Co-organized by United Nations ESCAP, ECA, and CITD (Georgetown Law)
Sustainable development issues are increasingly mainstreamed in trade agreements. As the inclusion of sustainable and inclusive development provisions becomes more systematic, it will be important that the new provisions meet the needs of both developed and developing trade partners to ensure a real impact on advancing the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This course is designed to build capacity of trade negotiators and policy makers to design and negotiate sustainable development provisions appropriate to specific situations of different economies. It covers 5 key topics of trade and sustainable development: MSMEs, Gender, Environment, Labour and Investment. This course is based on the United Nations Handbook on Provisions and Options for Sustainable Development in Trade Agreements, developed as part of the Initiative on Mainstreaming Sustainable Development Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements (IMSDP).
Course structure: This course includes 6 videos lectures (20 mn. each), readings, and online quizzes to be viewed and completed over a 3-week period. Two 90-minute live sessions will be organized with the course organizers, principal lecturer and distinguished guest experts during that period.
Certificate: Participants who pass the online quizzes and attend the live sessions will receive free online traceable course certificates from the organizing institutions.
Principal lecturer: Katrin Kuhlmann, Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director, Center on Inclusive Trade and Development, Georgetown University and President and Founder, New Markets Lab, who is also the lead author of the Handbook on which the course is based. She prepared the video lectures for the course and will join the course live to answer questions. Her areas of research and expertise include international economic law, law and development, regional trade agreements and comparative economic law. She is also a member of the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). In addition to practicing trade and corporate law at two international law firms, she spent six years as a trade negotiator with the USTR’s Office. She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a BA in Economics from Creighton University.
