LESS ONS TO BE LEARNED  
7.1.  Without labelling  or programming it as such, WTO and its predecessor have long provided 
technical assistance to Members and potential Members. Since 2002, a larger volume of WTO TA 
activities for developing country members, mainly funded through a Global Trust Fund and oth er 
voluntary contributions, has been made increasingly systematic, coordinated and results -oriented 
through the TA Plan and its custom -built support system. The Evaluation finds convincing evidence 
in the 2010 -2015 period that most of the training componen ts of the WTO "Plan" TA have been 
largely, and increasingly, effective in their intended results of contributing to the capacities of 
developing country members to work with multilateral trade rules and negotiations.  
7.2.  But internally this assistance has not yet been fully integrated into the wider culture and 
management practice of WTO, and other informal technical assistance cultures persist in parallel, 
making the Organization's total effort less transparent, purposeful and accountable. The implicit 
subsidi ary and temporary status of TA in WTO has been reflected in its funding, staffing and 
management arrangements, including limited senior management engagement. In spite of these 
constraints, the programme has made substantial progress in its coherence, orga nisation, 
innovation and pedagogy and in managing for results.  
7.3.  As part of WTO's strategic vision for the future, especially given that the large majority of its 
membership is made up of developing countries, a systematic and professionalised technical 
assistance programme should be recognised as a substantial asset, and part of the core business 
of the Organization.  
7.4.  The conclusions and lessons below are organised under the evaluation headings of relevance, 
effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impac t and can be traced directly back to findings 
under each of the Evaluation questions.  
7.1  Relevance  
7.5.  Responsiveness to needs: The Evaluation has found that the WTO TA training and internship 
programmes (representing some 80 % of total TA expenditures) are highly  relevant and  
well-attuned to the professional needs, priorities and responsibilities of the individual beneficiaries 
and their national systems. They are demand -driven in a broad sense: the WTO staff make 
considerable efforts to obtain the views of curre nt stakeholders in the activities as set out in Figure 
5 on the design of programmes, and there are appropriate opportunities for further inputs and 
agreement on proposals, although there is some demand for greater input in the subsequent 
design of individ ual activities.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  7.6.  Evolution : Over the 2010 -2015 period, the training programmes have been changed 
significantly, both to respond to the shifting policy priorities in the field and also to strengthen the 
pedagogical quality and management of training. With ex pert input from WTO's Divisional 
specialists, subject coverage has been adjusted to keep pace with the evolving trade agenda and 
some courses have been substantially modified (in duration and content) to improve effectiveness 
and economy.  
7.7.  In training metho ds, the most important changes have been in the expansion and elaboration 
of e-learning over the period and the introduction of a Progressive Learning Strategy, especially 
since 2013. E -learning has made possible a huge expansion of the numbers of people t rained by 
WTO, and the Programme has succeeded in having the foundational e-learning courses accepted 
as pre -requisites for face -to-face courses. Rates of success (measured by exams), trainee 
satisfaction and progression are generally high. The e-learning offer has expanded to cover all 
main WTO areas of work (dispute settlement was added in 2015) and efforts have been made to 
increase interactivity. The Progressive Learning Strategy, developed from 2010 -2013 on, has 
clearly made great strides in bringing g reater coherence and cumulative learning results to WTO 
training offerings across such a wide range of topics and levels of instruction.  
7.8.  Further improvements needed : In addition to firmly rooting the changes and enhancements 
made to training over the perio d, the Evaluation identifies several important areas which need 
further improvement. These include: better trainer -training and trainer evaluation; additional 
staffing to support e -learning interaction (including across different time zones); more careful 
selection (by countries and WTO), placement and evaluation of training participants; ensuring that 
course offerings in Spanish, French and other languages meet demand; greater use of interactive 
and innovative training methods; and expanded effort to use a nd build self -sustaining training 
capacity in countries (See also Recommendations).  
7.9.  Non-training activities : Assessing the relevance of WTO TRTA activities beyond training and 
internships was far more difficult, as detailed in the Evaluation's assessments of the individual 
instruments. A clear question of continuing relevance does arise in relation to the existing pattern 
of support for WTO Reference Centres, particularly in light of rapid technological developments 
around electronic access to documentation . 
7.10.   WTO's comparative advantages and limitations : Among several dozen suppliers, the 
Evaluation found that there is no programme of trade -related technical assistance closely 
comparable to that of WTO. It can offer unique advantages of knowledge and practica l immersion 
in its specialised areas of multilateral negotiations and rules. At the same time, the study has 
identified a good number of relevant comparisons, complementarities and good practices with 
many other TRTA providers. These help confirm WTO's par ticular added value and limitations, 
show potential for further work in partnership, and offer lessons to improve WTO's own TA 
performance.  
7.2  Effectiveness  
7.11.   Advancing programme results : The Evaluation found compelling evidence that in the 
aggregate, WTO train ing (including internships) has been largely effective in its overall objective of 
contributing to the capacities of developing country members to take advantage of multilateral 
trade rules and negotiations.  
7.12.   Based on the Programme's agreed Results Framewor k, its most important intended Result is 
that of "Government officials implementing WTO Agreements and making full use of Members' 
rights".  
7.13.   The Evaluation's learning model showed high satisfaction with training at the basic 
"reactions" level. At the second  level – actual  learning – only e-learning and RTPCs now have 
objective measures (which show high rates of success) but there is also positive evidence on most 
but not all other forms. At the level of changes in work behaviour, there is substantial evidenc e 
that the training is being called upon extensively, and is linked to increased responsibility and 
career advancement. Finally, at the highest (results) level, informants volunteered  hundreds of 
"concrete" examples (i.e., named or implied negotiations, ag reements or policies) where the WTO 
training made it possible for them to make a positive contribution to their countries' trade  
policy -making, multilateral/regional trade negotiations or implementation of international trade WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  agreements. As a specific WTO  TA initiative, the preparatory support to Trade Facilitation 
Agreement needs assessments and negotiations played a material part in helping advance this key 
international priority.  
7.14.   The contributions of TA to Key Result 2 – "participation by Acceding gover nments in 
accession negotiations" – are harder to assess because of the extended and complex progress of 
accessions, and also because a share of the accession TA is provided outside the TA Plan. But the 
available evidence is that this support is appreciate d and effective, as it has been over the period 
for accession to the Government Procurement Agreement specifically.  
7.15.   On Key Result 3 – "Members accessing and using WTO -related information to raise 
awareness of WTO matters with all their stakeholders" – the evaluation findings are far less 
positive, both on the clarity of what is expected and on actual results. Confirming the WTO's own 
surveys and consultation results, the Evaluation's sample country missions revealed that four of 
five WTO supported Reference  Centres in these eight countries were only semi -active (one) 
inactive or completely moribund (three). On the other elements – a small number of outreach 
activities for parliamentarians, journalists and civil society organised by the External Relations 
Division and classified as TA – the Evaluation was not able to trace or measure significant evidence 
of effects on awareness -raising.  
7.16.   Finally, on Key Result 4, in which "WTO -supported academic institutions are applying trade 
policy and WTO -related topics and subjects in their courses and research" the conceptual 
expectations of how the scattered support will achieve strategic impact are also unclear. The main 
component, the WTO Chairs Programme, will be evaluated separately in 2017, in what should be 
an indepe ndent evaluation.  
7.17.   External factors: The main external "shock" during the period was initiated by the fall in TA 
resources that started in 2010. At the same time, there are strong indications that the pressure on 
volume spurred several reforms to improve th e quality of the TA being provided. The most serious 
constraint has not resulted from the fall in voluntary contributions, but the budgetary and staffing 
ceilings imposed on the WTO Secretariat. On the more positive side, technological developments 
have ma de it possible to expand e -learning and interactive learning methods, in addition to 
potentially streamlining TA work streams, although IT systems are still causing practical problems 
with TA management and have been vulnerable to intrusion.  
7.18.   Appropriate pa rticipation ? To a great extent, the intended groups of beneficiaries are 
participating in WTO TA, and changes over the period such as e -learning, the PLS and better 
definition of objectives in activities have improved targeting. At the same time, challenge s still 
remain in assuring the appropriate participation, especially from beyond core ministries. In 
absolute numbers, more men than women still benefit from most programmes. Non -English 
speaking beneficiaries frequently feel under -served.  
7.19.   Effectiveness of  individual programmes or activities : Most of the WTO's training and 
internship programmes are given similarly high ratings by direct beneficiaries themselves. The 
Evaluation has ranked the various instruments in two categories according to the combined 
quantitative and qualitative evidence of effectiveness that it was able to assemble.  
7.20.   Category 1: Instruments showing stronger evidence of effectiveness over the period 
include : WTO Internships; e-Learning courses; RPTCs; Trade Facilitation Needs Assessments and 
support for the Negotiating Group (transitional activities): Geneva -based advanced thematic 
courses and workshops (especially those with innovative, hands -on and sustained approaches like 
the SPS and new TBT course); National seminars, workshops and ac tivities (better defined and 
targeted over the period); Regional and sub -regional seminars; and Support for Accessions and 
the Advisory Role on Legal Issues. WTO's support for the ELSA Moot Court can also claim to make 
some strategic contribution.  
7.21.   Category  2: Instruments showing mixed or weaker evidence of effectiveness are: ATPCs; 
Other Geneva -based general courses and activities (e.g.  Geneva Week); Support for accessing and 
using WTO -related information to raise awareness with all stakeholders; Academic s upport, 
including WTO Chairs and PhD support. These activities are scattered and little known among most 
of the stakeholders in WTO TRTA. They may or may not be effective in particular niche functions, WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  and perhaps in synergy with other activities, but ther e is no significant evidence of them making 
strategic contributions to the whole programme to date.  
7.22.   Gender equality and the empowerment of women . The Terms of Reference for the 
evaluation called for a specific assessment of results in these areas,  while re cognising that they 
had not been specifically included in the TA plans over the period. The Evaluation found that, 
reflecting WTO Agreements and trade negotiations, these issues have not emerged prominently 
within WTO TA, other than with monitoring for rea sonably balanced gender participation in the 
training itself. Perhaps reflecting the rising concern internationally to ensure more equality in the 
incidence of benefits and costs from trade (as reflected in the SDGs) the Team found one main 
exception to th e absence of gender issues in the content of WTO TA, albeit coming after the 
evaluation period, and some indications that these elements may take on a higher profile in future. 
But more  
gender -sensitive content in the TA will depend on more gender sensiti vity being built into the 
Agreements in the future by Members, with the support of the WTO Secretariat. Thus it will hinge 
on the Members themselves advocating and promoting acceptance of such changes  
7.23.   Working relationships : The Evaluation examined the shar ing of responsibilities between 
stakeholders in implementing the programmes and found that all the sets of working relationships 
operate in formally appropriate ways, but that in practice they could be improved to bring more 
active and effective engagement  – internally and externally  – and to reduce inefficiencies and 
"transaction costs" (See Recommendations).  
7.3  Efficiency  
7.24.   There is clear evidence that WTO TA has taken a number of steps to use time and resources 
more effectively over the period, without signif icantly reducing its contribution to results. 
Significant efforts have been made to make WTO TA more coherent, purposeful, and quality 
conscious, which have strengthened the ability of the Organization to increase the transparency 
and quality of its TA. Th e evaluation finds that beneficiary countries and training participants, while 
largely unaware of these reform processes, are broadly satisfied with the evolving results. 
Internally to WTO, however, these changes in combination with the ways that results -based-
management systems have been introduced have generated significant concerns and even 
discontent within the Secretariat about bureaucratisation and loss of flexibility as well as instances 
of severe cost -cutting.  
7.25.   The cost of different types of training  activity has on the whole been reduced over the 
period. This is notable in the case of RTPCs, ATPCs, regional seminars and Geneva -based 
specialised courses, for which overall costs have fallen between a third and two -thirds over the 
period. The direct cos t of an e -learning participant is minimal at between 100 -157 CHF per 
participant over the period, compared to 400 -600 CHF for national activities, and currently around 
14 000 CHF for a participant in an ATPC or RTPC. It is important to recognise that activ ity costs do 
not take into account the amount of staff time spent on the programmes, nor its efficiency.  
7.26.   Overall, the survey responses of outside stakeholders seem more favourable regarding 
efficiency than what emerges from interviews with WTO staff. There  is a perception among ITTC 
staff that other Divisions are critical of their work, a perception confirmed in interviews with 
management and staff from some of the other Divisions (and in some cases from within ITTC). 
However, in other Divisions the intervi ewees were clearly understanding and appreciative of ITTC's 
management and efforts to organise TA. The Team's overall impression is that the grievances 
encountered concern relatively specific issues.  
7.27.   During the period a number of changes were introduced in  order to better manage WTO and 
increase efficiency. In the assessment of the Team these were necessary and to a large degree 
beneficial changes that have increased the transparency and efficiency of WTO TA.  
7.28.   The Evaluation has also found that the way TA is  governed and managed within the 
Organization reduces the potential efficiency of WTO TA. Some of these issues are inevitably linked 
to the wider vision, strategic directions, high level management and coordination of cross -cutting 
activities in the Organi zation as a whole. On a specific note, in spite of a number of efforts to 
rectify the situation, the current WTO Information Technology tools are not user -friendly, flexible 
and secure enough to meet the expectations of modern users.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  7.29.   Results -based manageme nt: The WTO has made significant progress in initiating a system 
of RBM to bring clearer direction and accountability to its TA activities, but implementation remains 
incomplete and this structured programme management approach is not yet well -integrated i nto a 
management culture traditionally based on supporting Member -driven negotiations, rules and 
dispute settlement. Significant achievements with the system have been recorded during the 
evaluation period, but implementation of RBM in relation to WTO TA r emains a work -in-progress, 
as has been acknowledged in the recent TA Plans and Annual Reports, and the Evaluation provides 
its assessment of remaining weaknesses and areas for further improvement.  
7.30.   Risk management and flexibility : WTO TRTA has adequately ma naged most kinds of 
possible risks over the period, with the exception of the damaging cyber -attack on the WTO's e 
learning operation, causing a major shut -down for a period in 2015. In terms of flexibility, the 
Evaluation's overall assessment – taking acc ount of major changes such as expanded e -learning 
and the Progressive Learning Strategy, as well as highly innovative approaches such as the SPS 
and TBT courses – is that the ability in the programme to adapt and innovate are reasonably 
strong.  
7.31.   Delivery pa rtnerships: WTO works extensively with partners in implementing its TA 
activities, but to varying degrees depending on the programme and region. With the reduction in 
donor resources the work with partners has become more systematized with a view to increa sing 
the value -added of the collaboration and reducing the costs of WTO TA. The interviews show that 
the idea of working in partnership is well anchored at all levels of the Organization, and a number 
of the partnerships are now well -established, reflectin g strong mutual interests. A particularly 
valuable contribution of national and regional partners is to add local context and perspectives to 
training and activities that the WTO Secretariat cannot cover because of its neutral mandate.  
7.32.   Communications : WTO' s ability to communicate about its TA activities with key stakeholders 
in countries is often dependent on communication being transmitted in turn by Member missions in 
Geneva and the focal point ministries in capitals. For purposes of course organisation a nd 
participant selection, the Evaluation has received evidence of numerous delays and bottlenecks in 
this chain, resulting in many cases of gaps or skewed representation in training courses. There is 
also evidence of considerable efforts by ITTC to supplem ent and expedite these communication 
flows. For purposes of accountability, the needs are met through the Annual Report and TA Plans 
presented to the CTD, together with financial reporting as required, although there is a definite 
appetite for more reporti ng of results. The effectiveness of communication has been limited by the 
programme conception and design on two of the other intended results of the Programme reaching 
and supporting academic institutions and enabling the use WTO -related information to ra ise 
awareness of WTO matters with all stakeholders.  
7.33.   Effects of "earmarked" contributions: The earmarked contributions during the Evaluation 
period represented some 14 % of total funding. While rising as a share of the total expenditure, 
most of them were st ill basically targeted to accepted priorities of WTO TRTA and the Plan, and are 
almost all activities that are now highly rated by this Evaluation. Thus they did not divert from 
meeting the substantive needs of beneficiaries. In terms of administrative eff iciency and easy 
transparency, however, the management by WTO's services of several different sources, 
specifications, payment schedules and reporting requirements unavoidably adds unneeded 
complexity. The Evaluation finds that these efficiency costs were still manageable, given the 
number and nature of the different earmarked sources during the period, but increasingly difficult.  
7.4  Sustainability  
7.34.   Financing: The record of WTO Plan TRTA over the past five years testifies to a capacity of 
the Organization to ad just and accommodate new requirements with increasingly professional 
technical assistance, but if the main pillars of budgetary and extra -budgetary funding are 
weakened or new activities handled through separate, less rigorous arrangements, the cohesion 
and critical mass of WTO technical support capacity will no longer be sustainable.  
7.35.   Results: The Evaluation finds both direct evidence and plausible chains of contribution to the 
effect that WTO TA in the aggregate has produced sustainable benefits in benefic iary countries in 
terms of enhanced capacity to engage in the multilateral trading system.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 66 - 
 
