The workshop is organized by Iceland, Botswana and UNCTAD in cooperation with the WTO.
The workshop will also reflect on new ideas and initiatives to make trade policy a "game changer" for women.
Session 1 - What role for trade agreements in promoting gender equality: A dialogue
The trade community is recognizing that trade policy can be used as a tool to empower women. This represents a drastic change in mindset. There is a rather long tradition to include "non-trade concerns" - such as labour rights, human rights and environmental protection, in trade agreements. The session will discuss the similarities and the differences between "non-trade concerns", including gender equality and women's empowerment, and the lessons learned from previous experiences. It will also discuss how an inclusive trade negotiations process affects the outcome.
Session 2 - Gender considerations in FTAs, regional integration agreements and preferential trade schemes. What are the provisions and what has been achieved so far?
The session will look at what are the most common gender commitments included in trade agreements and analyse the new trend of addressing gender equality issues in specific trade and gender chapters. In addition to FTAs, several regional integration treaties include commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment. The session will explore the similarities and differences in the gender results across regions and single out possible drivers. The session will also take stock of what has been achieved so far through different initiatives.
Session 3 - Reflections on new ideas on gender in trade agreements
Many countries have a strong political will to use trade agreements to contribute to achieving gender equality and women's empowerment. The session will discuss how the gender commitments included so far in trade agreements could be made bolder and what will be needed to make the inclusion of gender considerations in trade agreements a "game changer" for women.
Registrations: if you don't have a WTO badge, please send an email to trade-gender@wto.org with your name and organisation (subject line: BA Declaration 28-03) by 18:00 on Monday 25 March.
Programme Seminar 28 March .pdf
