Women face disproportionate barriers to using trade for job opportunities and higher incomes, the Director-General noted. While some of the barriers are well identified, from discriminatory laws to difficulties accessing credit, others spring from the way nominally gender-neutral policies affect men and women differently and need to be better understood. DG Azevêdo described how some WTO members were working to do just that, including under the framework of the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment. He cited several initiatives undertaken on this front, including workshops to better understand the links between trade and gender in areas like government procurement, global value chains, regional trade agreements and e-commerce.

The Director-General concluded that closing gender gaps is an ongoing effort and called for engagement at all levels — local, national and global. “We have come a long way, now we need to keep pushing,” he said.

DG Azevêdo was joined in a panel discussion by: Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade; Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization; Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Christian Ewert, President of amfori; and Christopher Burns, who moderated the session.

More on the Buenos Aires declaration here.