ABSTRACT
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) was formed in 1964 to ‘‘create a forum in which the more
prosperous member countries [of the United Nations] would come
under pressure to agree to measures benefiting the less-developed
countries.’’1 More specifically, its formation was ‘‘a deliberate effort to
use international bureaucracy and conference diplomacy to alter cur-
rent norms affecting trade and development,’’2 and the organization
has been termed the ‘‘intervener between poor and rich states.’’3 As will be explained later, though originally a one-off conference, UNCTAD
evolved into a permanent organization as an appendage of the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA). However, as an appendage, it is
not a dedicated agency with an autonomous budget, nor does it have
a supreme governing body. This is deliberate as it protects UNCTAD
from having its budget reduced or even the organization being
shut down. UNCTAD’s annual operational budget is approximately
$55 million, which is drawn from the United Nations (UN) regular budget and is approved by the UNGA. In addition, technical coop-
eration activities, financed from extra-budgetary sources, are around
$24 million a year, financed by a mixture of trust funds, funds from
the UNDP, and the Development Account of the United Nations
program budget.
