Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender welcomes new member, launches online policy tool

The formal participation of the Gambia in the IWG officially became effective on 1 July 2024. “This milestone reflects our commitment to promoting gender equality and empowering women,” said Kemo Janka of the Gambia's Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment. “We recognize that trade is a powerful engine for growth and development. By integrating gender considerations into our trade policies, we can create a more inclusive and equitable economy,” he added. 

The IWG's co-chairs  — Cabo Verde, El Salvador and the United Kingdom — announced that a new policy tool for inclusive trade was recently published on the WTO website. Ambassador Delgado of Cabo Verde and Ambassador Manley of the United Kingdom — also speaking on behalf of co-chair Ambassador Benedetti of El Salvador — said that the new online database is a digital transformation of the Compendium of Financial Inclusion Initiatives for female entrepreneurs, launched by the IWG and the MSMEs Working Group at the 13th Ministerial Conference in February 2024.

Aimed at assisting policymaking in the area of inclusive trade, the database includes a search function that allows users to find specific initiatives and to search for material via keywords. The compendium is also available as an official document (INF/TGE/W/7/Rev.3 and INF/MSME/W/46/Rev.3) and is downloadable in other formats from the WTO website.

The IWG co-chairs also provided an update on the International Prize for Gender Equality in Trade, launched in March 2024 to recognize the most impactful gender-responsive trade policies implemented by WTO members and observer governments. Sixteen applications have been received from Latin America, South and East Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Pacific. Winners will be informed in the coming weeks, and the awards will be presented at the Public Forum in September.

Updates from members

Peru provided information on the first-ever Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) joint ministerial meeting held in May 2024 between ministers responsible for trade and ministers responsible for women's issues. This high-level dialogue focused on addressing the challenges faced by women in trade and investment within the Asia Pacific region. Additionally, Peru hosted a Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (GTAGA) panel on women in trade alongside the APEC meeting. The GTAGA is an initiative from the Inclusive Trade Action Group (ITAG) aimed at supporting efforts to promote women's economic empowerment and gender equality.

Mexico, which took over the chairmanship of the GTAGA in April, informed IWG members about its 2024 Work Plan, focusing on the collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data, assessing the impact of gender chapters in trade agreements, supporting women-led MSMEs, and increasing GTAGA's participation in international forums on economic inclusion. Mexico also indicated that the support of the IWG can boost the impact of these activities.

Norway informed members about its recent legislation on gender representation in corporate boards. This initiative aims to increase female representation, promote equality and diversity, and enhance innovation and decision-making within the business sector.

Sharing experiences on women's leadership in trade

The meeting featured a panel discussion on women in diplomacy, organized at the initiative of Ecuador and the co-chairs of the IWG. Speakers emphasized the importance of women's involvement in trade and diplomacy. Ambassador Theodore from Canada highlighted women's role in creating pathways to achieve peace through economic empowerment and sustainability.

Daniela Garcia from Ecuador noted that women bring collaborative and inclusive approaches to negotiations which are essential for solving complex trade issues and providing long term solutions. “Women's first-hand understanding of gender specific challenges in international trade allows them to advocate for policies that promote gender equality and economic empowerment,” she said. Kemo Janka from the Gambia emphasized that women play a critical role in prioritizing the development agenda within trade policies and agreements, ensuring that the entire population can reap the benefits of trade.

The World Trade Institute (WTI) and the Secretariat of the GQUAL Campaign, which seeks gender parity in international representation, outlined their collaboration with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). They described their work aimed at achieving equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making processes across political, public and economic spheres, and at addressing systemic gender disparities and promoting structural transformation.

The WTO Secretariat highlighted that, according to 2022-23 data, 36% of WTO ambassadors and 19% of ministers in charge of WTO affairs are female. It noted that 6% of all free trade agreements and regional trade agreements notified to the WTO include provisions on female leadership and access to decision-making positions. "Some trade agreements include non-binding commitments to develop female leadership through training and experience sharing, foster female leadership networks in business and trade, and promote equal participation of men and women in decision-making positions and positions of authority," said the Head of the Trade and Gender Office Anoush der Boghossian, who founded and leads the WTO Gender Research Hub.

Presentations

The World Bank presented its new Gender Strategy 2024-2030, which focuses on key objectives, such as ending gender-based violence, enhancing human capital, creating better jobs, increasing ownership of economic assets, expanding access to services, and advancing women’s decision-making roles.

The WTO Secretariat updated members on technical assistance activities, reporting that since 2018, 652 government officials have been trained. These courses aim to enhance the trade knowledge of officials and directly support members' trade policy-making through the development of policy tools and hands-on policy-making exercises.

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