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Add to Preferred SourcesA new joint UN project is seeking to help governments and businesses keep transport networks and borders operational and facilitate the flow of goods and services while containing the spread of the coronavirus.
The project launched this month will implement UN solutions, standards, guidelines, metrics, tools and methodologies to help developing countries build transport, trade and logistics resilience in the wake of COVID-19.
The initiative brings together UNCTAD and the five UN regional commissions for Africa (ECA), Europe (ECE), Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and Western Asia (ESCWA), with funding managed by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The project puts a premium on global reach and regional presence, international cooperation, as well as the exchange of knowledge and good practices from all over the world.
It seeks to equip governments in developing and least developed countries to adapt to new post-COVID-19 conditions by tapping into UN expertise, standards, tools and guidance while considering their specific and local conditions.
It comprises three clusters designed to match existing and emerging standards and best practices in transport and trade facilitation with new concerns and demands arising from COVID-19 on cross-border freight transport operations and trade transactions.
The first cluster focuses on contactless solutions and good practices. It aims at reducing physical contact among people in cross-border supply chains by facilitating the flow of goods without spreading the virus.
The second cluster is geared towards maximizing seamless connectivity. It focuses on eliminating obstacles to cross-border trade and transport operations arising from the COVID-19 crisis.
The third cluster focuses on collaborative solutions on transport, trade and logistics operations by strengthening regional and sectoral cooperation to facilitate joint actions and solutions in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project responds to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s call for action to tackle the many socio-economic dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis. It seeks to make a difference in line with the UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19 calling for improved connectivity and lower transaction and transport costs. It lies at the heart of UN efforts to implement solutions for contactless, seamless and cooperative transport and trade.
Original source: UNESCAP
Published on 28 May 2020