Since its inception in 1997 and restructuring in 2000, the Integrated Framework (IF) has focused primarily on improving the coordination and mainstreaming of trade capacity assistance to the LDCs and assessing their technical needs. 

However, it became obvious to the IF and its stakeholders that there was an imminent need to advance the IF process toward tangible acts of implementation - i.e., coordinated strategies and activities that result in quantifiable development outcomes and results.

Toward this end, the IF Working Group and IF Steering Committee gave their support to an innovative hands-on Simulation Project to examine the challenges of implementation. 

During a two-day Simulation Workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 7-8 September 2005, representatives of IF stakeholders engaged as active strategists seeking to explore a wide range of approaches and recommendations for improving IF implementation.

The report on this Simulation Workshop highlights five significant challenges facing the IF, including:

• ownership of the IF process;
• coordination among IF stakeholders;
• operational factors that affect the IF process;
• resource constraints; and
• private sector engagement.
  
  

Page last updated on 16 September 2008