Aid for Trade and Human Development: A Guide to Conducting Aid for Trade Needs Assessment Excercises

Aid for Trade and Human Development: A Guide to Conducting Aid for Trade Needs Assessment Excercises

October 30, 2015

This guide is designed to help policy makers, trade officials and researchers conduct needs assessment studies on trade and human development under the Aid for Trade (AfT) initiative conceived at the 2005 World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong.

The AfT initiative is one of the most important development-related outcomes in
recent years. The declaration in Hong Kong stated that AfT should help developing countries build supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure to help them benefit from trade agreements and, more broadly, to enhance the contribution of trade to development. The AfT initiative recognizes that existing trade negotiations need to be complemented by stronger domestic policy and international cooperation.

The trade needs assessment reports resulting from using this guide are intended
to make trade and development policies more integrated with each other and thus conducive to human development. The needs assessments will result in concrete and actionable recommendations aimed at mainstreaming trade in national development strategies.