Although it's now widely recognized that trade policies affect men and women differently, recognition is not enough. UNCTAD's first woman secretary-general calls on the global community to act now to empower women through trade.
© Frame China/Shutterstock | Women work in a textile factory in Huaibei, China that exports clothes to the European Union.
On International Women’s Day on 8 March, Rebeca Grynspan, the first woman secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), urged the world to “move from recognition to action” on gender equality. Watch her video message.
“Women’s leadership is especially important in these times of crisis. Because a crisis is never gender neutral. And COVID-19 is no exception.”
“It’s not enough to change the narrative on women in trade. It’s not enough to recognize the different ways trade affects women and men. We must move from recognition to action.”
She said UNCTAD would do so through activities to ensure more women benefit from the global economy, more cross-cutting gender statistics in its flagship reports and stronger consensus-building on issues at the top of the trade and gender agenda, among other actions.
Promoting gender mainstreaming
UNCTAD promotes gender mainstreaming as a key element to achieving inclusive and sustainable development through the eTrade for Women initiative, trade and gender development programme, the young female scientist programme and the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” project of its Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, among others.
To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, UNCTAD will launch a study on mainstreaming gender in national policies, bringing together policymakers and experts from different developing countries to share policy experiences in this area.
