devinitorg/iati-policy-markers huggingface dataset:
Central Asia: Ready4Trade (R4TCA) The 4-year EU-funded Project is a trade component of a larger EU-funded programme which aims to support Investment, Competitiveness and Trade in Central Asia, thus contributing to sustainable and inclusive economic development in the region. The Project supports the development of intra-regional and international trade in five Central Asian countries. This is done by enhancing the transparency of cross-border requirements, removing regulatory and procedural barriers, strengthening business capability to comply with trade formalities and standards, as well as by improving cross-border e-commerce. The Project is implemented by the International Trade Centre in close collaboration with national partners.  Each intervention is customized to meet specific needs of the beneficiary countries.
The Gambia: Youth empowerment project (YEP) The Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) supports the economic development in The Gambia by increasing employability and self-employment opportunities for young Gambians particularly potential and returning migrants. The project supports vocational training, business development and competitiveness of micro and small-sized enterprises in selected sectors through value addition and market linkages. YEP takes a market-led approach focusing on sectors with high potential for creating jobs for young people including agribusiness, tourism, creative industries, information and communication technologies (ICT) and textile and fashion. Working with more than 40 implementing partners, YEP also strengthens the capacity of youth support structures, institutions and the private sector to provide relevant and effective training and business development services to young Gambians and small businesses.
Textile and Apparel Network for Africa (TANA) The proposed project "Textile and Apparel Network for Africa / African Textile and Fashion Accelerator Network" forms part of the Special Initiative Training and Job Creation initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to contribute to the implementation of the Marshall Plan with Africa and the investment partnership G20 Compact with Africa. The project aims at strengthening market linkages between European and African textile and apparel companies and consists of two components, which are financed by two different GIZ entities: i) Global component financed by GIZ HQ: Strengthened commercial relationships between European retailers/brands and African textile and apparel suppliers through the establishment of the the Textile and Apparel Network for Africa (TANA), and ii) the Country component financed by GIZ Ghana office: Enhanced competitiveness of Ghanaian textile and apparel companies to meet buyer requirements.
Bhutan Trade Support The EU-Bhutan Trade Support project aims to increase export diversification, possibly contributing to the implementation of the  “Brand Bhutan” initiative, by improving the capacities of trade and investment policy formulation and implementation, and increasing exports in selected value chains i.e. horticulture and textile handicrafts.
Madagascar: UK Trade Partnerships Programme The UKTP Programme works with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to increase exports to the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). The programme works with vernment agencies, business support organizations, local companies and primary producers across 24 countries to improve trade and economic outcomes. This is done by increasing knowledge of market and trade information, including the better use of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) where applicable. The UKTP Programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UKTP Madagascar project will focus on the textiles and clothing (T&C) sector. It will intervene at both enterprise and institutional levels. The selected beneficiary companies will receive individualised capacity building to improve their operations along the value chain, their social and environmental sustainability and will be linked to the market. At the institutional level, institutional roadmap development and capacity building will be provided to two TISIs (GEFP and EDBM), so that both institutions are able to reach out to many more companies. The other institutions will benefit from training and capacity building on topics relevant to TISIs.
Global: Support for Innovative Methods and Tools (understanding NTMs and accessing e-Commerce) This project invests in the development and further refinement of methodologies applied in ITC's work on eSolutions and Non-tariff measures (NTMs) with a view to better serve ITC's clients under the related programmes. In particular, the project will address transparency gaps and improve capacity building offers in the two aforementioned areas.
ACP Business-friendly: Supporting value chains through inclusive policies, investment promotion and alliances In 2018, the ACP Secretariat, the EC, together with ITC, UNIDO and the World Bank finalized the Joint Proposal for a five-year Program (hereafter the &lsquo;Program&rsquo;) aiming at (1) adopting and implementing business-friendly and inclusive national policies and legal frameworks, and (2) strengthening productive, processing, promoting and marketing capabilities and value chains. The three agencies will respectively deliver micro-, meso-, and macro-level activities, and will ensure the appropriate level of coordination and synergies aiming to deliver integrated solutions to ACP countries.&nbsp;The program includes country-level interventions, as well as Rapid Response and Regional Engagement windows for each of the three pillars. The Rapid Response window aims at swiftly responding to emerging beneficiary needs given emerging demands in the thematic areas of the Program; the Regional Engagement window will primarily aim to promote knowledge exchange, best practices and experience capture and sharing to contribute to two fundamental objectives.&nbsp;
Overcoming Trade Obstacles related to Non-Tariff Measures in the Arab countries The regional initiative aims to coordinate a regional approach to improve the transparency of non-tariff measures (NTMs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and overcome related trade obstacles. The proposed project builds on a first inception phase project implemented from February 2015 to February 2016 under the NTM programme and funded through an Amendment to an existing USAID grant to ITC.
Global: Climate competitiveness: Building opportunities in the green economy for emerging and developing countries The project aims to increase the engagement of seven developing and emerging countries in the Trade and Environment Structured Sustainability Discussions (TESSD) and the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) at World Trade Organisation (WTO). 

