'Trade for Her' - empowering women in trade
On 30 September, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will be hosting an important day-long conversation in Brussels about how to empower more women in international trade – a topic close to the hearts of the Trade Experettes.
The conference, entitled ‘Trade for Her’, will explore current challenges and barriers to women in trade, hear business perspectives on the issues, and discuss synergies with other policy areas - ultimately seeking to identify solutions for women’s greater empowerment in trade. (The full programme for 30 September can be found here – see also our Events page for logistical details.)
The programme features an impressive line-up of global thought-leaders, drawn from governments, multilateral and international organisations, thinktanks and the business community. Keynote speakers are Commissioner Malmström, the International Trade Centre’s Arancha González, European Commission DG for Trade Sabine Weyand, and Neven Mimica, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development. Panel discussants include Ministers and Vice Ministers from Finland and Chile, the Directors-General of the WTO and ILO, and senior speakers from the OECD, UNCTAD, UN Economic Commission for Africa, the EBRD, the World Bank, business associations, diplomats and a raft of others. A new study which looks at the barriers to women in trade in the EU will also be presented.
“Women aren’t able to make the most of opportunities from trade. It is essential that we find out why.”
Cecilia Malmström, EU Trade Commissioner
Unfulfilled potential – in trade, and in trade policy
This topic is an important dimension of the work of the ‘Trade Experettes’. The group was founded out of a concern that women were not realising their full potential and gaining an equal seat at the ‘trade table’ – whether in media commentary, at international conferences or in trade negotiations. This is still the case in 2019, despite women’s wide-ranging expertise in the fields of trade policy, economics, trade law and regulation, trade facilitation, investment and digital trade.
This under-representation at the policy level mirrors a shortfall in women’s participation as trade practitioners. A lack of robust gender-disaggregated data makes the size of the challenge difficult to calculate. However, the European Commission has estimated that, in the EU alone, while international trade contributes to 36 million jobs, women occupy fewer than 40 percent of those; and globally, according to research by the International Trade Centre, women are estimated to own only one in five exporting firms.
In effect, this shortfall means that women-led businesses, women workers, broader communities and indeed whole economies – both developed and developing – are missing out on the myriad economic and social benefits that trade brings. The McKinsey Global Institute has estimated that unlocking women’s economic empowerment could add between $12 trillion and $28 trillion to global GDP by 2025. Arguably, the most important enabler for women in trade (as well as trade in general) will be the digital revolution – but leveraging that disruptive transformation demands a wider recognition of both the value of more inclusive growth as well as the need to help under-served groups access the opportunities it creates. Our upcoming panel discussion on ‘Young and Digital - The New Face of Trading Africa’ at the WTO Public Forum will explore some of these ideas further.
The journey to more inclusive trade
In December 2017, 121 WTO members signed the Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, which sets out a compelling vision of more inclusive trade policies to advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment as well as broader economic growth. Work is well underway at the WTO and in many of the signatory countries, including New Zealand, Canada, Chile, Israel and of course in the EU. Groups like Trade Experettes are doing their bit in raising awareness of the value of greater diversity in thought and participation in both policy and business. It is clear, however, that delivering on that vision is likely to be something of a journey. Conferences like Trade for Her are an important step along the path.
Check back here after 30 September for a report from some of our Experettes who are going along.
Further reading
The websites of the WTO, the International Trade Centre, and the OECD are a good place to start. A range of useful commentaries can also be found in a 2018 publication from the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Reshaping Trade through Women’s Economic Empowerment, which includes inputs from Trade Experettes including Stephanie Honey, Debra Steger, Mona Pinchis-Paulsen and a range of others, as well as speakers from the Trade for Her conference including Arancha González and representatives from UNCTAD.