One year after its opening for signature, the Declaration for Gender Responsive Standards and Standards Development has 64 signatories. The Declaration was developed by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) as part of an effort to make the standards governing various industries more gender responsive.

Signing the Declaration on 14 May 2020, the one-year anniversary of its opening, Fairtrade International recognized the role of standards in promoting gender equality across global supply chains. 

Fairtrade International represents 1.7 million small-scale farmers and workers worldwide. It owns the FAIRTRADE Mark that is placed on over 30,000 fair-trade-certified products worldwide. Fairtrade advances better prices and decent working conditions for farmers and workers in developing countries. 

UNECE notes that clearly designed and monitored gender responsive standards can help close the gender gap in agriculture, by which women have less access to resources such as land, inputs, information, credit and technical assistance.

UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova said agriculture is a major global employer, and empowering female farmers is therefore key to achieve “not only SDG 5, but the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” [UNECE press release] [Declaration] [Signatories]