The current changing global landscape and shifts in trade dynamics may severely affect women’s employment. A significant share of women work in sectors impacted by high tariffs and new trade barriers. Women are thus at risk of facing job losses and wage insecurity.
These changing dynamics highlight how trade policies that overlook women can inadvertently deepen inequalities. Without deliberate action, ongoing trade shifts could erode the progress made in women’s economic empowerment and broader development goals. Thus, ensuring that women are central to trade policy is important.
Over the last decade, a growing trend concerning the inclusion of provisions related to women in trade agreements reflects a shift towards more inclusive and equitable trade frameworks. Progress, however, remains uneven.
This event will discuss the intersection of trade policy and gender equality and what can be learned from provisions related to women in trade agreements when dealing with trade dynamics.
Programme
Opening remarks: UNCTAD Secretary-General/Deputy Secretary-General
High-level panel and interactive discussion
Questions:
- How can current trade dynamics affect women differently, particularly in low-income, export-dependent economies?
- To what extent have provisions related to women in trade agreements been effective in practice, and what are the main barriers to their implementation?
- What lessons can be drawn from countries that have successfully integrated considerations related to women into trade policy? What has worked, and what challenges remain?
- What concrete steps can Governments and institutions such as UNCTAD take to ensure that trade policy becomes a more effective tool for advancing women’s participation?
Moderator: Luz Maria De La Mora, Director, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD
