The 2023-2024 Work Programme aims to expand the reach of the WTO Gender Research Hub, said Anoush der Boghossian, founder and chair of the Hub. “The Hub has become a vital partner for organisations, academia, and governments, supporting initiatives and policies aiming to close gender gaps that are persisting and expanding in the world and especially in trade,” she said. “Advancing research on trade and gender, exploring new areas of work more deeply, and building on the Hub's wealth of expertise is essential to make trade work for women,” she added.

Led by the WTO, the Hub includes more than 40 researchers on trade and gender from academia, as well as international and regional organizations. Seeking to ensure that trade and gender issues are integrated in a cross-cutting manner in the public and private sectors, Hub members will continue building awareness on the trade and gender nexus through national and regional initiatives led by academia, and through simplified policy briefs.

International milestone research events such as the Youth Symposium (November 2023) and  the second edition of the World Trade Congress on Gender (December 2024) will also be organized.

“Over the course of the last decade, official discussions on gender in the context of trade governance has gone from almost impermissible to the inclusion of dedicated gender chapters in international trade agreements,” said Judit Fabian, visiting researcher at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, and research fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. “Across all of this change, the WTO Gender Research Hub is the only body that has provided and the only body that could provide a global forum for understanding how trade is gendered and how trade governance can be structured to address the consequences of gendered trade,” she added.

In the next two years, Hub members will strengthen their research work through peer reviews and joint publications such as the World Trade Congress on Gender's publication, to be launched at the WTO Public Forum in September. “Collaborating with others will allow for a pooling of expertise and resources and this will result in a more comprehensive and thorough study, providing leaders with a well-informed 360-degree view,” said Sangeeta Khorana, Professor of Economics at Bournemouth University and Trustee Director of the Institute of Export and International Trade.

Through the work programme, researchers and experts will work to create an institutional link among the trade and gender research community, policy makers, and the private sector. According to Carmine Soprano, Senior Trade & Gender Specialist at the World Bank Group, “the Hub has this unique ability to bridge the current gap between scholars and researchers on the one hand, and policymakers on the other hand, and therefore there is no better place than the Hub itself to continue generating evidence and advancing the agenda on trade and gender.”

The work programme also intends to set up a technical assistance plan for Hub members, to strengthen the role of the Hub as a more informed and evidence-based network on trade and gender. “The body of evidence and the approaches continue to grow, and this activity will ensure that we equip ourselves with the latest knowledge and evidence so we can be more effective professionals in this area,” said Nadia Hasham, Trade Policy Expert at the African Trade Policy Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

The two-year work programme was adopted on the understanding that it is an evolving document which will be adjusted and amended based on achievements and needs. The work programme is available here.

The recording of the launch event is available here.