UN Trade & Development Rebrand

Six decades after the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established to defend developing nations' role in global trade, Rebeca Grynspan, the organisation’s secretary general, said that the time has come for its image to be refreshed.

Sitting behind a blue hard-copy mockup of the agency’s new name, UN Trade and Development, Grynspan told journalists Tuesday the rebrand “represents a stronger and renewed organisation”.

Often eclipsed on trade matters by its Geneva neighbour, the World Trade Organization, Unctad has often been seen as a technical – if not technocratic – data-seeking body on various aspects of trade and development but has more recently come to the forefront on global issues following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Read more: Rebeca Grynspan on turning Unctad from technical agency to climate beacon

Grynspan, now considered among the leading contenders for the role of UN secretary general after the term of António Guterres ends in December 2026, made an international name for herself when she helped negotiate the Black Sea Grain Initiative, allowing food and fertilisers to be shipped from the warring region and keep inflation of the products in check and avoid increased food insecurity.

Responding to a journalist’s question, Grynspan said that the organisation has “changed the way in which we address problems. We have again been able to become an important voice in the UN system.”

In addition to providing analysis on trade matters, such as shipping, and development in reports on commodities production, the Costa Rican said the office is “completely immersed in the discussions and solutions shaping today”.

Read more: Where are Ukraine’s grain going?

She said that despite Russia walking out of negotiations on the extension of the grain initiative with Ukraine, consultations with Russia are ongoing to allow for shipping to continue.

Funding the campaign

A video shown at the briefing hailed that “now, under new leadership, Unctad looks to the future”, before projecting its new name and logo that includes an image resembling a metro ticket indented with arrow shapes pointing in opposite directions.

Amalia Navarro, communications chief for UN Trade and Development, told Geneva Solutions that the “ticket” “signified movement, transport”.

She said that the rebranding was a “very deep two-year exercise”, led by staff within the organisation. Public relations giant, Havas, has also assisted with an initial audit at a cost to the UN office of “less than $100,000”, according to Navarro.

“We needed to benchmark where we were and where we wanted to go.  It was not an additional cost. It was part of the budget,” she added.

She said that plans include improving Unctad’s complex macroeconomic data and statistics, which serve as a reference for public and private organisations globally.

Some staff, however, told Geneva Solutions that they failed to see the meaning of the rebranding campaign and any spending in the midst of the general liquidity crunch at the UN.

Read more: UN forced to tighten belt amid financial woes

In an effort to cut costs and save on energy, employees have been asked to move from the organisation’s old offices above the Human Rights Council’s hall to the new “H” building next door, where they say open-space seating is limited and unconducive to work requiring virtual conferences.

“We have been investing in the organisation for two and a half years, and we’ll have to deal (now) with this situation,” Grynspan told Geneva Solutions. “We will try to do whatever we can to ease the pain on our personnel. We should not allow it to disrupt our goals and objectives.”