  7.36.   Reducing needs for WTO TA? The Evaluation finds three different situations among eligible 
countries in terms of need for WTO TRTA: a small group with self -sustaining  capacities; a growing 
group with strengthening capacities but in which WTO TA makes valuable targeted contributions, 
and another substantial group that still has major, sustained needs for the whole range of WTO 
TRTA and self -sustaining capacity in the MT S is still a distant and uncertain prospect. The overall 
picture is one of evolving needs and demands, unevenly growing indigenous training capacity, 
remaining wide continuing needs for excellent foundational training, and no alternative sources of 
assista nce that can substitute for WTO in its areas of particular engagement and expertise. Any 
simple assumption that WTO TRTA was only a short to medium term transitional need for new 
Members would not stand up to the evidence, and nor would the proposition eit her that countries 
or TRTA have failed or that there are credible alternative ways for the international community to 
help countries play their full part in the MTS.  
7.5  Impact  
7.37.   Research, reference centres, and outreach : While noting a number of outputs and  
outreach -oriented TA activities which appeared relevant and useful, the Evaluation encountered no 
significant evidence that dispersed results generated through support in these areas were 
contributing to their intended outcomes at a strategic level.  
7.38.   Changes in enabling or direct capacities to participate in the MTS: The pathways upward, 
from evidence on individual training programmes (more easily followed as the PLS has taken hold) 
strongly bear out the basic linkages in the programme's theory of change for t raining. The 
widespread impact of WTO TA on the human capacities of beneficiary countries is real and 
tangible, and the Evaluation found highly plausible evidence that WTO TA has also contributed to 
capacities at institutional levels in trade policy -making , legislative coherence, multilateral/regional 
trade negotiations and implementation of international trade agreements.  
7.39.   Actual contributions to more effective participation in the Multilateral Trading System: 
Drawing on its different lines of evidence the Evaluation has been able to trace demonstrated 
results from the training of individuals (including Interns) and groups through to strengthened 
contributions and rising levels of responsibility in their work, to more effective institutions in the 
field, and  finally to collecting an unexpectedly large volume of plausibly -linked, concrete examples 
of more effective participation in the system by the countries concerned. This body of evidence 
meets or exceeds the conditions for a reasonable causal claim that th e training interventions made 
substantial contributions to countries' more effective participation in the MTS.  
8  RECOMMENDATIONS  
8.1.  A good number of consistent directions emerged from the different lines of evidence and 
specific suggestions of committed stakeho lders in a wide range of countries. Not all points and 
ideas can be included here, but the focus is on the most important directions that are assessed to 
be realisable within WTO's mandate and likely means. The Evaluation Team is aware that some 
action is already being taken on several of these recommendations. The Evaluation ends by 
formulating the following strategic and practical recommendations to WTO Members and Senior 
Management and to ITTC and other WTO Divisions:  
8.1  To WTO Members and Senior Management : 
1. Use the review and response to this Evaluation as the first opportunity in a decade to 
consider and communicate the Organization's agreed commitment, vision and basic 
approach to technical assistance, taking account of the strong base established and 
remaining challenges identified.  
2. If justified by the results of this deliberation, re -affirm the crucial role and need for 
sufficiently substantial and reliable Regular Budget allocations as the contribution by 
all Members to maintaining the foundations  of the TA programme and recognise 
voluntary support to a Global TA Trust Fund as the most essential supplementary 
funding for TA activities.  
3. Include a commitment to use WTO's TA activities wherever possible to strengthen 
sustainable training capacities  within beneficiary countries and regions, e.g., by WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  engaging more local trainers, academic centres, and past participants in WTO training. 
In consultation with delivery partners, the Secretariat should identify and share 
existing good practices and promisi ng candidates for these roles.  
4. Use the reviews of Annual TA Reports and biennial Plans as more important strategic 
openings than in the past to take stock of progress and key issues in WTO's TA.  
5. Strengthen mechanisms at Senior Management level for st rategic monitoring, 
direction and problem -solving in this area of shared responsibility across the 
Organization. It should be supported by a clearly -mandated inter -divisional task force 
chaired by ITTC and charged with identifying cross -cutting problems an d opportunities 
and proposing appropriate actions. This task force should begin with frank clarification 
and problem -solving around managing TA for results, streamlining procedures 
wherever possible, and helping find agreed solutions to IT problems.  
6. Ensure that adequate administrative resources (financial and human) are made 
available to maintain and extend the investment to date in WTO's improving TA 
capacity. As the key organising and coordinating centre for TA, the longstanding 
structures and staffing  of ITTC should be reviewed and if necessary revised to ensure 
that they can meet the needs of a transformed Programme.  
8.2  To ITTC and other WTO Divisions  
8.2.1   Participation in training  
7. Seek agreement and suggestions from beneficiary Members for direct focal po int 
contacts in capitals to expedite and follow up essential and timely communications 
with all relevant stakeholders in country (e.g., on needs assessments, course 
nominations) while keeping Geneva missions fully informed.  
8. Re-double efforts to produce the most user -friendly information materials possible on 
course offerings and take all available steps to ensure that they reach all the 
appropriate target users in good time (i.e., not just core or focal point ministries).  
9. Consider and propose options for opening up at least some WTO training courses or 
topics (e.g., in e -learning) to wider audiences in all countries, perhaps on a fee -paying 
basis.  
10. In collaboration with Members, improve the selection process for intermediate and 
advanced courses to ensure the level of participants is more uniform.  
11. Continue to monitor and report on participation of women and men with a view to 
addressing remaining gender imbalances of participation in WTO TA.  
12. Study and propose ways to share good practices and otherwise help Members grapple 
with informing and engaging private sector actors in WTO -related issues affecting 
them. One suggestion was made for a specifically designed course for the private 
sector which the government could request as a national level activity.  
8.2.2   Technical Assistance instruments  
13. Reinforce the staff capacity to service the interactive requirements of the vital  
e-learning courses, including accessible service across time -zones.  
14. Examine and report on the pros and cons of discontinui ng the "ATPC" in favour of 
expanded advanced offerings at the regional level, allowing for wider participation and 
deeper contextualisation. Also consider the possibility of short executive courses 
suitable for the ministerial or permanent secretary levels . 
15. Investigate and report on the possibilities for developing new training options to 
follow -up on recommendations from Trade Policy Reviews.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  16. Safeguard the credibility and usefulness of national and regional courses by ensuring 
sufficient advance co nsultation in countries so that "off -the-shelf" presentations are 
tailored to specific contexts, and by soliciting specific questions or pertinent issues of 
stakeholders prior to the training.  
17. In collaboration with the External Relations Division, exam ine and propose alternative 
approaches to reference centres to help Members provide information and outreach on 
WTO issues to key opinion -leaders in tune with current technologies.  
18. In light of the planned final evaluation of the WTO Chairs Programme, w hich should be 
an independent external evaluation, be prepared to explore and propose alternative 
approaches to building working and policy -oriented links with a wider range of 
academic centres, e.g., through involving them more systematically in helping d eliver 
WTO courses wherever practicable.  
19. Take every opportunity to integrate issues of gender equality and the empowerment 
of women into TA programmes and training material in the context of emerging 
initiatives on social and poverty implications of tr ade, including the SDGs.  
20. Consider including workshops to explore issues of multilateral nature for which 
Agreements are yet to be concluded, for example the Singapore issues.  
8.2.3   Pedagogical quality  
21. In consultation with Human Resources and delivering D ivisions, ensure that a 
coherent system of training for trainers and trainer evaluation is put in place and 
applied as needed.  
22. Continue work to apply the PLS and consider introducing pre -tests and examinations 
in all training courses, in addition to fo llowing up with a sample of trainees in 
appropriate courses after 6 -12 months to establish how they are using the skills 
gained.  
23. Regularly review and report on the availability of course offerings in French, Spanish 
and other languages relative to the size of the pools of potential trainees.  
24. Share good TA practices (e.g., on Advanced SPS and new TBT courses and thematic 
approaches) for possible inspiration and adaptation by others and ensure that 
innovation is promoted within the TA procedures and s ystems.  
25. Benchmark WTO courses (including e -learning) against offerings by other institutions 
with a view to improving the learning experience and increasing interaction and 
interest for course participants, e.g., possibly pilot courses blending e -learning and in 
situ participation. Ensure that relevant training materials are available to participants 
in advance.  
8.2.4   Monitoring, evaluation and learning  
26. Strengthen practical and clearly understandable measures to track and improve 
results. Calling on facil itation and training attuned to WTO's business model, work to  
get "buy -in" across the Organization for a clear and sensible logical framework and 
meaningful indicators to guide the Programme; spell out a practicable M&E plan, 
including manageable and usefu l monitoring and frequency and levels of evaluation 
coverage.  
27. Further strengthen financial reporting on actual expenditure against budget by 
instrument and result areas and at portfolio level across all funding sources.  
28. Monitor and follow -up on iss ues raised in the participant evaluation forms and back -
to-office reports. Consider introducing a requirement for internal briefing/training of 
colleagues by training participants and interns, with country authorities taking 
responsibility to ensure that s uch sharing takes place.   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 69 - Annex 1 Main Documentary Sources  
Subtopic  Official title  Shortcode  Annual Reports  
Strategic Review of WTO -provided TRTA Activities - Final Report 2006   
Annual Report On Technical Assistance And Training (1  January To 
31 Decembe r 2010)  WT/COMTD/W/178  
Annual Report On Technical Assistance And Training (1  January To 
31 December  2011)  WT/COMTD/W/186  
Annual Report On Technical Assistance And Training 2012  WT/COMTD/W/197  
Annual Report On Monitoring And Evaluation Of Techni cal Assistance 
And Training 2012  WT/COMTD/W/199  
Annual Report On Technical Assistance And Training 2013  WT/COMTD/W/205  
Annual Report On Technical Assistance And Training 2014  WT/COMTD/W/209  
Annual Performance Report On Technical Assistance And T raining 2015  WT/COMTD/W/216  
WTO Annual Report (years 2011 – 2016)   Audit 
Reports  
Technical Cooperation Audit Report For 2008  WT/COMTD/W/169/Rev.1*  
Technical Cooperation Audit Report For 2009  WT/COMTD/W/174  
Technical Cooperation Audit Report For 201 0 WT/COMTD/W/177  
Technical Cooperation Audit Report For 2011  WT/COMTD/W/187  Biennial 
TA plans  
 
 
Biennial Technical Assistance And Training Plan 2010 – 2011 Revision  WT/COMTD/W/170/Rev.1  
Biennial Technical Assistance And Training Plan 2012 – 2013 Revi sion WT/COMTD/W/180/Rev.1  
Biennial Technical Assistance And Training Plan 2014 – 2015 WT/COMTD/W/200  
Biennial Technical Assistance And Training Plan 2016 –17  WT/COMTD/W/211  Biennial TA plans – Regional 
Consultations  
Note on ITTC's Consultations wit h the African Group and the LDC 
Group November  2011  
Consultations with the African Group on the Preparations of the 
Biennial TA Plan 2014 -2015 Tuesday, 7  May 2014  
Summary of consultations with the African Group on the TA Plan 
2016-17 25  June 2015  
ARAB AND MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES (AMEC) consultations 2011   
AMEC TRTA consultations, 29.06.2015   
Arab Group (Ambassador Level) consultations on the next ITTC 
Technical Assistance and training Biennial Plan for 2012 -2013  
ASIA AND PACIFIC ECONOMIES, con sultations 2013   
ASIA AND PACIFIC ECONOMIES CONSULTATIONS FOR THE TA PLAN 
2016-2017  
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN, CENTRAL ASIAN AND CAUCASUS 
COUNTRIES (CEECAC) 2011   
Consultations with the CEECAC countries and replies to the 2014 -2015 
TA Plan Questi onnaire  Ssey/CEECAC/note 
consultations 3 5 2013  
CEECAC TRTA consultations, 23 06 2015    
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 70 - Subtopic  Official title  Shortcode  
WTO Institute for training and technical cooperation ASIA AND 
PACIFIC DESK Questionnaire in preparation for a technical assistance 
plan for 2012 -2013  
Informal con sultations with the G -90 meeting 5  June 2013 
Preparations of the Biennial TA Plan 2014 -2015  
Consultations with the GRULAC on the next ITTC Technical Assistance 
and Training Biennial Plan for 2012 -2013 1  April 2011 Note on Meeting   
Consultations with G RULAC (Latin America and Caribbean), 
consultations 2013   
Consultations with GRULAC (Latin America & the Caribbean) and 
replies to the 2014 -2015 TA Plan Questionnaire Memorandum   
Latin America and Caribbean region, GRULAC consultations 2015   Communicat ion 
and outreach  2016 ANNUAL SESSION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE ON 
THE WTO -What future for the WTO? -Geneva, 13 -14 June 2016DRAFT 
OUTCOME DOCUMENT   
WTO GLOBAL AND REGIONAL TRTA IN 2015: IMPORTANT 
INFORMATION AND DATES Revision  JOB/TC/8/Rev.1  
Global Trade -Related Technical Assistance Database (GTAD)   
Improving understanding of the WTO trading system, Training and 
technical assistance, Brochure 2015   CTD Minutes  
Committee on Trade and Development Seventy -Ninth Session  WT/COMTD/M/79  
Committee o n Trade and Development Eighty -Second Session  WT/COMTD/M/82  
Committee on Trade and Development Eighty -Fifth Session  WT/COMTD/M/85  
Committee on Trade and Development Eighty -Sixth Session  WT/COMTD/M/86  
Committee on Trade and Development Eighty -Seventh Session  WT/COMTD/M/87  
Committee on Trade and Development Eighty -Eight Session  WT/COMTD/M/88  
Committee on Trade and Development Eighty -Ninth Session  WT/COMTD/M/89  
Committee on Trade and Development Ninety -First Session  WT/COMTD/M/91  
Committee on Tra de and Development Ninety -Second Session  WT/COMTD/M/92  
Committee on Trade and Development Ninety -Fifth Session  WT/COMTD/M/95  
Committee on Trade and Development Ninety -Seventh Session  WT/COMTD/M/97   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 71 - Subtopic  Official title  Shortcode  Financial & Management  
 
