The exercise will gather information on countries' Aid for Trade priorities, members' transition towards sustainable development, and the role that Aid for Trade can play to support environmental sustainability and women's economic empowerment. The ongoing economic and trade impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will also feature prominently. Background information on the monitoring exercise is available here.

“The launch of the monitoring and evaluation exercise is an important step in the preparation for the next Global Review of Aid for Trade in 2022,” said Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang, who oversees development matters. “It allows us to hear about the economic and trade priorities of members at differentlevels of development, donors, South-South partners and regional organizations. This year's exercise is particularly timely given the ongoing challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the pressing need for a transition to more sustainable development approaches, particularly in regard to the environment.”

Self-assessment questionnaires underpinning the exercise can be submitted by WTO members and Aid for Trade partners, including bilateral and multilateral agencies and regional economic communities.

The information for the questionnaires is to be collected from national authorities and private sector associations. The questionnaire should be submitted via an electronic form no later than 31 December 2021.

The forms can be found below:

More information will be made available at http://www.wto.org/aidfortrade.

Aid for Trade is a multi-stakeholder initiative seeking to mobilise resources to address the trade-related needs and supply-side constraints identified by developing countries and least-developed countries. More information can be found here.