The project will carry out research in partnership with countries on the role of trade in supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives. On the basis of this research, it will support countries to make submissions to the WTO CTE and TESSD in the form of best practices, lessons learnt, common regional approaches on standards etc. Furthermore, the project will provide tailor made capacity building for MSMEs on trade and environment related issues.
GreenToCompete (G2C) GreenToCompete is ITC's initiative for the transition to a green economy that profits both planet and people. Its goal is to enable MSMEs from developing countries to become more competitive through green production and trade. In this context, GreenToCompete supports ITC’s ambition to deliver cutting-edge and innovative trade-related technical assistance and develop ITC's positioning as a leading development partner in the green transition. It also serves as an umbrella to ensure coherence among ITC's interventions in relation to the green transition.This project drove the implementation of the strategy along the following areas, namely: (1) engagement in policy dialogues and provision of inputs for a mutually supportive trade and environment agenda, (2) development of partnerships and outreach to achieve scale, (3) development/enhancement of innovative, new tools and approaches enabling MSMEs and related multipliers to benefit from a green transition, (4) establishment of a consistent corporate reporting mechanism; and (5) mainstreaming of green competitiveness into ITC’s work. This project supported the implementation of the GreenToCompete strategy, contributing to build the basis for the development of a dedicated programme to support MSMEs to become climate competitive.
Ukraine National Export Strategy Through the development of 5 sector strategies and 4 cross-sector strategies to complement the STDR, this initiative seeks to bring about a concerted national vision on how to enhance Ukraine&rsquo;s trade competitiveness, particularly for SMEs and a coherent strategic framework for trade development. The project will also facilitate implementation efforts which are key to introducing real change. The anticipated results of the intervention also include a reinforced local capacity to design and update the National Export Strategy by Ukrainian authorities and stakeholders in the future.The ultimate goal is to help revitalize Ukraine&rsquo;s trade sector, particularly the country&rsquo;s SMEs, with a view to better integrating Ukraine into the multilateral trading system, strengthening Ukrainian SMEs competitiveness and allowing them to take full advantage of new preferential markets access, in particular to the EU.
Trade Intelligence: UK Trade Partnerships Programme The United Kingdom Trade Partnerships (UKTP) Programme aims to increase trade from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) to the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) by maximizing the benefits of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The UKTP Programme works in partnership with vernment agencies, private sector organisations, public sector institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and other local stakeholders, to support access and use of trade intelligence.
Liberia: Developing the tourism sector with a focus on surfing and destinations The International Trade Centre implements a tourism development project in Liberia. The project focuses on developing surfing and other destinations. It has an overall objective of improving economic growth, in the form of higher revenue, and job contributions of the tourism sector through: a) improving the policy environment and institutional capacity to support the sector; b) undertaking targeted promotion and advocacy campaigns to promote tourism to international, regional and domestic markets; and c) developing new tourism destinations around surfing and other water related activities. The project will mainly be implemented at the Robertsport surfing area, the Chimpanzee Island and the Providence Island tourist destination sites.The main partners of the project are the vernment of Liberia through the Ministry of Commerce and industry, and the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism; the International Trade Centre; the United Nations World Tourism Organisation; and the Enhanced Integrated Framework Secretariat that has provided the funding for the project.
Ecuador: Promoting new non-traditional exports (NEXT Ecuador) The overall objective of the project &quot;Ecuador: Promoting new non-traditional exports (NEXT Ecuador)&quot; is to contribute to the reactivation of Ecuador&rsquo;s agricultural exports in a post-pandemic context. The project will increase access of 20 MSMEs and associations, including 940 linked farmers, to international value chains -particularly in the EU- under principles of inclusion and sustainability.This four-year project, financed by the European Union, will enhance the productive capabilities of MSMEs and farmers with the aim of helping them to achieve international certifications. NEXT Ecuador will also work to strengthen inclusive and associative international business capacities among MSMEs, farmer associations and producers. Finally, local trade support institutions and organizations will receive support to provide enhanced specialized services to the agricultural exporting sector.
Uzbekistan: Facilitating the Process of Accession to the WTO The process of Uzbekistan's WTO accession was initiated in 1994, but was frozen in 2005, due to the self-sufficiency policy that existed during this time. In 2018, Uzbekistan renewed its accession process and since has made a number of trade liberalization reforms. The Action will support Uzbekistan's development plans to modernize is economy through leveraging the process of WTO accession. While the overall objective of the Action is to contribute to the economic development of Uzbekistan by assisting the country to create a trade environment that is in conformity with international standards, including predictable and enforceable laws and regulations, the specific objective of the Action is to create a trade environment that is in conformity with the World Trade Organization (WTO).If Uzbekistan's WTO accession process concludes within the implementation phase of the Action, the focus will be to support compliance with WTO requirements and implementation of the commitments made during the accession process.
Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) The Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) project has been enhancing transparency and understanding of voluntary sustainability standards, codes of conduct and audit protocols (VSS) since 2009. Leveraging its global database and its website ‘Sustainability Map’, T4SD has worked with SMEs to sensitize them to good production practices required by international buyers. T4SD also cooperates with industry platforms and companies to drive harmonization and convergence in VSS and to help bring SMEs into their supply chains.