 
 
2011 Annual Report On Divers ity In The WTO Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/266  
2012 Annual Report On Diversity In The WTO Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/292  
2013 Annual Report On Diversity In The WTO Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/323  
2014 Annual Report On Diversity In The WTO Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/354   
2015 Annual Report On Diversity In The WTO Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/387  
Second Annual Report On Diversity In The WTO Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/227  
2013 Annual Report On Grading Structure And Promotions In The WTO 
Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/331/Rev.1  
2014 An nual Report On Grading Structure And Promotions In The WTO 
Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/366  
2015 Annual Report On Grading Structure And Promotions In The WTO 
Secretariat  WT/BFA/W/395  
Financial Regulations of the World Trade Organization  WT/L/156/Rev.3  
ITTC Output Management 2015  Slides  
Letter Of Final Observations On The Financial Statements Of The World 
Trade Organization (WTO) For The Year Ended 31  December  2012 And 
Performance Audit  WT/BFA/W/303  
Letter Of Final Observations On The Financial Statemen ts Of The World 
Trade Organization (WTO) For The Year Ended 31  December  2013 And 
Performance Audit  WT/BFA/W/335  
Report Of The Independent External Auditor On The Audit Of The 
Financial Statements Of The World Trade Organization (Wto) For The 
Year Ended 31 December  2015 WT/BFA/W/393  
WTO Secretariat Risk Management System 2014  WT/BFA/W/320  
WTO Secretariat Risk Management System 2015  WT/BFA/W/386  
WTO Secretariat Risk Management System 2016  WT/BFA/W/362  
WTO 2009 Financial Performance Report  WT/BFA/W/ 215  
WTO 2010 Financial Performance Report  WT/BFA/W/236  
WTO 2011 Financial Performance Report  WT/BFA/W/280  
WTO 2012 Financial Performance Report  WT/BFA/W/304  
WTO 2013 Financial Performance Report  WT/BFA/W/334  
WTO 2014 Financial Performance Re port WT/BFA/W/365  
World Trade Organization 2015 Financial Performance Report  WT/BFA/W/392  
WTO DDAGTF Financial Statement 2010  TF/TDA10  
WTO DDAGTF Financial Statement 2011  TF/TDA11  
WTO DDAGTF Financial Statement 2012  TF/TDA12  
WTO DDAGTF Financial  Statement 2013  TF/TDA13  
WTO DDAGTF Financial Statement 2014  TF/TDA14  
WTO DDAGTF Financial Statement 2015 V2  TF/TDA15   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 72 - Subtopic  Official title  Shortcode  ITTC and Division 
Documents  
WTO Accessions 2010 Annual Report By The Director -General  WT/ACC/14  
WTO Accessions 2011 Annual Report By The Director -General  WT/ACC/15 and WT/GC/135 
and WT/MIN(11)/3  
WTO Accessions 2012 Annual Report By The Director -General  WT/ACC/19  
WTO Accessions 2013 Annual Report By The Director -General  WT/ACC/21 and WT/GC/155 
and WT/MIN(13)/6  
WTO Accessions 20 14 Annual Report By The Director -General  WT/ACC/23  
Wto Accessions 2015 Annual Report By The Director -General  WT/ACC/25 and WT/GC/174 
and WT/MIN(15)/7  
WTO SPS Technical Assistance Activities In 2013: General Information, 
Selection Process And Applicati on Form  G/SPS/GEN/997/Rev.3  M&E and RBM  
Did the WTO e -Training Programme generate Productivity Gains? 2010   
Advanced Trade Policy Course 2014 Evaluation - Technical Assistance 
Monitoring & Evaluation August  2014  
Evaluation of the Reference Centre T raining for NTP and MIP Trainees, 
Geneva, 23 -24 November  2011 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Regional Trade Policy Courses 2014 Evaluation - Technical Assistance 
Monitoring & Evaluation - December  2014  
Advanced SPS Technical Assistance Programme 2005 -2013 Evaluat ion 
-Technical Assistance Monitoring & Evaluation December  2013  
Evaluation of eTraining - Final Report 2010   
Evaluation of the GENEVA WEEK Programme - Technical Cooperation 
Audit - December  2011  
Collecting Evidence on Effects and Impact of WTO Tech nical Assistance 
Cape Verde, 5 -8 October  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Collecting Evidence on Effects and Impact of WTO Technical Assistance 
Egypt, 26  October  2009 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Collecting Evidence on Effects and Impact of WTO Technical Assistance 
Jordan, 6  July 2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Collecting Evidence on Effects and Impact of WTO Technical Assistance 
Lesotho, 8 -11 June 2009 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Collecting Evidence on Effects and Impact of WTO Technical Assistance 
Senegal, 9 -12 November  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
ITTC Comments on TCA Report 2010  WTO OMC Memorandum  
ITTC response to TCA on -site evaluation report on the first 
Geneva -based Advanced Trade Policy Course  WTO OMC Memorandum  
Next onsite evaluations  WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Eva luation – 1st Advanced Trade Policy Course Geneva, 
13 September -2 December  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 73 - Subtopic  Official title  Shortcode  
Memorandum On -site Evaluation – Four-week Trade Policy Course for 
CEECAC Countries, Rome, Italy, 28  September -23 October  2009 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – Regional Course on DS for East Asian Countries, 
Beijing, China, 31  August -4 September  2009 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Onsite Evaluation of the Regional Seminar on Regional Trade 
Agreement for English - Speaking African Countries, Gaborone, 
Botswan a, 17 - 19 May 2011 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – Regional Workshop on SPS for Southern African 
Countries Maseru, Lesotho, 8 -11 June 2009 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Onsite Evaluation of WTO/SADC Regional Workshop on the DDA 
Negotiations, Services a nd Regional Trade Agreements, Durban, South 
Africa, 5 -8 October  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation - Seminar on WTO Accessions for Central and 
Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus Region, Vienna, 
Austria, 12 -14 July 2011 WTO OMC Memoran dum  
Onsite Evaluation of WTO Short Trade Policy Course for Central 
European, Central Asian and Caucasus Countries, Istanbul, Turkey, 
28-29 October  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – 8th Thematic Course on Trade Negotiations  
Geneva, 14  Septe mber-20 November  2009 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – eTraining courses on Introduction to the WTO and 
eWTO, May  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – Preparatory Workshop for the 2010 RTPC in 
Colombia, Geneva, 9 -11 December  2009 WTO O MC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – Regional Seminar on GATS for French -speaking 
African Countries, Praia, Cape Verde, 5 -7 October  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – Regional Seminar on NAMA Negotiations for Arab 
and Middle -East Countries, A mman, Jordan, 5 -8 July 2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
On-site Evaluation – Regional Workshop on Needs Assessments for 
French -speaking LDCs, Dakar, Senegal, 9 -11 November  2010 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Progressive Learning Strategy: Where do we stand? What next?  WTO OMC Memorandum  
BTOR: Mission to Nairobi, Kenya, on the implementation of RBM for TA 
activities, 17 -19 July 2012 WTO OMC Memorandum  
BTOR: Mission to Dakar, Senegal, on the implementation of RBM for 
TA activities, 24 -26 July 2012 WTO OMC Memorandum  
Evaluation Of The Regional Trade Policy Courses 2002 – 2007 
Technical Cooperation Audit Unit 23  April 2009  
Results Based Management Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit 2013  WTO OMC  
Annual Report On Monitoring And Evaluation Of Technical Assistance 
And Training 2012  WT/COMTD/W/199   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 74 - Subtopic  Official title  Shortcode  
Ex-Post Evaluation Of The WTO Trainee And Internship ProgrammE 
2005 – 2009 Technical Cooperation Audit Unit 9  April 2010  
Comments on the ex -post evaluation of the WTO Trainee Internship 
Programme 2010  WTO OMC Memorandum  
Back to Office Reports (sample)   TRTA guides 
and 
workflow  
 
 Practical Guide for WTO Technical Assistance and Training 2010, 
Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation   
Practical Guide for WTO Technical Assistance and Training 2013, 
Institute fo r Training and Technical Cooperation   
Practical Guide for WTO Technical Assistance and Training 2016, 
Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation   
 
 
_______________  
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
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Annex 2 Terms of Reference  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX I. TERMS OF REFERENCE  
 
 
RFP-2015 -097-ITTC -Eval 
 
WTO TRTA External Evaluation  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS  
 
I. INTRODUCTION  ................................ ................................ ................................ . 76 
 
II. RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE TRTA EVALUATION  ................................ . 76 
 
III. TRADE -RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY THE WTO  ..................  77 
 
IV. SCOPE OF THE WTO TRTA EVALUATION ................................ .............................  78 
 
V. METHODOLOGY FOR THE TRTA EVALUATION  ................................ .....................  78 
 
VI. COMPETENCE OF THE CONSULTANCY TEAM FOR THE TRTA EVALUATION  ..........  81 
 
VII. TASKS OF THE CONSULTANCY TEAM RELATED TO TRTA EVALUATION  ...............  82 
 
VIII.  ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THE TRTA EVALUATION  ................................ ...............  83 
 
IX. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION  ................................ ................................ ...........  84 
 
X. COMPETITIVE SELECTION PROCESS (RFP)  ................................ ........................  85 WT/COMTD/89  
 
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 I. INTRODUCTION  
 
1. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global International Organization dealing 
with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO Agreements, negotiated, signed 
and ratif ied by the bulk of the world's trading nations.  
 
2. The WTO provides a forum for negotiating agreements aimed at reducing obstacles to 
international trade and ensuring a level playing field for all, thus contributing to economic growth 
and development. The WT O also provides a legal and institutional framework for the 
implementation and monitoring of these agreements, as well as for settling disputes arising from 
their interpretation and application. The current body of trade Agreements comprising the WTO 
consists of 16 different multilateral Agreements (to which all WTO Members are parties) and two 
different pluri -lateral Agreements (to which only some WTO Members are parties).  
 
3. Providing technical assistance (TA) to the Members and Observers who need it has be en a 
core function of the WTO Secretariat for many years. This was recognized, inter alia, in the 
Ministerial Declaration adopted in November  2001 in Doha.  
 
4. TA activities are managed by the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC). 
Their imp lementation involves most of the divisions of the WTO Secretariat.  
 
5. The work of the WTO Secretariat in the TA domain is overseen by the Committee on Trade 
and Development (CTD) which reviews and approves the biennial TA and Training Plans, and then 
discuss es and takes note of the Annual Reports on TA and training, and by the Committee on 
Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) which clears the costing and funding of the TA and 
Training Plans and the WTO accounts.  
 
II. RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE TRTA EVALUATION  
 
6. The main objective of the evaluation is to independently assess the functioning of all WTO 
Trade -Related Technical Assistance (TRTA), analyse WTO TRTA delivery, best practices, lessons 
learned, paying particular attention to progress towards t he achievement of the targeted results 
outlined in the TA Plans. The analysis should assess the following aspects and make 
recommendations for improvement or change as necessary:  
 
a. Relevance of the WTO TRTA to beneficiaries and participants, including relev ance to 
the overall WTO negotiation mechanism/global Aid for Trade (AfT) initiative;  
 
b. Effectiveness and efficiency of the WTO TRTA;  
 
c. Results achieved by the WTO TRTA, including output, outcome and, to the extent 
possible, impact;  
 
d. Sustainability of results  and delivery of assistance;  
 
e. WTO comparative advantage in the field of TRTA, including complementarity with the 
TRTA offered by other sources;  
 
f. Suitability of the WTO TRTA monitoring and evaluation system;  
 
g. Communications with stakeholders.  
 
7. In addition t o the main objectives outlined above (in para 6), and while recognizing that the 
Biennial TA plans have not requested the ITTC to promote gender equality and the empowerment 
of women within the TA, the evaluation should make a short assessment of the gende r dimension 
of WTO TRTA. The emphasis, however, should be to identify recommendations and best practices 
in this area for future TRTA delivery.  
 
8. Whilst the evaluation should assess the TRTA provided by the WTO as a whole, these 
elements should also make it  possible to assess the comparative advantage of the different TRTA 
programmes and products proposed by the WTO to beneficiary countries, as well as of the various 
origins of their funding. The origins of funding are the following:  WT/COMTD/89  
 
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    WTO regular budget  
 DDAGT F 
 Netherlands Trainee Programme  
 WTO Chairs Programme  
 Mission Internship Programme  
 WTO China Programme  
 Trade Facilitation Needs Assessments  
 Trade Facilitation Negotiating Group  
 Participation of LDCs in Ministerial Conferences  
9. A valuable strategic contributi on of this evaluation would be to consider how, based on the 
experience of TRTA provision from 2010 -15, future WTO TRTA can be provided.  
 
III. TRADE -RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY THE WTO  
 
1. TRTA Provided by the WTO Secretariat  
 
10. The WTO TA is dedicated towards contributing to enabling WTO Members to actively 
participate in the rules -based Multilateral Trading System (MTS), deal with emerging challenges 
and implement their rights and obligations.  
 
11. The main targeted beneficiaries of WTO TA and tr aining are government officials, but others 
such as academia, private sector, NGOs, civil society, members of parliaments, media and 
journalists involved or promoting WTO -related issues also benefit.  
 
