CUTS Africa Resource Centre (CUTS ARC), Lusaka, in conjunction with Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT) hosted a national consultative dialogue on the Linkages between Trade Development and Poverty Reduction (TDP) in Lusaka, Zambia, on September 19, 2006.
The objectives of the dialogue were to:
- facilitate cross-fertilisation of experiences and lessons learnt on linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction in the developing countries;
- strengthen the ability of developing countries through the provision of policy support and other know-how and do-how on trade and development issues;
- facilitate synergy between governments and civil society organisations (CSOs) to strengthen collective perspectives and positions; and
- advocate development-oriented trade policies, based on learning from research and other activities, by taking into account the interests and priorities (needs and aspirations) of the poor and marginalised sections of the society and look into the aspects of policy coherence.
- To draw lessons and experiences on the linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction, so that the information could be used by CSOs and other relevant stakeholders to lobby their trade negotiators and policy makers.