Increasing public participation in trade policy-making

Description

Increasing public participation in trade policy-making involves actively engaging diverse stakeholders—such as civil society, businesses, and affected communities—in the formulation, negotiation, and review of trade policies. This strategy aims to enhance transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness, remedying issues of limited representation and public trust. Practical actions include public consultations, accessible information dissemination, and participatory forums, ensuring that trade policies better reflect societal needs and mitigate negative social, economic, and environmental impacts.

Context

Public input in the formation, negotiation and implementation of trade policies is a means of fostering increased transparency in the light of country-specific conditions.

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.

Claim

In formulating an international strategy for the 1990s it would be prudent to assume that the third world will have to rely largely on its own resources to finance development. Foreign capital is likely to be meagre: domestic savings are also unlikely to be abundant. For these reasons alone it will be essential to make full use of the human resources available within the Third World itself. In the 1990s people should be placed firmly in the centre of development.