12. A number of TA and training activities are designed to address priority needs identified with 
a view to achieving the following targeted results in the long -term:  
 
a. Members implement the WTO Agreements and make full use of their rights;  
 
b. Acceding governments are participating in accession negotiations, in line with WTO 
accession processes and procedures;  
 
c. Members are accessing and using the WTO -related information enabling them to raise 
awareness of WTO matters with all their stakeholders;  
 
d. WTO-supported academic institutions are addressing trade policy and WTO -related 
topic and subjects in their courses and research.  
 
13. Since 2010 and the adoption of a progressive learning strategy, the WTO Secretariat 
structured its TA offer around three progressive levels of training (introductory, intermediate and 
advanced) for  both generalists and specialists. TA and training is provided through online courses 
available throughout the year and approximately 300 face -to-face activities per year whose 
duration varies from a few days to several weeks. Face -to-face activities are h eld in Geneva and in 
beneficiary Members or Observers.1 They can be organized on a global, regional or national basis 
and at different levels of learning.  
 
2. Sources of Funding  
 
14. TA activities are financed by a combination of funds from the WTO regular bud get and 
voluntary contributions from donors. Voluntary contributions are managed through trust funds. 
                                                
1 There are 145 beneficiaries of WTO TRTA.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 78 - 
 
   
 The main Trust Fund of the WTO is the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF), 
which is a multi -donor un -earmarked Fund dedicated to the fundin g of the TA and Training Plans. 
Between 2010 and 2013, the total expenditure for WTO TRTA activities was about CHF 79  million 
(from the regular budget, DDAGTF and other trust funds). In 2014, about CHF 16  million were 
spent to fund TA activities for the ye ar as provided for in the 2014 -2015 TA Plan.  
 
3.  Implementation of Result -based Management (RBM)  
 
15. In 2012, WTO started implementing Result -based Management (RBM) for its TA activities. 
The immediate results of most TA activities are evaluated by the train ers themselves, taking the 
views of the participants into account, under the procedures established by the Technical 
Assistance Monitoring & Evaluation Section (TAME) of ITTC. In addition, TAME regularly conducts 
dedicated evaluations of particular program mes and country reviews to assess the longer -term 
results of the TA activities.  
 
16. The introduction of RBM led to an adjustment in the management of WTO TRTA. The new 
approach focused on achieving outcomes and measuring them, leading to an adjustment in the 
reporting of performance to Members. The new RBM M&E framework calls for periodic independent 
evaluation of WTO TA and training so as to measure the achievement of results as specified in the 
TA Plans. The last external evaluation of WTO TRTA took place in  2006.  
 
IV. SCOPE OF THE WTO TRTA EVALUATION  
 
17. The evaluation will follow a comprehensive approach and assess all WTO TRTA activities, 
irrespective of their source of funding (see III.2. above). Any segregation in the TA provided by 
the WTO on the basis of  the origin of its funding would risk presenting an incomplete picture, as 
activities can draw on resources financed by a mix of regular budget and voluntary contributions.  
 
18. Nevertheless, given the special focus of certain donors on the DDAGTF and the sign ificance 
of the funding it provides, the evaluation will also include a particular focus on the activities it 
financed and their results. This should take the form of a dedicated chapter in the Final  
Evaluation Report . 
 
19. The time -period covered by the evalu ation will be calendar years 2010 -2015.  
 
20. Details of the TAs carried out during the above period can be found in the TA Plans and 
Annual Reports on TA, that can be accessed in ( http://gtad.wto.org/ ). 
 
V. METHODOLOGY FOR  THE TRTA EVALUATION  
 
1. General Principles  
 
21. The evaluation shall be conducted in a transparent and participatory manner, involving 
relevant stakeholders.2 It should involve a combination of desk -studies, questionnaires, interviews 
and a limited number of  field visits in selected countries which received TA from the WTO. The 
evaluation is required to relate credibly its findings, conclusions and recommendations to reliable 
evidence collected through these means, for example by using more than one method to  collect 
data (triangulation of data).  
 
22. The evaluation shall be guided by internationally accepted norms and standards, including 
the OECD -Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria for development effectiveness 
(relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability)3, the TA biennial Plans from 2010 
to 2015, and the WTO Monitoring & Evaluation framework.4 
 
23. The evaluation will be guided by these TOR. An Inception Report  will specify the detailed 
evaluation issues and methodology. The Inceptio n Report  should aim to validate the quality and 
comprehensiveness of the evidence available. The Inception Report  will be approved by the 
                                                
2 WTO TRTA Stakeholders include beneficiaries of WTO TRTA, donors to t he trust funds, WTO TRTA 
partners and the WTO Secretariat.  
3 http://www.oecd.org/development/evaluation/daccriteriaforevaluatingdevelopmentassistan ce.htm . 
4 http://gtad.wto.org/ . WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 79 - 
 
  Steering Committee (SC). In considering the Inception Report , the SC will assess the quality of 
the methodology propos ed by the evaluators in line with the following criteria:  
 
a. Suggested approach to respond to the objectives of the evaluation, including a work 
plan, time schedule and sample of countries to be visited.  
 
b. Development and refinement of the evaluation objectiv es. 
 
c. Sampling approach to select key stakeholders to be interviewed or sent 
questionnaires; activities, programmes and countries to be reviewed. The sampling, 
interviews or surveys shall be done in a way that ensures a balance between different 
stakeholder s and their perceptions. The analysis of the interviews or surveys must 
acknowledge differences in the involvement of the respondents in the programmes 
and the potential existence of vested interests.  
 
d. Assessment of the data quality and comprehensiveness, and outline of how data 
limitations will be addressed.  
 
e. Overall analytical approach and basis used to assess TA results.  
 
f. Evaluation quality standards that will be used internally.  
 
g. Limitations of the methodology proposed and how the evaluators propose to mitigate 
them.  
 
24. There are 145 WTO TRTA beneficiary members and observers. The selection of 
countries/Members to be visited will be based on desk evaluation and influenced by the level of 
WTO TRTA received, geographical/regional distribution, language, and development factors such 
as least developed status. For bids comparison purposes and to the extent possible, a maximum 
number of 12 field visits should be undertaken as part of the evaluation process. The final list of 
the field visits and the rationale be hind this selection are to be specified in the Inception Report . 
 
2.  Evaluation Questions  
 
25. The questions below are provided as a means for potential bidders to get a better 
understanding of the issues which should usefully be addressed by the evaluation. They are 
indicative and by no means exhaustive. The purpose of the Inception Report  will precisely be to 
focus the evaluation on the most relevant and useful questions in order to assess the relevance, 
effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact o f the WTO TRTA.  
 
A.  Relevance  
 
26. The assessment of the relevance of the WTO TRTA will focus on but not be limited to the 
following questions:  
 
i) To what extent do the WTO TA Plans respond to the needs and priorities of the 
beneficiaries?  
 
ii) To what extent do th e objectives stated in the TA Plans correctly address the 
identified problems and priority needs of beneficiaries? Are the stated objectives 
sufficiently clear?  
 
iii) Is there a sufficient degree of flexibility to facilitate rapid responses to changing 
circumst ances?  
 
iv) What is the involvement of stakeholders in the design and implementation of TA 
and training activities?  
 
v) How accessible is the TRTA offered by the WTO to the beneficiaries?  
 
vi) Is WTO TRTA relevant in the bigger picture of all TRTA and the multilatera l 
trading system in general??  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 80 - 
 
  vii) How appropriate is the WTO M&E System in measuring progress towards 
achieving TA and training target results?  
 
B. Effectiveness  
 
27. The assessment of the effectiveness of the WTO TRTA will focus on the extent to which the 
targete d results are being achieved.  
 
i) Have the WTO TRTA objectives been achieved?  
 
ii) What role have external factors played?  
 
iii) Are the intended beneficiaries participating in WTO TRTA activities? Is there a 
reasonable gender balance in participation?  
 
iv) How adequate a re the outcomes and indicators in responding to the WTO TRTA 
strategic priorities and objectives?  
 
v) Which WTO TRTA programmes or activities have been most effective in terms of 
meeting the needs of beneficiaries?  
 
vi) What lessons can be drawn from those activi ties that have been less effective?  
 
vii) Has the sharing of responsibilities between the various stakeholders been 
appropriate?  
 
viii) Has the WTO TRTA contributed to gender equality and the empowerment of 
women?  
 
C. Efficiency  
 
28. The assessment of the efficiency of t he WTO TRTA will focus on establishing whether the 
inputs are leading to the intended outputs and whether activities are being efficiently managed 
and respond to the following questions:  
 
i) Has the implementation of the WTO TRTA made effective use of time an d 
resources toward achieving results as described in the TA Plans?  
 
ii) Has management of risk been adequate, i.e. whether flexibility has been 
demonstrated in response to changes in circumstances?  
 
iii) To what extent have partnerships contributed to the efficient  implementation of 
WTO TRTA?  
 
iv) To what extent has the quality of information reported to key stakeholders been 
adequate?  
 
v) Which factors influenced delivery and implementation of the WTO TA Plans?  
 
vi) Did the origin of the TRTA funding (regular budget or trust funds) and the 
earmarking by donors influence the TRTA offered by the WTO and its capacity to 
respond to the needs of beneficiaries?  
 
D. Sustainability  
 
29. The assessment of the sustainability of the WTO TRTA will focus on whether the benefits of 
TA and train ing on WTO -related issues are likely to continue should current financial and human 
resources decline or after donor funding has been withdrawn.  
 
i) Does the current equilibrium in the WTO TRTA resources between regular 
budget, DDAGTF and earmarked trust fund s support the sustainability and coherence 
of the WTO TRTA in the longer -term?  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 81 - 
 
   ii) To what extent have the WTO TRTA activities produced a sustainable and lasting 
impact in beneficiaries?  
 
iii) Are WTO TRTA results likely to be sustainable?  
 
iv) Should the level of WTO TRTA decline in the future, do governments have 
substitution strategies?  
 
E. Impact  
 
i) Is the WTO TRTA making contributions to the overall goal of a more effective 
participation in the MTS?  
 
ii) Can observed changes in capacities (human, institutional, etc.) at country level 
be linked to the contribution of the WTO TRTA?  
 
iii) Are beneficiary academic institutions addressing WTO issues in their courses 
and research?  
 
VI. COMPETENCE  OF THE CONSULTANCY  TEAM  FOR THE TRTA  
EVALUATION  
 
1.  Consultancy Team – Composition an d Skills  
 
30. The TRTA evaluation will require the services of an experienced external team of consultants 
(hereafter referred to as "the Team") with the following profile and skills:  
 
a. Good knowledge of WTO TRTA and capacity building issues, programme design, 
delivery of TRTA activities and coordination issues including knowledge of Aid for 
Trade capacity building initiatives;  
 
b. Good knowledge and understanding of problems faced by developing Members of the 
WTO in the implementation of WTO Agreements and meeting  their obligations as 
Members;  
 
c. In-depth understanding of professional training for adults and experience in 
evaluating training programmes with different delivery models;  
 
d. In depth understanding of trade and institutional issues related to trade policy an d the 
challenges faced by developing and LDC Members of the WTO;  
 
e. Awareness of gender issues in TRTA initiatives;  
 
f. Experience in working with multi -donor/partner/beneficiary TA initiatives, including 
understanding of how the WTO works, the political and di plomatic dimensions and 
managing an evaluation in that context;  
 
g. Experience in participatory approaches to data collection, including consultations, 
in-depth interviews involving multiple organizations and participants;  
 
h. Excellent analytical, writing and c ommunication skills in English (working level in 
French and/or in Spanish for surveys and interviews is desirable).  
 
31. The composition of the Team should be balanced to allow a good coverage of the different 
aspects of the evaluation as set out in these TOR and a Team leader should be identified.  
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 82 - 
 
   2.  Team Leader  
 
32. In accordance with these TOR and the Inception Report  (to be produced by the winning 
bidder), the Team leader will be responsible for the overall conduct of the evaluation including 
representing the  evaluation team in meetings and submitting the evaluation deliverables in a 
timely manner. He/she shall have the following skills:  
 
a. Demonstrable understanding and evaluation experience of TA and training initiatives 
for government officials from developin g and least -developed Members of the WTO;  
 
b. Previous experience (at least 15 years) in managing evaluation teams and ensuring 
quality control and delivery of a final report within tight timescales;  
 
c. Experience in conducting programme/project evaluations and  assessments, evaluation 
design and experience with both quantitative and qualitative methodologies for data 
collection and analysis;  
 
d. Experience in working with or evaluating multi -donor/partner/beneficiary training 
initiatives requiring an understanding of the political and diplomatic dimensions of an 
evaluation in that context;  
 
e. Team leadership, interpersonal /communication skills; and  
 
f. Proficiency in English and one of the other two WTO official languages (French and 
Spanish).  
 
VII.  TASKS  OF THE CONSUL TANCY  TEAM  RELATED  TO TRTA  
EVALUATION  
 
33. The tasks below to be undertaken by the Team are indicative. However, they may give a 
better understanding of what is expected from the Team. These tasks will be defined and 
fine-tuned in the Inception Report  (see Chapter VI. Contract Administration  for details 
related to this document) under the supervision of the Steering Committee (SC).  
 
34. Indicative, non -exhaustive list of tasks (A -J): 
 
A. Production of an Inception Report  addressing the following elements:  
 
i) Objectives  and scope of the evaluation;  
 
ii) Description and justification of proposed methodology;  
 
iii) List of countries targeted for field visits;  
 
iv) Key stakeholders to be consulted/interviewed in the evaluation process;  
 
v) Evaluation questions in the form of an evaluation matrix;  
 
vi) Issues to be studied and proposed structure of the Final Evaluation Report;  
 
vii) Potential risks and challenges for the evaluation identified; and  
 
viii) Work plan including timelines.  
 
B. Review published and unpublished material relevant to the evaluation in cluding: 
Annual TA reports, RBM operating tools and procedures, minutes of CTD meetings, 
Back-to-Office Report (BTOR) and relevant memos;  
 
C. Review the WTO TRTA M&E framework and assessment of its suitability for achieving 
the TA objectives/results;  
 
D. Survey of stakeholders through questionnaires;  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 83 - 
 
   E. Field visits to selected TRTA beneficiary countries for an in -depth analysis of the TA 
and training delivered;  
 
F. Consultations with and interviews of stakeholders, including Secretariat staff, 
Geneva -based delegates, partners, academia, etc.;  
 
G. Production of a Draft Evaluation Report  covering WTO TRTA management and 
delivery, best practices, lessons learnt and recommendations for delivering TA and training 
activities in a result -based management context;  
 
H. Submission of a Draft Evaluation Report  to the SC for comments;  
 
I. Production of the Final Evaluation Report  incorporating the comments and 
suggestions of the SC;  
 
J. Upon acceptance of the Final Evaluation Report  by the SC, presentation by the 
Team of the report to the CTD.  
 
VIII.  ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THE TRTA EVALUATION  
 
1. Committee on Trade and Development (CTD)  
 
35. The CTD is mandated by the Member Countries to provide guidelines for the TA activities of 
the WTO and to review periodically these activities. The WTO biennia l TA and Training Plan is 
approved by the CTD before it is implemented. It reviews and takes note of the Annual Reports on 
TA. As the body with responsibility for the oversight of WTO TA, the final report once approved by 
the SC, together with the manageme nt response will be presented to the CTD for consideration.  
 
