WTO Public Forum 2018 – IGC Trade Impact Group Events

When:
October 02, 2018 @ 15:30 – October 04, 2018 @ 13:00
Where:
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Rue de Lausanne 154
in Geneva 1202

2 October 2018

Title: Aligning gender, rights & trade: Towards an inclusive resilient trading system

Organizers: Women@TheTable

Type: Working Session

Room & Time: D, 15:30-17:00

Abstract: How can the Sustainable Development Goals – and specifically the transversal SDG 5 for women’s equality – help reinvigorate multilateral trading systems to bring inclusiveness, relevance and trust?

How can inclusive growth and sustainable development align with the interests and values of trade to bring us to a more inclusive trading system? Who are the potential partners in a new global coalition to use inclusive trade to effectively impact the well being of all citizens including women who have been left behind? How can we leverage trade to reduce poverty and stimulate inclusive sustainable growth? Finally, how can rights perspectives be reincorporated into the current trading system? These questions must all be considered in order to move towards an inclusive, resilient trading system that aligns gender, human rights and trade and is fit for purpose in the turbulent times ahead that present great challenge, but also great opportunity for change.

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Moderator:

3 October 2018

Title: Placing Business Women at the Heart of the Trading System: Innovative Models that Work  

Organizers: Business Women in International Trade (BWIT), Global Affairs Canada

Type: Working Session

Room & Time: E, 8:30-10:00

Abstract: The empowerment of women through entrepreneurship and increasing their participation in global commerce will be critical in achieving the Trade 2030 goal of a more sustainable and inclusive trading system. Further to the 2017 WTO Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, this panel will consider best practices and innovative strategies designed to assist women to globalize. This session will highlight models of support of the economic integration of women in the global marketplace, including Canada’s flagship Business Women in International Trade (BWIT) program. The panelists will elaborate on how supplier diversity programs have helped accelerate business opportunities for women in developing countries at different levels of development. This panel will also discuss how governments and public and private entities need to collaborate to build momentum to achieve a foundation for inclusive trading systems which will create successful outcomes for women entrepreneurs seeking to access global markets.

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Moderator:

4 October 2018

Title: Data and statistics for gender-responsive trade policy

Organizers: UNCTAD

Type: Working Session

Room & Time: S3, 8:30-10:00

Abstract: Gender-responsive trade policies should be premised on sound statistics. In the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, 123 countries committed to remove barriers to women’s economic empowerment and increase their participation in trade. The panel will consider what the statistical issues at stake are when we talk about “gender and trade” and which data are necessary for gender-responsive trade policy. What should we measure? Are women and men equally empowered to participate in trade? How do trade and trade policies affect their livelihoods? The panel will reflect on current data availability, the need for internationally agreed definitions and resources dedicated to gender and trade statistics. Based on these observations, it will discuss data necessary for inclusive trade policymaking, and will put forward proposals on how to improve data collection and data linking to inform gender-responsive trade policy.

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Title: Disrupting the gender digital divide: What Role for International Trade Policy

Organizers: Permanent Mission of Australia to the WTO; International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development  

Type: Working Session

Room & Time: E, 11:30-13:00

Abstract: Digital technologies offer women new opportunities to participate in international trade. Increasing offshoring, servicification and digitalisation in global value chains have enabled some developing countries to supply goods and services to businesses and final consumers. In theory, e-commerce offers women a number of advantages: lower transaction costs, access to larger or new markets, secure payment options and, arguably, faster productivity and output growth. For women to seize these opportunities, however, a number of things need to happen, from supportive domestic policies to innovative trade and trade-related policies.

This session will explore the opportunities to design and implement international trade policy to support women in e-commerce, by discussing evidence-based analysis of the key regulatory constraints to women participation in e-commerce, potential solutions through WTO and RTAs, regional experiences, and trade negotiators’ perspectives.

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More information here.