Geneva, Switzerland, 4 October 1996
The Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Mr. Rubens Ricupero, has completed the second stage of the reorganization of the UNCTAD secretariat in response to the new orientations for the work of the organization resulting from UNCTAD IX. The new structure took effect on 1 October.
The secretariat now consists of four divisions (instead of nine previously):
Division on Globalization and Development Strategies. This division is responsible for helping developing countries reap the benefits of globalization in order to attain sustainable development. The Director of the Division will be Mr. Roger C. Lawrence, until his retirement on December 31, 1996. Mr. Lawrence also serves as Deputy to the Secretary-General of UNCTAD.Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities. This division will seek to maximize the positive impact of globalization and liberalization on sustainable development by assisting in the effective integration of developing countries into the international trading system. Mr. Carlos Fortin, who assumes the title and functions of Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD, will exercise oversight of this division, with the assistance of Mr. Jagdish Saigal, Senior Interregional Adviser of UNCTAD.Division on Investment, Enterprise Development and Technology. This division will seek to promote investment and technology for development, and the participation of enterprises in the global economy by assessing challenges and opportunities arising in the emerging economic and trade environment. Mrs. Lynn Krieger Mytelka took up the position of Director of this division on 1 September (see Note to correspondents No.15).Division for Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency. This division will seek to assist developing countries in generating trade-supporting services, such as customs, transportation, banking and insurance, telecommunications and business information. The needs of the informal, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will receive special attention. Mr. Jean Gurunlian has been appointed Officer-in-Charge of the Division.In addition the Secretary-General has established an "Office of the Special Coordinator for Least Developed, Landlocked and Island Developing Countries". Its objective is to prevent further marginalization of LDCs in the world economy and to tackle their specific problems. Mr. Chandra Kant Patel will serve as Officer-in-Charge during the current search for a Special Coordinator.
Other organizational entities of the secretariat are: Executive Direction and Management, the Administrative Service and Intergovernmental Support Services.
The Secretary-General has requested the Heads of the new divisions to submit in the coming days their recommendations with regard to the internal organizational arrangements for the entities for which they are responsible.
Consequent on the reorganization, there will be a reduction of approximately 12% in the total regular staff of UNCTAD compared with the staffing table agreed in the 1996-97 biannual budget. This reduction has so far been achieved largely through a combination of implementation of the recruitment freeze, redeployment and retirements.
