WTO – MOCK SUMMIT 2010: Tentative Division of Roles
The WTO-Mock Summit 2010 is going to be either a full Ministerial Conference to seal the issues around Doha Development Agenda or a consultative meeting of some member countries from the developed and developing world. As we are imitating the real WTO, the trend in the organization will determine what would happen.
Meanwhile, we are setting the agenda so that selected actors could during the long vacation, if chance allows begin an independent research and general readings on WTO and on Doha Development Agenda.
There is no other option that the scope of what issues and problems we are going to address is definitely around Doha Agenda. But in order to give these issues insight and in order to fit them into the current turmoil of global economic crisis: It is most probably be oriented on "Global Financial Crisis implication on WTO-Doha Round".
The underlying premise of the Doha Round issues is that all the aspects in the Agreements and procedures under the WTO-regime are not favourable for the development of the developing country members of the organization while they were virtually forced on them to ratify.
From Seattle it became obvious that these are unacceptable and must be reviewed to accommodate the interests of development of countries in the developing world. The Seattle Ministerial Conference was scuttled because of this. That was in 1999.
The Doha Round in 2001 must address these issues if the WTO-regime must be allowed to continue. Although there was no new agreement of WTO-multilateral trade relations which reviewed the areas of contention, but there was an agenda which all have agreed would be looked into to reform the system. This is called Doha Development Agenda.
The Doha Agenda s a package of global trade issues and WTO conventions such as on Agriculture, market access, services, trips, trims, transparency and government procurement, anti-dumping and subsidies, regional trade agreements, dispute settlement understanding, etc.
The preparedness for the mock exercise includes so many things:
- Some of you from Department of Political Science would have to go through a Level III Credit Course on WTO-Linked to development – POL 3314
- Some would in addition to above be picked to work on their final year project on WTO and development.
- There is going to be a briefing paper which would come out with details on the issues which every actor is expected to read and discuss.
- Participants must undertake general readings and researches specific to their roles.
- When training opens it begins with a lecture by the Director, then to be followed by working groups discussions.
- Finally, there is going to be intensive training of presentation of the positions of various countries.
- Number 6 above is preceded by allowing actors to submit written reports which are discussed with the Director and corrections made for further improvement
- lastly, then comes the day of the performance – displaying the art to the General public.
The following are tentative assignment of roles:
The Secretariat
- Lawi Isa Abdullahi Chairman
- Surajo Muhammed Director-General
Genera Council/Chairmen of Commissions
- Lawi Isah Abdullahi Biology
- Surajo Muhammed Political Science
- Collins Y. "
- Basiru Musa "
- Abubakar Salihu "
- Aminu Salisu "
- Sule Suleiman "
- Isa Muhammad "
- Aliyu Sheme "
- Abdul Ganiyu Rufai Yakubu Agric. Science
Trade Representatives
- Muhammad Naziru Halliru Economics
- Maryam Sunusi Sani Political Science
- Kabiru Basiru "
- Ibrahim Ismail "
- Mohammed Ismail "
- Salim Bala Mohammed "
- Binta Mohammed Kurmawa "
- Hamza Jibril "
- Maryam Suleiman "
- Fate Bukar Fate "
- Usman Adamu Bissallah "
- Isma'il Hayatu Economics
- Shehu Usman Ali Political Science
- Abdussalam Rilwan "
- Aremu Lateef "
- Mustapha Bello Accounting
- Auwal Dansale Yahaya Library Science
- Isah Haruna Bagari "
Human Rights Activists
- Yahaya Usman Yahaya
- Joy Nzobiwu
Security
- Ahmed Goma
- Abubakar Tambai
Media
- Garzali Yakubu Freedom Radio
- Siddique Tanimuddari Independent Journalist
- Halima Ibrahim Political Science
- Zainab Saleh "
Observers
- United Nations
- World Bank
- International Monetary Fund
Special Roles
- Mustapha Tosin Muyideen English/French
- Ese Pauline Eruotor Economics
- Fatima Adamu Mass Comm.
- Brendan E. E. P.H.E
Others
More names of the various roles would be released later.
M. M. Yusif
Department of Political Science
Bayero University, Kano
12 – 02 – 2010
