Members of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender adopted a work plan that aims to increase women’s empowerment through trade. Members agreed to proceed on the basis of the agreed workplan.

At the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) in 2017, WTO members signed the Joint Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, and launched an initiative on trade and women’s economic empowerment. Members then established the informal group in September 2020 as the next phase of the initiative. The WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender met on 26 February. Members appointed El Salvador’s Ambassador Ana Patricia Benedetti Zelaya as the third co-chair of the informal group. Botswana’s Ambassador Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme and Iceland’s Ambassador Harald Aspelund are the other co-chairs.

Members agreed on a 2021 work plan that outlines activities focused on reviewing gender-related analytical work, sharing experience on increasing the participation of women in trade, considering the concept and scope for a gender lens and how to apply such a lens to the WTO’s work, and supporting the WTO’s Aid for Trade work programme. Canada put forward the proposed work plan and will incorporate additions suggested by members into a revised document.

The WTO Secretariat and the World Bank presented their joint report to the group. The report titled, ‘Women and Trade: The Role of Trade in Promoting Gender Equality,’ examines the impact of trade on women as workers, consumers, and family members, and shares how trade can expand women’s role in the economy, which can be linked to higher levels of gender equality, increased wages, improved working conditions, and improved women’s access to education and skills. Members also presented their national experiences with gender and trade policies.

Members discussed plans to draft a declaration on trade and gender for MC12, and said time could be devoted later in 2021 to developing the draft document. MC12 will convene the week of 29 November in Geneva, Switzerland.

The joint statement initiative (JSI) on trade and gender is one of several such processes, which include JSIs on investment facilitation, services domestic regulation, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and e-commerce. [WTO Press Release]