2. Steering Committee (SC)  
 
36. The TRTA evaluation will be managed by a Steering Committee (SC) comprised of 
representatives of donor and beneficiary countries. The SC will operate under the guidanc e of the 
CTD to which it will report regularly on progress made by the evaluation. A Chairman of the SC will 
be identified among the SC members and will be responsible for calling meetings of the SC when 
required.  
 
37. The SC will approve the TOR and lead the selection of the consultants, approve the 
Inception Report , make comments on the  Draft Evaluation Report , as appropriate, and  
approve the Final Evaluation Report . 
 
38. The SC will be the main interlocutor of the evaluators, will maintain regular contact with 
them during the evaluation process and facilitate their work as much as possible. In exceptional 
circumstances and in accordance with WTO contractual provisions, it may adjust the evaluation 
methodology or schedule if in the best interest of the WTO. Such a djustments will be documented 
and reported to the CTD. The SC will transmit the Final Evaluation Report  to the CTD together 
with the Management Response . The approval of the reports by the SC enables the WTO to 
proceed with payments of corresponding invoic es. 
 
3. WTO Secretariat  
 
39. The WTO Secretariat will support the SC throughout the evaluation process. The 
Secretariat's role will include managing the administrative aspects of the evaluation process, such 
as helping to ensure that the consultant delivers th e agreed outputs by the set deadline; following 
up with the consultant to ensure that the SC's instructions/views and comments are acted upon.  
 
40. Under the guidance of the SC, it will assist the evaluators and give them access to all 
relevant data and docume nts in its possession. The ITTC will provide all the necessary data and 
documents to the evaluators in electronic form in a complete and timely manner. The staff 
members identified by the evaluators will make themselves available to be interviewed, as 
necessary.  
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 84 - 
 
   41. The Secretariat will prepare the Management Response  to the Final Evaluation Report . 
 
42. The Secretariat focal point for the evaluation will be the TAME Section of ITTC.  
 
IX. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION  
 
1.  Contractual Mechanism  
 
43. Once the competitive pr ocess is concluded, a Protocol,  shall be signed between the WTO 
and the selected provider based on the technical proposal submitted.  
 
44. The Protocol is an intermediary binding contractual document that enables the provider to 
carry out work before a firm con tract is signed. A sample Protocol document is provided as 
Appendix A to the TOR.  
 
45. Upon signature of the Protocol , the consultancy team is authorized to carry out work 
towards compiling the Inception Report.  
 
46. The Inception Report  is a document that elabora tes in detail on the methodology and 
approach employed to carry out the TRTA evaluation.  
 
47. The Inception Report  forms the basis to establish a firm contract between the WTO and 
the provider.  
 
48. Before it is transformed into a contract and evaluation work star ts, the Inception Report  
shall be approved by the SC.  
 
49. Shall the Inception Report  not be compiled to the satisfaction of the SC, the WTO reserves 
the right to terminate the Protocol  and cease the contractual relationship with the provider.  
 
50. The selected pr ovider shall guarantee the availability of the Team Leader throughout the 
whole duration of the contract. In addition, the provider shall guarantee the availability of the 
resources proposed at the time of submission deemed adequate to carry out the work a nd replace 
them with equivalent staff if need be. Any change to the evaluation team shall be notified in 
advance and are subject to written approval by the WTO. Failure to comply with requirements in 
this paragraph may result in contract termination by the  WTO.  
 
2. Time -frame and Expected Deliverables  
 
51. The WTO intends to notify the selected bidder and sign the Protocol by mid -March  2016.  
 
52. The evaluation is projected to start promptly afterwards and last over a period of about ten 
months and ending in Decemb er 2016.  
 
53. The outputs of the evaluations should result from the application of the methodology 
outlined above. They should be presented in English to the SC along the tentative schedule5 
presented below.  
 
54. The final schedule will be confirmed with the selec ted bidder before signature of contractual 
documents.  
 
 Milestone  Time -frame  Authorization to proceed to 
next milestone  Deadline  
1. Inception Report  within 4 (four) weeks of 
the signature of Protocol  Consideration of the Inception 
Report  by the SC  15 Apri l 2016 
2. Approval of the 
Inception Report  within one month of 
receipt of the Inception 
report  Approval of the Inception 
Report  by SC  15 May  2016 
 
                                                
5 The SC reserves the right to modify the schedule if the circumstances so require.  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 85 - 
 
    Milestone  Time -frame  Authorization to proceed to 
next milestone  Deadline  
3. Contract  upon approval of the  
Inception Report  Approval of the Inception 
Report  by SC  15 May  2016 
4. Draft Evaluation 
Report  within 3.5 months of the 
signature of the Contract  Consideration of the Draft 
Evaluation Report by the SC  31 August 2016  
5. Comments on the 
draft Evaluation 
Report  within one month of 
receipt of the draft 
Evaluation Report  Submission of SC comments on 
the Draft Evaluation Report 
to the consultancy team  30 September 2016  
6. Final Evaluation 
Report (25,000 
words maximum, 
including the 
executive 
summary)  within 1  (one) month of 
the submission of 
comments on the Draft 
Evaluation Report by 
the SC  Approval of the Final 
Evaluation Report by the SC  31 October 2016  
7. Management 
Response  Within 1 (one) month of 
the receipt of the Final 
Evaluation Report  Approval of the  Management 
Response by WTO Senior 
Management  30 November 2016  
8. Presentation of the 
Final Evaluation 
Report and 
Management 
Response to CTD  To be scheduled in due 
time Sign-off on completion by the 
SC December 2016  
 
3. Schedule of Payments  
 
55. The provider  will issue separate invoices for each milestone and in accordance with the WTO  
General Terms and Conditions (see Annex IV).  
 
56. Payments are effected within 30 days of invoice receipt by the WTO Secretariat on basis of 
report approval by the SC of the corres ponding report or presentation as indicated in the table 
below.  
 
57. The table below shows the payment percentage breakdown per milestone:  
 
 Milestone  Payment as % of Contractual Total  
1. Inception Report  15% 
2. Draft Evaluation Report  35% 
3. Final Evaluati on Report  35% 
4. Presentation of the Final Evaluation Report to the CTD  15% 
 
X. COMPETITIVE SELECTION PROCESS (RFP)  
 
1.  Content of Submission  
 
58. Bidders are invited to refer to the instructions set forth in the Letter of Invitation  to this 
RFP, Part I.A Administrative procedure - Submissions of proposals . 
 
59. Technical proposals should contain the following elements:  
 
i) Introduction (which must demonstrate a clear understanding of the WTO TA and 
the general expectations of the evaluation);  
 
ii) Interpretation and understanding of the requirements of the evaluation (which 
must demonstrate a clear understanding of the TOR);  
 
iii) Proposed approach and methodology for the evaluation, focusing on the 
objectives;  
 
iv) Proposed work plan for the evaluation (start and end dates, p rocesses and 
deliverables);  
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
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  v) Detailed company profile of the service provider, highlighting expertise and 
experience relevant to the evaluation (statement of capability);  
 
vi) CVs of the Team Leader and the proposed consultants for the evaluation 
including: (1) short profile highlighting relevant qualifications, expertise and 
experience; (2) full CVs - to be attached as an Annex; (3) signed letter stating 
the availability of the consultant during the relevant periods of the evaluation; 
and (4) a contingency pla n as to how the bidder will mitigate the risks related to 
unforeseen circumstances affecting the availabilities of the team leader and 
members during the project;  
 
vii) Description of 3 (three) similar assignments of at least 3 (three) similar 
assignments (incl uding cost, timeframe and outcome);  
 
viii) At least 3 (three) reference letters from previous assignments (ideally from the 
ones described in vii) attest to the capabilities, skills and experience of the 
company and the proposed team leader and its members. Full  contact details of 
referees (name, company, address, phone number and email) should be 
provided in order to enable the WTO to contact them in case of need during the 
evaluation process.  
 
60. The technical proposals will be evaluated on the basis of criteria l isted in Annex II.  
Technical Evaluation Criteria.  
 
61. The financial proposals will follow the matrix provided in Annex III. Financial Matrix.  
 
2. Conflict of Interest  
 
62. The consultants leading the evaluation shall be independent, free from any potential confli ct 
of interest and shall respect ethical standards with respect to conflict of interest, confidentiality 
and transparency. Consultants are requested to declare any potential conflict of interest (actual or 
perceived) in their submission. Consultants who ha ve worked with the WTO in the past are 
requested to indicate the nature of these assignments, the number of working days involved and 
payments received.  
 
 
_______________  
 
 
  
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 87 - Annex 3 Evaluation matrix  
IMPORTANT NOTE: In shaping the Evaluation Matrix, the T eam has adhered very closely to the content of the questions specified in the Terms of 
Reference. No points were eliminated, but a number of the questions have been logically re -ordered and consolidated (into 22 from 29 questions) to 
make for more structur ed and coherent assessment and clear, actionable answers in a concise Final Report. Some important issues, such as the 
accessibility of WTO TA by language, etc., have been relocated as key indicators rather than separate questions. Other questi ons have bee n 
re-oriented to be based more directly on evaluative evidence from the 2010 -2015 period, with forward -looking implications to be more appropriately 
drawn out in lessons and recommendations.  
 
Questions  Indicators  Main data collection activities  Main data availability  
1. Relevance     
1.1 To what extent do the WTO TA 
biennial plans and activities respond to 
the needs and priorities of the 
beneficiaries?  Logic and clarity of TA Plan 
objectives  
 
Documented and declared needs 
and priorities of developing 
countries  
 
Process of developing TA biennial 
plans, including consultations, 
needs assessments etc  
Quality and delivery of training, in 
addition to pedagogical 
development within WTO TRTA 
more generally  Literature review  
 
Country visits  
 
Surveys  
 
Interviews e xternal stakeholders  National requests for TA 
submitted to ITTC  
 
External needs assessments 
(EIF DTIS, Trade Facilitation 
etc) 
 
Minutes from regional 
consultations on TA plan  
 
Minutes from the Committee on 
Trade and Development  
 
TA biennial plans and Annua l 
reports  
Course curricula  
1.2 What is the involvement of national 
and other stakeholders in the design 
and implementation of training and TA 
activities?  Mapping and tracking process, 
actors and decision points in 
designing and implementing 
training and other TA activities  
 
Evidence of feedback on the 
influence of stakeholders  Interviews WTO (ITTC & other 
Divisions)  
 
Interviews external stakeholders  
 
Sample BTORs and PEFs  
 
Country visits  
 
Surveys  National requests  
 
Activity requests  
 
BTOR and Participants ' 
evaluations   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 88 - Questions  Indicators  Main data collection activities  Main data availability  
1.3 Have WTO TA instruments been 
evolving in response to the changing 
context of TRTA?  Review key contextual factors 
such as evolution of Doha 
Development Agenda and 
regional trade negotiations, 
evolving needs of beneficiaries, 
aid and aid -for-trade volumes  
 
Nature and distribution of key TA 
instruments in WTO TRTA 
portfolio  Interviews WTO  
 
Interviews external stakeholders  
 
Country visits  Bi-annual TA Plans and Annual 
TA reports  
1.4 What are the key comparative 
advantages and complementarit ies of 
WTO TRTA in the bigger picture of all 
TRTA and the multilateral trading 
system in general?  Role of trade policy TA in 
multilateral trading system  
 
Relevant efforts, concentrations 
and evaluated performance of 
other providers (Question 1.3 
too) 
 
Value added (or unique value 
proposition) of WTO TA compared 
to other providers  Literature review  
 
Country visits  
 
Interviews & surveys external 
stakeholders  Aid for Trade Reports  
 
Other International aid 
statistics  
 
Records and trend in WTO 
partnerships  
2. Effectiveness     
2.1 Have the WTO TRTA objectives been 
achieved?  Assessment of outputs and 
especially outcomes based on 
Theory of Change  
 
Structured collect ion of plausible 
outcome examples  Document review  
 
Country visits  
 
Surveys  
 
Interviews WTO & exter nal 
stakeholders  Annual TA reports  
  
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 89 - Questions  Indicators  Main data collection activities  Main data availability  
2.2 What role have external factors 
played in advancing or impeding the 
objectives?   Identification and assessment of 
external factors that have 
influenced effectiveness, 
considering the different contexts 
of women and  men Document review  
 
Country visits  
 
Surveys  
 
Interviews WTO & external 
stakeholders  Annual TA reports  
2.3 Are the intended beneficiaries 
participating in WTO TRTA activities? Is 
there a reasonable gender balance in 
participation?  Analysis of distributi on of 
participation, by relevance to 
responsibilites, levels, languages, 
gender balance and trends  
Accessibility of WTO TRTA to 
beneficiaries in terms of 
language, location, IT capacities, 
etc. 
Constraints and prospects in 
relation to participation for 
women and men  Review of TA database  
 
Country visits  
 
Surveys  Gender -disaggregated data on 
participation  
 
BTOR & participant evaluations  
2.4 Which WTO TRTA programmes or 
activities have been most and least 
effective in terms of meeting the needs 
of beneficiar ies?  Assessment of relative 
effectiveness of different 
instruments and their success 
factors  Results of analysis under 
Questions 2.1 & 2.2  Internal evaluations  
2.5 Has the sharing of responsibilities 
between the various stakeholders in 
implementation of activities been 
appropriate?  Nature of division of labour 
between stakeholders during 
implementation  Interviews WTO  
 
Interviews stakeholders  
 
Country visits  Internal evaluations   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 90 - Questions  Indicators  Main data collection activities  Main data availability  
2.6 Has the WTO TRTA contributed to 
gender equality and the empowerment 
of women?  Gender issues covered in 
strategic documents and training 
material  
 
Analysis of trends female/male 
participation in activities at 
different levels of responsibility  
Assessment of adequacy of data 
for gender analysis  
Analysis of differences in the 
effectiveness of TRTA on women 
and men based on the findings 
under Question 2.1  Document review  
 
Interviews WTO & Country 
missions  Bi-annual TA Plans and Annual 
TA reports  
 
Course curricula  
Gender -disaggregated data on 
participation  
3. Efficiency     
3.1 Ha s the implementation of the WTO 
TRTA made effective use of time and 
resources toward achieving results as 
described in the TA biennial plans? 
Which have been the most important 
factors facilitating/obstructing efficient 
implementation?  Clarity of financ ial reporting  
 
