International Trade Centre

This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. 2020 also kicks off the “Decade of Action” for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In 2017, 127 Members and Observers of the World Trade Organization, placed gender equality firmly at the heart of the multilateral trading system through the Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment.

Increasingly, countries are looking for practical tools and proven approaches to translate these commitments into reality. This is particularly important because COVID-19 has a gender dimension and, as highlighted by the Report of the Secretary-General on progress towards the SDGs, ‘the promise of a world in which every woman and girl enjoys full gender equality and all legal, social and economic barriers to their empowerment have been removed, remains unfulfilled’.

This session focuses on specific measures governments are taking to make trade possible for women entrepreneurs. The International Trade Centre will present SheTrades Outlook, an innovative tool for trade and gender equality, funded by the UK as part of a wider programme of support for women entrepreneurs for women across the Commonwealth. SheTrades Outlook assists policymakers in making their policies work for women. SheTrades Outlook indicators encompass the complex interlinkages between policies, institutions, and outcomes for women’s economic empowerment, for example, women’s role in decision-making and policy development, dismantling of legal discriminations, and design of inclusive policies and practices. SheTrades Outlook is based on 83 indicators across six pillars and includes never-collected before data with a new framework across 25 countries.

SheTrades Outlook can play a valuable role as the world recovers from the economic impact of COVID-19. This session will introduce the tool to the public, and policymakers will discuss highlights of SheTrades Outlook for their countries as well as provide an insights into how we can build back better.

Honorable James Duddridge, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Africa), United Kingdom

Senator the Honorable Ms. Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Honorable Mr. Tipu Munshi, MP, Minister of Commerce, Bangladesh

Honorable Dame Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Nigeria

Ms. Dorothy Tembo, Executive Director a.i., International Trade Centre

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