Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender

The Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender is composed of WTO members and observers seeking to intensify efforts to increase women's participation in global commerce. It was established on 23 September 2020 as the next phase of an initiative launched at the Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in 2017, the Joint Declaration on Trade and Women's Economic Empowerment.

The group aims to share best practices on removing barriers to women's participation in world trade, exchange views on how to apply a “gender lens” to the work of the WTO, review gender-related reports produced by the Secretariat, and discuss how women may benefit from the Aid for Trade initiative.

Participation in this Informal Working Group is open to all WTO members. The initiative is chaired by Botswana and Iceland.

News

Background

At the WTO's 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in 2017, 118 WTO members and observers endorsed the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women's Economic Empowerment, an initiative which seeks to foster women’s economic empowerment through their participation in international trade. Since then, gender-related trade policies and women empowerment objectives have increasingly become a more prominent feature in WTO members' work.

Currently 127 WTO members and observers suport the Buenos Aires Declaration. They are:

Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, European Union member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden), Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea (Republic of), Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Viet Nam and Zambia.

Participants in the initiative sought to intensify efforts to increase women's participation in world trade by establishing an Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender on 23 September 2020. A communication was circulated by Botswana and Iceland on behalf of the group, outlining the initiative's objectives. This includes the aim of presenting a workplan on trade and gender issues to members at the 12th Ministerial Conference in 2021.

Documents submitted by WTO members

Date	Member	Title	Document number
22 October 2021	Mexico	Mexico's recent work on trade and gender	INF/TGE/COM/2
14 October 2021	Botswana, El Salvador, Iceland		INF/TGE/W/2/Rev.3
30 April 2021	Botswana, El Salvador, Iceland	Proposal for a framework to deliver an ambitious ministerial outcome on trade and gender for MC12 and beyond	INF/TGE/W/3
29 March 2021	Canada	Final work plan for implementing activities under the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	INF/TGE/W/1/Rev.2
3 Feb 2021	Canada	Revision of Draft Work Plan for implementing activities under the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	INF/TGE/W/1/Rev.1
11 Jan 2021	Australia	Australia Experiences with Gender-Related Practices and Processes	INF/TGE/COM/1
21 Dec 2020	Canada	Draft work plan for implementing activities under the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	INF/TGE/W/1

Meetings of the Informal Working Group

Forthcoming meetings

Draft schedule of meetings — January — July 2021 (INF/TGE/W/2/Rev.2)

Date	Topic	Organizer	Documents
28 October 2021	Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	Iceland, Botswana and El Salvador	Convening notice INF/TGE/CN/7/Rev.1
23 September 2021	Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	Iceland, Botswana and El Salvador	Convening notice INF/TGE/CN/6
16 July 2021	Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	Iceland, Botswana and El Salvador	Convening notice INF/TGE/CN/5/Rev.1 Presentation by WTO Secretariat Australia Korea Islamic Development Bank ITC Canada United States UNCTAD WTO Secretariat Sheela Bhide EIF and UNESCAP El Salvador Statement from WTO Secretariat China Turkey
23 June 2021	Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	Iceland, Botswana and El Salvador	Convening notice INF/TGE/CN/4 Presentation by Canada EU Iceland New Zealand OECD Saudi Arabia
28 Apr 2021	Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	Iceland, Botswana and El Salvador	Convening notice INF/TGE/CN/3/Rev.4 Presentation by Canada Eclac Ecuador Mauritius Turkey UNCTAD
26 Feb 2021	Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender	Iceland and Botswana	Convening notice INF/TGE/CN/2/Rev.1 Revision of Draft Work Plan for implementing activities under the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender INF/TGE/W/1/Rev.1 Draft schedule of meetings — January — July 2021 INF/TGE/W/2 Australia Experiences with Gender-Related Practices and Processes INF/TGE/COM/1 Presentation by Chile: Experience in the incorporation of trade and gender chapters in Chile's FTA
10 Dec 2020	Launch of the report: Delivering on the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment. Other items will be discussed during this meeting.	Iceland and Botswana	Convening notice INF/TGE/CN/1 Establishment of the IWG WT/L/1095/Rev.1

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Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender

See also

News

Background

Documents submitted by WTO members

Meetings of the Informal Working Group

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