Drawing on this background, T4SD’s interventions focus on enabling:

1.	Greater awareness:  transparent, credible, verified, and specialized information on the use and implementation of VSS, available to ITC’s target constituents;
2.	Freely available online and offline tools (Global Public Goods) for informed decision-making and the improvement of sustainability profile of supply chain actors, particularly SMEs, facilitated by: (a) analysis; and (b) identification of efficiencies and determining the technical and financial ‘gaps’ to meet compliance requirements, or avoid duplication (equivalence, mutual recognition); 
3.	Facilitation of sustainable market linkages: through IT-based mechanisms allowing for efficient exchange of information along the supply chain and connecting supply and demand sides.
Benchmarking Platform Update This project seeks to upgrade the technical platform ITC has been using to assess the performance of Business Support Organization (BSOs) during the past 8 years. The objective is to refresh and expand the ITC’s Benchmarking methodology and integrate the approach into other parts of ITC operations including SMEs competitiveness assessment and sustainable development.

ITC estimates a 75% increase in functionalities: The new platform will continue assessing BSOs’ performance but most importantly will allow BSOs to use the SME competitiveness assessment tool in order to assist their own SMEs clients in increasing their competitiveness. This will represent a massive value proposition for a large number of BSOs and will certainly produce a remarkable multiplying effect for ITC. 

Moreover, the next generation of digital tools will allow ITC to highlight new attributes of excellence including digital readiness, sustainability, inclusiveness and resilience leaving open the possibility to incorporate new perspectives if necessary.

The new platform will be at the core of ITC’s digital strategy by effectively addressing the growing needs and the diversity of our broadening community and our expanding scope of work. The project will support a hybrid delivery approach with the objective of improving ITC capacity on remote delivery, improved efficiency-gains and scale for BSO and ecosystems.
It is expected that the improved interoperability of the different tools, will enable an unprecedented ability for ITC to collect and analyze primary data and open new opportunities for more solid internal and external collaborations.
Ghana: Developing cocoa and associated crops through the Sankofa Project empowered by Alliances for Action Since 2016, ITC in cooperation with its partners - Chocolats Halba (Coop), the Kuapa Kokoo Farmer Union, Niche Cocoa, Max Havelaar Foundation, Fairtrade Africa, Yam Development Council of Ghana and the vernment of Ghana - have been working together to achieve transformative impact by supporting smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana and their families to improve their livelihoods through income diversification, adoption of climate smart agriculture and market linkages. To date, several thousands of dollars have been jointly invested by value chain operators. As a result, lead farmer revenues have increased by 22% on the average, and the project secured new commercial partnerships and markets for yam and associated crops. In addition, the Kuapa Kokoo Farmer Union is now mainstreaming the adoption of improved climate risk mitigation and adaptation practices. The scaling up plan for 2019-2023 aims to increase living income, improving cocoa and associated crops productivity & quality, while reducing the over dependency on mono cropping production systems, through the development of commercial and strategic value chain alliances. The ultimate aim is to contribute to 3 pillars of sustainable livelihoods (social, economic and environmental) of stakeholders in the cocoa and associated crops value chains through a multi-stakeholder approach on income diversification, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation.
Morocco: Improving the international competitiveness of the textile and clothing sector (GTEX/MENATEX) The envisaged impact of the programme is to increase employment and income along the Textile and Clothing value chain in the five selected priority countries. To achieve this long-term objective, the programme foresees to accomplish two major outcomes until the end of the programme. One is related to the institutional infrastructure around the sector in the priority countries, including policy aspects, where required and is formulated as "Improved business environment and Trade and Investment Support Institutions performance in the Textile and Clothing sector. The second outcome targets the enterprise level and is formulated as "Improved competitiveness of SMEs in the Textile and Clothing sector".
Green Trade The objective of the Green Moonshot is to strengthen the climate competitiveness of MSMEs in developing and emerging economies.