Allocation of time and resources 
per result area, TA instrument 
and staff  
 
Cost per participant in different 
activities, relative to answers to 
Question 2.4  
 
Functioning of interdivisional 
coordination around TA  
 
Transaction costs in ITTC's 
interactions inside and beyond 
WTO 
 
User-friendliness of administrative 
and IT systems, internally and 
with beneficiaries, donors, 
partners  Document review  
 
Surveys & Interviews with WTO 
and external stakeholders  
 
Process mapping and timing of 
sample project  cycles for different 
instruments  Initial data on efficiency 
collected during Inception 
phase   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 91 - Questions  Indicators  Main data collection activities  Main data availability  
3.2 How appropriate and useful is the 
WTO RBM/ M&E System in driving and 
measuring progress towards WTO TRTA 
objectives?  Nature, evolution and application 
of WT O M&E system  
 
Perception and use of WTO M&E 
system  Document review  
 
Surveys & interviews WTO  
 
Surveys & Interviews donors and 
beneficiary countries  WTO RBM Tool -kit 
 
Bi-annual TA Plans and Annual 
reports  
 
IT support systems and 
databases  
 
BTOR  
 
Internal ev aluations  
3.3 Has management of risk been 
adequate and is there a sufficient 
degree of flexibility to facilitate rapid 
responses to changing circumstances?  Nature and functioning of risk 
management and mitigation  
 
Illustration and assessment of 
degrees o f in/flexibility and 
lesson -learning in planning and 
implementation  Document review  
 
Surveys & Interviews WTO, 
beneficiaries & partners  WTO RBM Tool -kit 
 
Bi-annual TA Plans and Annual 
TA reports  
 
BTOR & Participant Evaluations  
3.4 To what extent have ext ernal 
partnerships contributed to the efficient 
implementation of WTO TRTA?  The contribution of partners and 
their relationships to WTO TA 
delivery  Document review  
Country visits  
 
Interviews WTO  
 
Interviews partners  Bi-annual TA Plans and Annual 
TA report s 
Partner list for selection of 
small but varied sample of 
partnerships for assessment  
3.5 How fully and how well does the 
WTO communicate about its TRTA 
activities with each key set 
of stakeholders in the activities  Nature of reporting on activities 
and results  
 
Usefulness of Websites and other 
communication material  
 
WTO TRTA in the Committee on 
Trade and Development  Document review  
 
Interviews WTO  
 
Interviews stakeholders  
 
Country visits  WTO TRTA Websites  
 
Communication material  
 
Annual TA reports   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 92 - Questions  Indicators  Main data collection activities  Main data availability  
3.6 Did the origin of the TRTA funding 
(regular budget or trust funds) and the 
earmarking by donors influence the 
efficiency of TRTA offered by the WTO 
and its capacity to respond to the needs 
of beneficiaries?  Distribution and evolution of 
funding sources by  main TA 
instruments  Answers to Questions 2.4 & 3.1  
 
Document review  
 
Interviews WTO  Income and expenditure 
breakdowns  
 
ITTC's attribution of funding 
sources to different activities  
4. Sustainability     
4.1 Does the current distribution in the 
sources of  WTO TRTA funding between 
regular budget, DDAGTF and earmarked 
trust funds support the sustainability 
and coherence of the WTO TRTA in the 
longer -term?  Past trends and current prospects 
of various funding sources in 
relation to evolving context of 
TRTA Document review  
 
Interviews WTO & beneficiaries  
 
Interviews donors  Income and expenditure 
breakdowns  
4.2 To what extent have the WTO TRTA 
activities produced sustainable benefits 
in beneficiary countries?  Evidence of sustainable benefits  Country visits  
 
A "sustainability" lens on answers 
to Questions 2.1 & 2.4  Internal evaluations  
4.3 Have beneficiary countries begun to 
show reducing needs for WTO TA and/or 
increasing capacities to support the 
needed training internally or from 
alternative sources of assis tance?  Evidence of national training 
capacities  
Evidence of use of other types of 
external training  Interviews WTO, beneficiaries & 
external stakeholders  
 
Country visits   Internal evaluations  
5. Impact     
5.1 Are results generated through 
research, refer ence centres, outreach 
contributing to informed policy positions 
of decision makers and policy debate on 
the MTS?  Effectiveness of Geneva weeks 
and related activities in Geneva  
 
Outreach organised by Reference 
Centres and WTO Chairs  
 
Extent of and assessme nts of 
debate and claimed contributions 
to evolving policy positions  Document review  
 
Surveys & Interviews with WTO, 
Members, beneficiaries and 
independent experts  
 
Country visits  Annual TA Reports  
 
Annual reports from reference 
Centres and WTO Chairs  
 
Internal evaluations   
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 93 - Questions  Indicators  Main data collection activities  Main data availability  
5.2 Can observed changes in enabling 
or direct capacities to participate in the 
MTS (human, institutional,policy or 
legislatve coherence) at country level be 
plausibly linked to the contribution of 
the WTO TRTA?  Structured and validate d 
illustrations of contributions to 
changes in capacities and 
negotiation capacity  Country visits  
 
Document review  
 
Surveys & Interviews with WTO, 
Members, beneficiaries & external 
experts  Internal evaluations  
 
Trade Policy Reviews  
5.3 Is the WTO TRTA m aking 
contributions to the overall goal of a 
more effective participation in the MTS?  Level and results of activity in 
WTO (and related) negotiations of 
beneficiary countries  Country visits  
 
Document review  
 
Surveys & Interviews with WTO, 
Members, benefic iaries & external 
experts  WTO Committee Annual 
Reports and Minutes (incl. On 
Accession and notifications)  
 
Trade Policy Reviews  
 
 
_______________  
 
  
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 94 - Annex 4 Theories of Change  
Figure 4.1 Graphical representation of the WTO log -frame in the biennial TA p lan 2014 -151 
 
 
 
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 95 -  
Figure 4.2 Theory of Change – Training2 
  
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 96 - Figure 4.3 Theory of Change – Internships  
 
 
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 97 - Figure 4.4 Theory of Change – Accession3 
  
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 98 - Figure 4.5 Theory of Change – Reference Centres4  
  
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 99 - Figure 4.6 Theory of Change – Academic support5  
 
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 100 - Annex  5 Technical Assistance Expenses by TA Plan Chapter (CHF)  
Note: Complete break -down for 2010 -11 not available. Instrument data for those years excludes overheads.  
 
 2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2012 -2015   
A  GENERAL WTO -RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
AND TRAINING          
Advanced Trade Policy Course  1 014 405  847 000  1 196 117  1 212 776  1 052 635  1 119 033  4 580 560   
Regional Trade Policy Courses  3 548 422  2 570 035  1 733 381  1 605 972  2 791 389  2 575 726  8 706 468   
Geneva -based general and topic -specif ic activities  N/A N/A 1 227 595  1 484 910  986 946  1 003 109  4 702 560   
Regional short Trade Policy Courses  N/A N/A 397 301  418 641  370 895  223 117  1 409 954   
Advisory Role on Legal Issues (Art. 27.2 of DSU)  58 800  71 850  63 264  70 264  72 701  70 026  276 2 55  
SUB-TOTAL  N/A N/A 4 617 658  4 792 562  5 274 566  4 991 011  19 675 797   
         
B  SPECIALISED AND ADVANCED TA          
Geneva -based Specialised Courses  N/A N/A 1 029 457  804 896  1 043 877  1 411 600  4 289 830   
National activities  N/A N/A 1 825 855  1 719 003  1 287 105  1 268 151  6 100 115   
Regional seminars  N/A N/A 2 741 460  2 180 214  1 786 243  1 576 116  8 284 032   
Reference Centres  292 473  264 422  264 539  257 556  238 938  284 860  1 045 894   
Technical Assistance within the TPRM Framework  N/A N/A 43 545 109 310  18 898  46 999  218 753   
Outreach (national and regional)  308 771  219 456  243 637  183 153  253 679  323 741  1 004 210   
Accessions (China)  0 0 219 456  177 922  0 328 223  725 601   
SUB-TOTAL  N/A N/A 6 367 949  5 432 054  4 628 740  5 239 690  21 668 434   
         
C ACADEMIC SUPPORT FOR TRAINING AND 
CAPACITY -BUILDING          
WTO Chairs  525 004  888 591  1 258 395  826 236  817 028  679 548  3 581 207   
Academic cooperation  N/A N/A 597 970  261 599  569 196  395 036  1 823 801   
Doctoral students  58 823  13 913  0 26 227  72 072  40 470  138 769   
ELSA Moot Court  N/A N/A 22 689  39 886  122 992  38 797  224 363   
SUB-TOTAL  N/A N/A 1 879 054  1 153 948  1 581 287  1 153 852  5 768 141   
          
  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 101 -  2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2012 -2015   
D  TRAINEE PROGRAMMES AND INTERNSHIPS          
Netherlands Trainee Programme  785 17 4 590 559  692 848  818 865  708 274  747 048  2 967 034   
Regional Coordinator internship  262 736  183 131  265 188  320 287  305 971  238 100  1 129 545   
French -Irish Internship  943 298  717 507  837 199  1 168 965  840 611  830 455  3 677 229   
Accession internship  0 0 51 099  84 407  59 559  91 815  286 880   
SUB-TOTAL  1 991 208  1 491 197  1 846 333  2 392 524  1 914 416  1 907 417  8 060 689   
         
E  E-LEARNING  541 742  697 538  579 644  911 278  683 546  1 177 929  3 352 397   
         
F  OTHER PROGRAMMES          
Trade Faci litation Needs, Priorities and participation  809 031  621 635  468 923  1 539 757  1 136 278  55 061  3 200 019   
Participation of LDCs in MC8, MC9 and MC10  0 619 743  0 577 992  0 453 624  1 031 616   
STDF N/A N/A 95 817  0 0 0 95 817   
SUB-TOTAL  N/A N/A 564 740  2 117 749  1 136 278  55 061  3 873 828   
         
G  PARTICIPATION IN ANOTHER INSTITUTION'S 
EVENT  N/A N/A 961 632  506 334  724 304  938 099  3 130 368   
         
TOTAL  N/A N/A 16 817 009  17 306 
449 15 943 137  15 463 059  65 529 654   
        2010 -15 
Expenses ac cording to WTO accounts  25 071 571  20 408 239  16 386 816  17 022 
523 16 141 014  15 491 826  65 042 179  110 521 989  
Difference    430 193  283 926  -197 877  -28 767  487 475   
         
Of which overheads (L -posts)  5 889 403  4 339 508  4 605 415  4 193 246  4 038 3 23 3 721 954  16 558 938  26 787 849  
 23% 21% 28% 25% 25% 24% 25% 24% WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 102 - 
 
  Annex 6 Interviews and Surveys  
Missions  Total Number Interviewed  
Benin  39 
Botswana  47 
Fiji 31 
Iran 35 
Jamaica  35 
Laos 31 
Morocco  39 
Paraguay  44 
Geneva  80 
Total 381 
 
Stakehold er Group  Target Group 
(Survey)  Female 
Responses  Male 
Responses  Total No.  of 
Responses  
TA Participants  Training Participants  644 835 1 479  
Internship Programme  42 67 109 
PhD  9 1 10 
WTO Chairs  6 8 14 
WTO Chairs - Advisory 
Board  2 10 12 
WTO Members  Beneficary Members  n/a n/a 13 
TA Contributing 
Members  n/a n/a 9 
TA Providers  Partners  n/a n/a 11 
WTO Divisional 
Response  n/a n/a 22 
Individual TA 
Providers (external)  8 18 26 
Individual TA 
Providers (WTO staff)  26 43 69 
 
 
 
