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UNDP is the global development network of the United Nations, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges and assisting them to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). UNDP conceives of development as a process of enlarging people’s choices to realize their potential and enjoy the freedom to lead lives they value. While international trade can be a powerful source of economic growth, which is a necessary condition for human development by expanding the material base for fulfilling human needs, trade alone is an insufficient condition for human development.

International trade grew at high rates in the immediate period before the economic crisis. Developing countries benefited from this trend. However, although growth in trade spurred higher rates of economic growth, the effect in terms of employment generation and poverty reduction has been disappointing, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the reasons behind this disappointing scenario is the nature of integration of poor countries in the global economy, and the distinct pre-crisis phenomenon of jobless growth. The economies of low income countries are typically dependent on a few commodities with limited linkages to the rest of the economy and value addition. While commodity trade growth may increase productivity and output in the formal sector of the economy, the employment and poverty impacts are likely to be weak given limited linkages with the local economy and the narrow range of opportunities for innovation and value added upgrading. Economic integration widens the range of traded goods, enhances the local impact of trade and has a positive impact on employment, particularly amongst the youth, who are the most likely to take up the challenges if equipped with adequate skills. In the context of the global crisis and its aftermath, countries are re-assessing the importance of regional markets for outward looking growth strategies, employment, internal markets, and ‘green growth’ strategies. In this context, UNDP will produce in 2010-2011 a flagship report focusing on the benefits of regional integration and south-south trade for human development. The report will assess how strengthened regional economic strategies can contribute to human development, with the ultimate goal of influencing policy making processes and economic policies in developing countries. In order to frame the discussion and introduce the relevant questions, the flagship report will lay out UNDP’s analytical approach to the linkages between economic integration and human development, which will determine the conditions – institutional, political or economic – under which linkages exist. In light of the theory, the report will also review examples of regional integration cases, and draw out factors that made those cases successful in promoting not just trade and growth, but also measures of human development. The theoretical findings and the conclusions based on existing regional integration experiences will be used to review current African regional integration efforts and frame the relevant questions to be explored. The report will then map out African trade flows (intra-regional and otherwise) and industrial clusters in order to inform an assessment of potential benefits and challenges, as well as assess current trade agreements and their potential for extension and deepening.

In this context, the Inclusive Globalization Cluster (IGC) in the Poverty Group seeks the support of an expert researcher to write a report covering the conceptual linkages among regional economic integration, growth and human development.

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