A policy priority for our time is transitioning to an inclusive, just and low carbon economy. Governments are facing the challenge of both creating growth and employment whilst also responding to the climate crisis, in line with their commitments to the Paris Agreement.

The project provides trade intelligence and technical assistance to strengthen the climate competitiveness of MSMEs to successfully navigate the low carbon and just transition. This project will drive impact through capacitating MSMEs, and improving the business and policy ecosystem, to enable them to respond to climate risks and harness related opportunities. The project works in partnership with industry networks, corporations, investors, technology providers and other value chain actors.
Global: Digital Moonshot ITC's Digital Moonshot initiative aims to get more MSMEs online and engaged in digital trade and entrepreneurialism. This initiative is structured within a comprehensive framework, spanning policy, institutional capacity, enterprise capabilities, and strategic partnerships. Increasing access and capability to use digital channels and tools could be one of the most powerful mechanisms to respond to the looming economic downturn, and to boost the resilience of small enterprises. Greater participation of MSMEs in digital trade brings economic benefits, drives the demand for digital capacity and improves the business case for further investments in infrastructure. The Digital Moonshot initiative is integral to ITCs 2022-2025 Strategic Plan, which prioritises digital connectivity as a key enabler to an inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous world. Through this initiative, ITC focuses its efforts on ensuring that investments in connectivity are prioritised and that the conditions are in place for MSMEs in the developing world to profit from digital trade. The Digital Moonshot team is committed to fostering the digital transformation of developing and transition countries by enhancing their digital policies and strategies reinforcing digital ecosystems and the competitiveness of MSMEs to participate in online trade. The priority for the Digital Moonshot in 2024 is to build partnerships with other UN organisations and private sector groups working in multiple countries, in order to continue and extend support through their related operations and networks. The programme will continue to raise awareness and ITCs profile as a leader in Digital Trade through UN partnerships, such as the Broadband Commission Working Group, EQUALS initiative, and global events including the Summit of the Future. These partnerships will be leveraged through other XB projects and address various objectives: Provide policy and strategy support for the digital connectivity sector by training policymakers as well as proving advice on digital-focused policies and strategies and supporting African countries to advance legal and regulatory reforms, particularly concerning the AfCFTA and JSI negotiations. Empower business support organisations to build their capacity in digital and support the migration to digital trade. Support MSMEs in taking full advantage of existing digital connectivity networks and connecting the unconnected through setting up the rural hub(s).Support MSMEs with digital skills, investment readiness and international exposure. Foster business-friendly tech ecosystems and provide support for greater participation in digital trade. Leverage partnerships to connect more MSMEs to the internet and markets. Incorporate AI into our methodology and increase its adoption by MSMEs.
Improving transparency in trade through market analysis tools as a global public good This project assists SMEs in better targeting their products towards the most promising markets, and in diversifying and adding value to their products. ITC has developed a suite of online tools and databases to make global trade more transparent and facilitate access to new markets. The overall objective of the project is to maximise the benefits of trade in terms of poverty reduction, inclusiveness and creation of decent jobs, in particular for developing countries. The economic operators, including SMEs, institutions and policy makers will make better trade informed decisions through affordable trade & investment related data, analytics and capacity building.
Ukraine: Linking SMEs in the fruits and vegetable sector to global and domestic markets and value chains (Phase II) The objective of the project is to contribute to enhanced competitiveness and sustained export growth of Ukrainian SMEs in the fruits, vegetables, nuts and wine sectors. SMEs from the fruits, vegetables and nuts sectors will be assisted to produce goods per market requirements, and will be linked to target markets, particularly within the EU. SMEs from the wine sector will be assisted in improving their production process and taking strategic approach toward sector&rsquo;s development. The business support organizations (BSOs) will be helped to improve the capacities to provide quality services to SMEs.