_______________  
 
 
 WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 103 - 
 
  Annex 7 List of Interviewees  
 
Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Inception Phase    
Aik Hoe Lim  Director, Trade and Environment Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Aime Murigande  Head, Regional Desk (Fr. Africa), ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Alejandr o Gamboa -
Alder  Counsellor, Market Access Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Anneke Hamilton  Economic Affairs Officer, SPS, Agriculture and 
Commodities Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Annie Urbanski  Logistics Unit, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Bridget Chilala  Director, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Chiedu Osakwe  Director, Accessions Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Christiane Kraus  Chief Coordinator, EIF  World Trade 
Organization  
Claude Amerio  (Steering Committee) Counsellor  Permanent Mission of 
France to the WTO  
Claude Trolliet  SPME Section, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Daniel Morales  Head, Regional Desk (LAC), ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Darlan Marti  Market Access Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Debora Ponce  (Steering Committee) Counsellor  Permanent Mission of 
Guatemala to the WTO  
Dickson Yeboah  Head of Unit, Advanced Trade, Negotiation Skills 
Unit, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Franziska Kirschke  Training Officer, E -Learning Unit, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Gerardo T. Thielen  Counsell or, Regional Trade Policy Courses & TA 
Outreach Unit, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Gib Brown  (Steering Committee) Development Advisor  USAID, US Mission  
Hanna Olsen 
Bodsberg  (Steering Committee) First Secretary  Permanent Mission of 
Norway in Geneva  
Isabelle Celestin -
Champlong  SPME Section, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Janet Chakarian -
Renouf  Head of Unit, RTPC & TA Outreach, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Jennifer Andrade 
Dos Santos  SPME Section, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Karine Vucinic  SPME Secti on, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Katja Karppinen -
Njock  (Steering Committee) Counsellor  Permanent Mission of 
Finland Geneva  
Kodjo Oseih -Lah Counsellor, Intellectual Property, Government 
Procurement and Competition Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Maart en Smeets  Head of Section, Technical Assistance 
Coordination, Partnerships and Internships 
Programmes, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Maika Oshikawa  Counsellor, Accessions Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Mao Tianyu  (Steering Committee) First Secretary  Permanent Mission of 
the People's Republic of 
China to the WTO  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 104 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Marie -Bel Martinez -
Hommel  Economic Affairs Officer, Agriculture, Agriculture 
and Commodities Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Markus Jelitto  Counsellor, Trade in Services Division  World Trade  
Organization  
Martine Peraldi  SPME Section, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Mary Thornton  (Steering Committee) Counsellor  USTR, US Mission  
Melvin Spreij  Counsellor, STDF  World Trade 
Organization  
Michael Roberts  Aid for Trade Coordinator  World Trade 
Organ ization  
Mustapha Sadni 
Jallab  Coordinator, WTO Chairs programme unit, 
Technical Assistance Coordination, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Omar Rocchi  Head of Unit, Logistics Unit, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Oscar Ekeus  (Steering Committee) Counsellor  Permanent Mission of 
Sweden  
Pierre Arhel  Counsellor, Intellectual Property, Government 
Procurement and Competition Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Khalida Ghaus  Managing Director  Social Policy and 
Development Centre  
Raymundo Valdes  Head of Unit, GBCU, I TTC World Trade 
Organization  
Robert Anderson  Team -Leader for Government Procurement and 
Competitions Policy, Intellectual Property, 
Government Procurement and Competition 
Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Roger Kampf  Counsellor, Intellectual Property, Go vernment 
Procurement and Competition Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Roy Santana  Counsellor, Market Access Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Serafino Marchese  Head, Course and Design Training Section, ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Serra Ayral  Counsell or, Trade and Environment Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Sheri Rosenow  Counsellor, Trade Facilitation Section, Market 
Access Division  World Trade 
Organization  
Ursula Honich  (Steering Committee) Trade and Development 
First Secretary  Permanent Mission o f 
the EU to the WTO  
Willie Chatsika  Head, Regional Desk, (Eng.Africa), ITTC  World Trade 
Organization  
Benin    
Chakirou Tidjani  Directeur Général, Direction générale de 
commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
Armelle Kanhonou  Direction générale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
René Akowanou  Direction générale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
Rissikatou 
Soumanou  Direction gén érale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
Norea Lantonkpode  Direction générale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 105 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Yves Hounkapatin  Direction générale de commerce ext erieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
Felicité Koukoui  Direction générale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
Marc José Sognigbe  Direction générale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
Stéphane Beria  Direction générale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce et de 
l'artisanat  
Zéphiryn Pognon  Direction générale de commerce exterieur  Ministère de l'industries, 
du commerce  et de 
l'artisanat  
Bérénice 
Gnansounou 
Bankole  Sécrétaire Général Adjoint, Direction de 
Relations Economiques et Commerciales 
Internationales (DRECI)  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Francoise Medegan  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Riphath Agbobli  DAJ Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Amegnon Ame -
Agboviar  DRH Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Wahabou 
Tossounon  DF Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Abidath Adjai  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Aline Chabi Kenou  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Régina Estelle 
Abiola  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Mounai tou 
Ibrouaim  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Hèloise Gbeban  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Mourichid Yaacoub 
Ben-Yamen  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Abel Ang Sovi  DRECI  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Eustache  
Pomalegui  DRECI (former)  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Aboubakar Kossoko  Staff Chambre Agriculture  
Jean-Pierre W. 
Akplogan  Directeur Général  Agence National de la 
Propriéte Industrielle 
(ANaPI)  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 106 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Terence Sayi  Staff Agence de Promotion 
des Investissements et 
de l’Expotration (APIEx)  
Aurore Gomez  Staff Agence de Promotion 
des Investissements et 
de l’E xpotration (APIEx)  
Raymond Kuessi  Staff Agence Béninoise de 
Normalisation et de 
Gestion de la Qualité 
(ABeNOR)  
Youssouf Mamasika  Staff Agence Béninoise de 
Normalisation et de 
Gestion de la Qualité 
(ABeNOR)  
Nasser Marimou 
Naro  Staff Agence Béninoise de 
Normalisation et de 
Gestion de la Qualité 
(ABeNOR)  
Eurielle Ak indes  Staff Agence Béninoise de 
Normalisation et de 
Gestion de la Qualité 
(ABeNOR)  
Pasteur Akpo  Former academic coordinator for RTPCs  Université d'Abomey -
Calavi  
Ibouraima 
Tiamiyou  Direction de la production végétale (Retraité)  Ministère de l’Agriculture  
Antoine Aboue  Direction de la production végétale  Ministère de l’Agriculture  
Marcel Gosounou  Direction de la production végétale  Ministère de l’Agriculture  
Felix Amata  Direction de la production végétale  Ministère de l’Agriculture  
Judith Glidja  Directr ice Haute Ecole Régionale 
de Commerce 
International (HERCI), 
Université d'Abomey -
Calavi  
Joelle Videhouenou  Chef du Service  Chambre de Commerce 
et d’Industries du Bénin  
Bienvenu Kokou  Expert  Secretariat national du 
cadre intégré  
+ roundtable with 25 repr esentatives of mainly various government departments  
Botswana    
Peggy Onkutlwile 
Serame  Permanent Secretary  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Ontlametse B. 
Ward  Deputy Permanent Secretary (Trade)  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Shirley G. Moncho  Director, Department of International Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Lesedi P. Kgotlele  Deputy Director, Department of International 
Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Kelebogile 
Lekaukau  Chief Trade Officer, Department of International 
Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Mmanyabela N 
Tshekega  Principal Trade Officer 1, Department of 
International Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Staffnurse B. 
Lesetedi -Keothenile  Chief Commercial Off icer  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Phazha Triby Butale  Chief Negotiator  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Joel Sentsho  Trade Policy Advisor  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
M. G. Nthomiwa  Chief Trade Officer  Ministry of Invest ment, 
Trade & Industry  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 107 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Charity K. 
Kelaotswe  Senior Trade Officer, Department of International 
Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Johana Segotlong  Principal Trade Officer, Department of 
International Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Ind ustry  
Asta 
Ngwakomonnye  Assistant Trade Officer, Department of 
International Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Edias Ndlovu  Trade Officer 1, Strategy, Department of 
Industrial Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Otsile Mosiieman  Senior Industrial Officer, Department of 
Industrial Affairs  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Katiso Lesupi  Senior Industrial Officer, Department of 
Industrial Affairs  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Segametsi 
Maphane  Senior Industrial O fficer, Department Of 
Industrial Affairs  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Ogauk Motshwane  Trade Officer 1, Department of International 
Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Gofaone Maupo  Principal Trade Officer, Department of 
Internatio nal Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Kutlo Kalanke  Trade Officer 1, Department of International 
Trade  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade & Industry  
Gothusang C 
Molatlhegi  Department of Agribusiness  Ministry of Agriculture  
Oukgoputse Ezra 
Ramoga pi Department of Agribusiness  Ministry of Agriculture  
Sefatlhego 
Matebekwane  Department of Agribusiness  Ministry of Agriculture  
Gofaone Gabositwe  Principal Customs Officer, External Relations and 
Trade Facilitation Unit  Burundi Unified Revenue 
Services  
Amen  Alan 
Ndlangamandla  Principal Engineer, Compulsory Standards  Botswana Bureau of 
Standards  
Dikakanyo K. 
Chabo  Manager, Information Services  Botswana Bureau of 
Standards  
Masa Princess 
Ndlangamandla  Principal Documentation & Information Officer  Botsw ana Bureau of 
Standards  
Prof. Clement 
Ng’Ong’ola  RTPC Academic Coordinator  University of Botswana  
Mmako M. Abram  Assistant Secretary for International and 
Commercial Services  Attorney General’s 
Chambers  
Mosa Faith Dube  Senior State Counsel, Internation al and 
Commercial Division  Attorney General’s 
Chambers  
Refilwe Sarona 
Mosarwa  Principal State Counsel; International and 
Commercial Division  Attorney General’s 
Chambers  
Dikabelo Gaolaolwe  Principal State Counsel; International and 
Commercial Division  Attorney General’s 
Chambers  
Tshidiso Denise 
Raditladi  Chief State Counsel  Ministry of Investment, 
Trade and Industry  
Dhunraj Kassee  Programme Officer -Capacity Building (Customs) 
Trade Industry, Finance and Investment 
Directorate TIFI  Southern African 
Develo pment 
Community (SADC)  
Chiluba Mwape  Programme Officer – SPS Quality Infrastructure  Southern African 
Development 
Community (SADC)  
Viola Sawere -
Nanyaro  Regional Trade Policy Expert  Southern African 
Development 
Community (SADC)  
John Taylor  Trade Minister Counsellor  European Union  
Jocelin Cornet  First Secretary Regional Cooperation  European Union  
Vivien Rigler  Economic Attache  European Union  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 108 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Timothy L Moalusi  Registrar, Industrial Property  Companies and 
Intellectual Property 
Authority  
Obert Yuyi  Director Export Development  Botswana Investment & 
Trade Centre  
Temo Ntapu  Manager Export Development  Botswana Investment & 
Trade Centre  
Calvin 
Ketshabetswe  Manager Export Promotion  Botswana Investment & 
Trade Centre  
Li Zhi  Economic & Commercial Counsellor  Embassy of the People’s 
Republic of China  
Yang Chunhua  Economic and Commercial Section, Third 
Secretary  Embassy of the People’s 
Republic of China  
Yasuaki Aihara  Assistant Resident Representative (Project 
Formulation)  Japan International 
Cooperation Agency  
(JICA)  
Fitsum Abraha  Senior Economic Advisor  United Nations 
Development 
Programme (UNDP)  
Fiji   
Seema Sharma  Director Trade  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Hillary Kumwenda  Trade Policy Advisor  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Zarak K han Consul General / Trade Commissioner - Sydney  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Navitalai Tuivuniwai  Trade Commissioner - PNG Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Kartik Pratap  Acting Principle Economist – Trade Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Shanil Dayal  Acting Principle Economist – Trade Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Kamlesh Prasad  Senior Economist -  Economic Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Karishma Narayan  Senior Economist – Trade Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Shinal Prasad  Economic Planning Officer – Trade Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Deepika Singh  Economic Planning Officer -Trade Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Payle Chand  Economic Planning Officer – Trade Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Farisha Ali  Economic Planning Officer - Economic Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Shagufa Shenaz  Economic Planning Officer - Economic Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Manisha Mu dliar Economic Planning Officer - Economic Unit  Ministry of Industry, 
Trade and Tourism  
Jiaoji Waqabaca  Economic Planning Officer  Ministry of Agriculture  
Pauliasi Tuilau  Principle Economic Planning Officer  Ministry of Agriculture  
Kamni Naidu  Deputy Stat e Solicitor  Office of the Attorney -
General  
Raumanu Praujivan  Senior Legal Officer  Office of the Attorney - 
General  
Ofa Solimailagi  Legal Officer  Office of the Attorney -
General  
Laite Ramoce  Senior Legal Officer  Office of the Attorney -
General  
Elenoa Vueti  Senior Economic Planning Officer  Ministry of Economy  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 109 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Taina Rauvala  Senior Health Inspector  Ministry of Health  
Professor Richard 
Coll Deputy Vice Chancellor  University of the South 
Pacific  
Xavier Riyaz Khan  Executive Chairman  Biosecurity Authority of 
Fiji 
Ronald Ritesh 
Prasad  Teamleader trade facilitation and compliance  BAF 
Vijira Plyasena  CEO Port of Fiji  
Visvanath Das  Acting CEO  FRCA  
Kumar Sami 
Goundar  General Manager Customs and Excise  FRCA  
David Balenacagi  Principal Analyst  FRCA  
Patero Maivucev uce Acting Manager International Relations  FRCA  
Dixon Seeto  President of Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism 
Association  Fiji Commerce and 
Employers Federation  
 
