Development and building trade capacity
WTO’s Contribution to Attaining UN Sustainable Development Goals
This report which was submitted to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2023 highlights the role of trade in helping countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also underlines the WTO’s contribution to improving livelihoods and making trade work for people.
Acknowledgments / Disclaimer
This publication received guidance from Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang and from Yuvan Beedjadhur of the Office of the Director-General. Preparation of the publication was a joint effort across several divisions of the WTO.
Making trade work for women
In December 2022 the Gender Research Hub organized alongside the WTO the World Trade Congress on Gender – the first international research conference to focus on trade and gender. This high-level event brought together eminent trade and gender experts to present the latest research in the field. It also provided a platform for researchers and policymakers to exchange views and build partnerships to promote further innovative research. This publication builds on many of the research papers presented by trade and gender researchers at the Congress. The research presented at the Congress and in this publication reaffirms key gender principles and provides evidence that women face higher barriers than men when seeking to access opportunities created by trade. It also shows that trade policy can help women overcome obstacles. In addition the research reaffirms the importance of making trade inclusive and demonstrates that making trade policies more responsive to gender issues improves gender equality in trade supports poverty reduction and fosters sustainable growth.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment in the African Continental Free Trade Area: What lessons can be learnt from the SADC?
The Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA Agreement) which has been signed by 54 out of the 55 African countries seeks to create a single continental market for goods and services and facilitate the free movement of people on the continent thereby enhancing the competitiveness of intra-African trade and boosting intra-African trade. This will generate employment and improve the welfare of mostly young men and women on the continent. However whilst the AfCFTA Agreement under Article 3(e) emphasizes that one of the general objectives of the AfCFTA is to promote gender equality experiences in other African regional economic communities have proven that gender and gender equality have not been adequately mainstreamed in implementing free trade areas which has resulted in gender inequalities in international trade and commerce. As a result of this the majority of women have been left marginalized in trade and faced with serious challenges in accessing opportunities created by regional trade agreements.
Acknowledgements
This publication is one of the outcomes of the 2022 World Trade Congress on Gender – the first research conference on trade and gender to be held internationally. The Congress was organized by the WTO Trade and Gender Office and the WTO Gender Research Hub with the cooperation of the Development Division the Administration and General Services Division the Information and External Relations Division and the Office of the Director-General.
Negotiating towards a tailor-made gender protocol under the AfCFTA: Could integrating Africa’s fragmented gender chapters be the key?
Recently the understanding that enhanced intra-regional trade among African countries could be a powerful tool in accelerating economic growth development and poverty reduction on the continent has led African leaders to place considerable importance on regional integration (Brenton et al. 2013). However tapping into the benefits of intra-African trade requires careful attention to inclusivity issues in ensuring both men and women benefit and participate equally in regional economic integration (Bussolo and and De Hoyos 2009). The decision by African heads of state to negotiate a separate Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade under the newly implemented African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement reaffirms the belief that improving women’s access to opportunities and removing barriers to their participation in international economies contributes to economic development.
Women’s exporting success: evidence from Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises
Based on the Statistics Canada 2017 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises this chapter examines the role of gender on the export participation of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and identifies specific characteristics and business activities of women-owned SMEs that are associated with their export propensity and export intensity. It also provides empirical evidence of the benefits of online payments and innovations to the internationalization of women-owned SMEs. The study finds no statistically significant gender differences in the export propensity and the export intensity when business characteristics are controlled for. However the impact of some characteristics on export propensity are significantly different between men and women-owned SMEs. Firstly larger SMEs owned by women are less likely to export than men-owned and equally owned SMEs of the same size. Secondly online payment and innovations play a more crucial role in facilitating exports for women-owned SMEs. Finally for higher export intensity the owner’s education level and managerial experience are much more important for women-owned SME exporters than for men-owned and equally owned exporters.
Gender and trade: How are gender provisions in trade agreements perceived by Chilean women exporters?
There is widespread literature that illustrates the link between gender and trade as it can reveal the different roles of women and men in economic activity. Therefore trade policy can be a critical instrument for reducing or reinforcing gender inequalities.
Facilitating women’s economic empowerment through trade with voluntary sustainability standards
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) expressed an overarching objective of leaving no one behind. SDG 5 holds integral to all dimensions of inclusive sustainable development. Gender equality is a right and ensuring the rights of women and girls across all the SDGs will lay the foundations for a just and equitable society that works for all. By creating enabling conditions for women to fully participate in the economy and offer their diverse skills and abilities it would not only address the constraints rooted in the existence of gendered social structures but also drive the economy to benefit all.
Sustainable development and women’s empowerment: the challenges and opportunities of digitalization
This study looks at digitalization from a gender and development perspective. It investigates which countries and within countries which segments of the population have been able thus far to benefit from the dynamism provided by digitalization especially through e-commerce and technological advances in agriculture. The study points to digital divides between developed and developing countries as well as to other divides linked to gender age and socioeconomic factors that determine individuals’ ability to have access to digital technologies and use them in a productive and beneficial manner. The analysis zooms in on the potential opportunities that digitalization provides to women especially in the developing world and on the obstacles they face to benefit from it. The study makes a distinction between having access to technology using it and using it in a productive manner and highlights the link with gender and other gaps in society and the economy. In the conclusions the study puts forward some suggestions to help digitalization provide shared benefits and leave no one behind.
Lived experience of women entrepreneurial exporters in a developing country context
Entrepreneurs operate within a broad ecosystem which enables them to access different types of support when needed – from financial and logistical to emotional. The ability to tap into available resources in an entrepreneurial ecosystem is particularly important for those embarking on an internationalization strategy such as exporting given its many complexities. However many women entrepreneurs both aspiring and active exporters feel discriminated against by government and private-sector actors in the ecosystem which constrains their internationalization efforts.