Iran   
Sadeq Ziaee Biqdeli                           Vice President, Head of International & WTO 
Affairs, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Mirhadi Seyedi                             Councellour, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Ali Zahedtalaban                      Senior Expert, Trad e Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Ali Aragchi                              Councellour, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Ali Madadi                           Expert, Trade Promotion Organizatio n Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Mandana Fazel                                    Senior Expert on WTO, Trade Promotion 
Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Hosinee  Sabzevari            Expert on AOA, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Dena Kochari                             Expert on GATS, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Maryam Mahmoodi                          Intern, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry , 
Mine and Trade  
Sepideh Manavi                        Expert on TRIPS, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Azadeh 
Deheshmand                 Legal advisor, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Iman Pirayandeh  Intern, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Hamideh Yazdani  Expert on RTAs, Trade Promotion Organization  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Manouchehr 
Sahmoradi Fard                      Manager,Trade polic y, Agricultural Planning, 
Economic and Rural Development Research 
Institute(APERDRI)  Ministry of Agriculture  
Kamran Farzam                         Senior Expert, Agricultural Planning, Economic 
and Rural Development Research 
Institute(APERDRI)  Ministry of  Agriculture  
Mohammad Saeed 
Hamidi                             Senior Expert, Agricultural Planning, Economic 
and Rural Development Research 
Institute(APERDRI)  Ministry of Agriculture  
Masood Kamali 
Ardakani                     Head, Productivity and Orga nizational 
Improvement Research Department,Institute of 
Trade Studies and Reserches  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Amir Fathizadeh              Head, Economic and Commercial Research 
Department, Institute of Trade Studies and 
Reserches  Ministry of I ndustry, 
Mine and Trade  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 110 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Mohammad Rasti                        Manager on Trade Studies & Reserches  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Farzad Moradpour             Senior Expert, Institute of Trade Studies and 
Reserches  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Tr ade 
Vahid Bozorgi                   Senior Expert, Institute of Trade Studies and 
Reserches  Ministry of Industry, 
Mine and Trade  
Farzaneh Goosheh                          Attorney and Member  Iranian Bar Association  
Mahshid Karvari 
Nasab               Attorney and Member  Iranian Bar Association  
Ali Sigari                              Attorney and Member  Iranian Bar Association  
Mr. Taheri                                Attorney and Member  Iranian Bar Association  
Masoud Bojari                               Attorney and Member  Iranian Bar Association  
Saman Yousefvand                      WTO Desk Affairs Officer  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs  
Maryam Jalili 
Mogadam            Manager, Phytosanitary Development & Pest 
Control  Plant Protection 
Organization  
Ahmad Mansori                         Head, Conformity Assessment  Institute of Standards & 
Industrial Research of 
Iran  
Nezhat Monteri                       Head, Inspection Group  Institute of Standards & 
Industrial Research of 
Iran  
Sahar Sadegi                      Head, Vehicle Import Department  Institute of Standards & 
Industrial Research of 
Iran  
Hamideh Nikbin                          Expert  Institute of Standards & 
Industrial Research of 
Iran  
Narges 
Rahimibaraghani                         Expert  Institute of Standards & 
Industrial Research of 
Iran  
Afsaneh Samieei                       Deputy, International Standardizaiton  Institute of Standards & 
Industrial Research of 
Iran  
Mojtaba 
Shishehchiha              Director General, International Coope ration 
Department  Iranian Customs 
Administration  
Alireza Amirkhani                     Head, WCO Cooperation  International 
Cooperation Department  
Esfandiar 
Omidbakhsh                Director General  International and 
Regional Organizations , 
Iranian Custo ms 
Administration  
Jamaica    
Ester Williams  Standards Development & Certification Officer  Bureau of Standards 
Jamaica  
Esmond Reid  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade 
(MFAFT) Team  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Alicia Morris  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade 
(MFAFT) Team  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Sheldon Barnes  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade 
(MFAFT) Team  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Andrea Dubidad -
Dixon  WTO TRTA Pa rticipant  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Craig Douglas  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 111 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Kacy Garvey  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Sheldon Barnes  MFAFT WTO TRTA Partici pant / WTO Interns  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Christine Bailey  MFAFT WTO TRTA Participant / WTO Interns  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Peter Bailey  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Foreign 
Trade  
Karl Hyatt  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Camiel Pennycooke  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Carlton 
Wedderburn  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Fitzroy White  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Cigale Hyman  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Wintorph Marsden  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Sanniel Wilson  Chief Plant Quarantine Officer (Acting)  MICAF (Agriculture and 
Fisheries Division)  
Karl Hyatt  International Trade Specialist    
Andrene Collings  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Clifford Spencer  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Martin Phillips  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of I ndustry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Tamickia Anderson  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Kelvin Kerr  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICA F) 
Kanika Tomlinson  WTO TRTA Participant  Ministry of Industry, 
Commerce, Agriculture 
and Fisheries (MICAF)  
Andrene Collings  Director, Micro, Small and Medium -sized 
Enterprise Office  MICAF (Industry and 
Commerce Division)  
Stephen 
Wedderburn  Chief Techni cal Director, Industry, Commerce 
and Trade Division  MICAF (Industry and 
Commerce Division)  
Marcus Goffe  Trade Marks, Designs & Geographical Indications 
Manager  Jamaica Intellectual 
Property Office (JIPO)  
Andrea Marie 
Dawes  Executive Director  JADSC Manage ment  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 112 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Shandilayne Davis  WTO TRTA Participant  Jamaica Customs 
Agency  
Tina Brown  WTO TRTA Participant  Jamaica Customs 
Agency  
Dadria Smith  WTO TRTA Participant  Jamaica Customs 
Agency  
Marsha Wilson -
Maxwell  WTO TRTA Participant  Jamaica Customs 
Agency  
Natalie Corthesy  Lecturer  University of the West 
Indies, Law Faculty  
Marcia Thomas  Undersecretary, Foreign Trade Division  MFAFT Management  
Esmond Reid  Senior Director, Foreign Trade Department  MFAFT Management  
Laos   
Manivone Vongxay  Deputy Director  General, Import -Export 
Department  MOIC  
Laohoua Cheuching  Director General of  FTPD  MOIC  
Virasak Somphong  Deputy Director of Economic Department, 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs  MOFA  
Soulaphone 
Inthavong  Director, Agriculture Department,  Ministry of Agric ulture 
and Forestry  
Aphivath 
Sombounkhanah  Director of Intellectual Property Promotion and 
Development, Ministry of Science and 
Technology  MOST  
Souksavath 
Sihapanya  DDG of Standard and Metrology Department  MOST  
Nisith 
Khammounheaung  Director of Standar d and Metrology Department  MOST  
Laddavanh 
Sivongxay  Technical Officer,  Standardization and 
Metrology Dep., Ministry 
of Science and 
Technology  
Vilavong 
Soutthanilaxay  Technical O fficer, Import and Export Dep.  Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Onida Vinav ong Deputy Director of Trade in Services Divisi on, 
Foreign Trade Policy Dep.  Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Somphone Phady  Trade Off icial Foreign Trade Policy Dep.   Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Vilayvanh Vongxay  Deputy Chief, Department of Trade,  Investment 
and SMEs Promotion Division,  Laos National Chamber 
of Commerce and 
Industry (LNCCI)  
Soukun 
Phanakhone  Chief of Unit, Customs Department  Ministry of Finance  
Phetlany Yathotu  Trade officer, Foreign Trade policy dep .  Ministry of industry and 
commerce,  
Chaikeo 
Kedsadasak  Office Coordinator, Policy Department Foreign 
Trade  Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Sengphanomchone 
Inthasane  Director,  Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Xaymongkhoun 
Latsavong  Trade Policy Analyst, Multilateral Trade Divi sion,  Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Palyma Sisaykeo  Official, Department of Import and Export,  Ministry of Industy and 
Commerce  
Paphatsone 
Luangphinith  Officer, Foreign Trade Policy dep.  Ministry of industry and 
commerce  
Chinsouda 
Phetchantharath  Officer, Foreign Trade Policy dep.  Ministry of industry and 
commerce  
Souphanhsa  
Ngonphachan  Ministry of Industry and Commerce,  MOIC  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 113 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Thatsanaly 
Saphangthong  Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry  Ministry of Agriculture 
and Forestry  
Hartmut Janus  Project Director, Regional Economic Integration 
of Laos into ASEAN, Trade and Entrepreneurship 
Development (RELATED)  GIZ 
Kalakate 
Xaythanith  Programme Officer Trade & Economics, 
Delegation of the European Union to Lao PDR  EC 
Mombert Hoppe  Senior Trade Economis t, Trade and 
Competitiveness Global Practice  WB 
Santisouk 
Phounesavath  Director of MTD, FTPD, WTO interns  MOIC  
Saybandith 
Sayavongkhamdy  Deputy Director of Multilateral Division, FTPD,  MOIC  
Sonethanou 
Sengdala  Deputy Director of Trade in Goods, FTPD,  MOIC  
Vilayphone 
Xindavong  Deputy Director of Multilateral Division, FTPD,  W MOIC  
Souchitta Srithirath  Deputy Director of Bilateral Trade Division, 
Foreign Trade Policy Department,  Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Viengsakhone 
Bounpakob  Trade officer, Foreign Trade Policy Dep.  Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce  
Morocco    
Meryem Ahoujil  Chef de la division des relations commerciales 
multilatérales  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Mulay Ismail Taqui  Chef de division des relations commerciales ho rs 
Europe  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Karim Srairi  Chef de service  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Hasnee Bennani  Cadre, Service Europe  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Siham Houari  Cadre, Service Asie  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Fodoua Safioui  Cadre, Service Europe  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Maha Benali  Cadre, Service OMC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Kawtar Housti  Cadre, DPC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Hasnae Ounajma  Cadre, D PEC Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Farah Rhoulben  Cadre, DPEC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Ismane Oummad  Cadre, DPEC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Mohamed Alila  Cadre, DPEC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Siham Bel akbar  Cadre, DRCI  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Fatima Benkhadra  Cadre, DRCI  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Naissaa Zebakh  Cadre, DRCI  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Otman Elhani  Cadre, DRCI  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Exté rieur 
Houda Berrezzouq  Cadre, Service Amerique  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Gihane Monqid  Cadre, Service Amerique  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 114 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Loubna el Ghazi  Cadre, Autres Organisations  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Reda Amourak  Cadre, Service des Enquetes  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Othmane Maktoum  Cadre, Service Europe  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Malak El Bourg  Stagiaire  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Khalid Baiz  Cadre, Service OMC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Houda Chtouki  Cadre, Service OMC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Soumin Boukil  Cadre, Service OMC  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Lahmine Nawal  Cadre, Service Europe  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Ex térieur  
Hind Chayb  Cadre, Service Europe  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Ouassiwa 
Guendouz  Chef de Service, Service Enquetes  Ministère chargée du 
Commerce Extérieur  
Awatif Ait El Haj  Chef de Service du Marches du Continent 
Americaine et d’OMC  Ministère du Agriculture 
et de la Peche  
Ismail Fillali  Cadre, Service du Marches du Continent 
Americaine et d’OMC  Ministère du Agriculture 
et de la Peche  
Fihr Boushaba  Cadre, Charge des Projets de la Cooperation 
Internationale et des Partneriats  Ministère  de l’Industrie, 
du Commerce, de 
l’Investissement et de 
l’Economie Numerique  
Karima Rghoni  Chef du Service du Suivi des Accords 
Commerciaux  Ministère de l’Industrie, 
du Commerce, de 
l’Investissement et de 
l’Economie Numerique  
Lakia El Midaoui  Ministre Pl énipotentiaire, Directeur de la 
Cooperation Multilaterale et des Affaires 
Economiques Internationales  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Amal Kaoukab Raji  Cadre, Chargée de dossiers OMC  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopér ation  
Meryem Hamdouni  Cadre, Chargée de dossiers OMC  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Abdelhakim 
Cherkaoui  Cadre, Chargée de dossiers relevant de l'OMPI, 
CNUCED et OMD  Ministère des Affaires 
Etrangères et de la 
Coopération  
Hamid Lacchab  Director, Risk Assessment and SPS Regulations  Office National de 
Sécurité Sanitaire des 
Produits Alimentaires  
Ihssane Beqqali 
Himdi  Head of Standardi sation Department  Office National de 
Sécurité Sanitaire des 
Produits Alimentaires  
Azzedine 
Ghourf rane Doyen de la Faculte des Sciences Juridiques, 
Economiques et Sociales  Universite Mohammed V 
de Rabat  
Paraguay    
Augusto Ocampos 
Caballero  Director General  Academia Diplomática y 
Consular Carlos A. López  
Guillermo Pereira  Jefe de OMC  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Octavio Ferreira 
Gini Director de Organismos Economicos 
Multilaterales  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 115 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Carlos Walter 
Maciel  Jefe de Acceso a Mercados  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
María Cecilia 
Cuevas de 
Domaniczky  Jefa del Grupo Mercado Común  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Diego Rubén 
Franco  Funcionario de la Dirección Integración 
Económica  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Hernán Gabriel 
Muñoz Pérez  Encargado de Facilitación de Comercio y Solución 
de Cont roversias  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Laura Stefanía 
Correa Miño  Encargada de Propiedad Intelectual y Obstáculos 
técnicos al Comercio  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Raúl Espínola 
Monges  Miembro del Equipo de Negociación Extraregional  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Ada Noemí 
Domínguez Alonso  Encargada de Cooperación Técnica con la OMC y 
otros Organismos  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Osvaldo Bittar  Gerente Centro de Referencia de la OMC  Ministerio de Relaciones 
Exteriores  
Margarita Peña 
Concha  Directora General de Comercio de Servicios  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Gustavo Soverina  Director General de Comercio Exterior  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Aida Romero  Directora de Información y Notificación de 
Comerci o Exterior  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Mabel Marecos  Directora de Normas y Negociaciones 
Comerciales  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Angel Morel 
Delgado  Director de Comercio de Servicios  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Carlos Aveiro  Técni co  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Johana Montero  Técnica  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Carlos Giménez  
Lezcano  Técnico  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
María Emilia 
Álvarez  Asesora de REDIEX  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
Andrea Fe rnández  Técnica  Ministerio de Industria y 
Comercio  
José Cuevas  Director de Integración  Ministerio de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  
Nathalia Arevalo  JefaDpto.MERCOSUR  Ministerio de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  
Alma Isasi  Analista Técnica  Ministerio de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  
Leticia Agüero  Analista Técnica  Ministerio de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  
Nancy Torales  Analista Técnica  Ministerio de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  
Raúl Dominguez  Analista Técnico  Ministeri o de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  
David Cartes  Analista Técnico  Ministerio de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 116 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Rodrigo Recalde  Analista Técnico  Ministerio de Hacienda, 
Subsecretaría de 
Economía  
Leonidas Enciso 
Ruiz Diaz  Jefa de Departamento de  Negociaciones 
EURASIA -África -Oceanía  Servicio Nacional de 
Calidad y Salud Animal 
(SENACSA)    
Demetria Vega  Jefa de Departamento de Organismo 
Internacionales  Servicio Nacional de 
Calidad y Salud Animal 
(SENACSA)    
Ana María Ibarra  Directora de Relacion es Internacionales  Servicio Nacional de 
Calidad y Salud Animal 
(SENACSA)    
Ana María Viedma  Jefa de Departamento de Negociaciones de 
Américadel Sur  Servicio Nacional de 
Calidad y Salud Animal 
(SENACSA)    
Fabiola Prieto  Jefa de Departamento de Negociaci ones de 
América del Norte, Central y el Caribe.  Servicio Nacional de 
Calidad y Salud Animal 
(SENACSA)    
Nathalie Bordas  GerenteProyectos  Unión Industrial de 
Paraguay (UIP)  
Renata Medrano  SecretariaProyectos  Unión Industrial de 
Paraguay (UIP)  
AnkaKruss el Cordinadora Centro de Referencia  Unión Industrial de 
Paraguay (UIP)  
Rebeca Gonzalez  PasanteProyectos  Unión Industrial de 
Paraguay (UIP)  
Natalia Godoy 
Bonini  Directora de la Carrera Relaciones 
Internacionales  Universidad Americana  
Edelira Lampert de 
Acosta  Directora Posgrado  Universidad Nacional de 
Asunción (UNA)  
Pedro Benavente 
M.  Director  Escuela de Economía 
Universidad Nacional de 
Asunción  
Pedro Acosta  Coordinador Académico  Escuela de Economía 
Universidad Nacional de 
Asunción  
Graciela A. de 
Bobadilla  Coordinador Académico  Escuela de Economía 
Universidad Nacional de 
Asunción  
Paola Moyano de 
Staack  Coordinador Académico  Escuela de Economía 
Universidad Nacional de 
Asunción  
Geneva and 
telephone    
Roberto Azevêdo  Director General  World Trade 
Organ ization  
Yonov Frederick 
Agah  Deputy -Director General  World Trade 
Organi zation  
John Breckenridge  Administration  and General Services Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Jean-Marc Arino  Administration  and General Services Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Laura Sunthorn  Administration  and General Services Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Robert Teh ERSD  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Christian Dahoui  Human Resources Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Monica Lezama  Human Resources Division  World Trade 
Organi zation WT/COMTD/89  
 
- 117 - 
 
  Name  Designation & Division  Organisation  
Keith Rockwell  Information and External Relations Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Said El Hachimi  Information and External Relations Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Antony Taubman  Intellectual Property Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Faustin  Mukela 
Luanga  ITTC  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Samer Seif El Yazal  ITTC  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Alicja Wielgus  ITTC  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Karine Vucinic  ITTC  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Simone La Porta  ITTC  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Roberto Fiorentino  ITTC World Trade 
Organi zation  
Müslüm Yilmaz  Legal Affairs Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Serra Ayral  Trade and Environment Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Lauro Locks  Trade and Environment Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Sajal Mathur  Trade and E nvironment Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Willy Alfaro  Trade Policies Review Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Jo-Ann Crawford  Trade Policies Review Division  World Trade 
Organi zation  
Patrice Laird -Grant  Minister Counsellor  Permanent Mission of 
Jamaic a 
Sebastián Ortiz 
Montaner  Primer Secretario  Permanent Mission of 
Paraguay  
Tsotetsi Makong  Formerly 1st Secretary   Permanent Mission of 
Lesotho  
Dalila Hamou   Director, External Relations Division (ERD)  World Intellectual 
Property Organization  
Maria Soledad 
Iglesias -Vega  Senior External Relations Officer, External 
Relations Division (ERD)  World Intellectual 
Property Organization  
Thomas Mathew  Division on International Trade in Goods, 
Services and Commodities   UNCTAD  
Jean Philippe Rodde  Economic A ffairs Officer , Technical Cooperation 
Service  UNCTAD  
Rashid Kaukab  Director, Programmes and Research  CUTS International  
 
Group interviews and meetings    
 Informal meeting with WTO Members  
 Meeting with the WTO Technical Assistance Coordination Task Force  
 Group interviews with current WTO AIP, NTP, MIP, and RCI interns  
 
 
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