INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
13 May 2024 
(24-3683) Page: 1/15 
Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender  Original: English  
 
  
SECOND PROGRESS REPORT ON WTO MEMBERS1 AND OBSERVERS  
TECHNICAL WORK ON WOMEN'S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT  
2022 -2023  
Revision  
 
1  ADVANCING ON WORK PILLAR 1: SHARING EXPERIENCE ON GENDER -RESPONSIVE 
TRADE POLICY ( LED BY PANAMA)  
a. A deep dive into gender -disaggregated data collection  
Gender -disaggregated data collection is one of the IWG's key trade policy issue of focus as it aims 
at informing gender -responsive trade policy making. Following up on the first workshop held in 2018 
on the topic2, Members have been building on the work carried out since .3  
 
In 2023, Members have taken a deeper dive into this issue and focussed on methodologies and data 
sources currently used to collect gender differentiated data and evidence.  
 
In particular Members have investigated the following approaches:  
 
Organisation  Approaches and methodologies  
OECD's data 
sources/sets  
 • Trade in value added, combined with employment data by gender. This gives 
throughout the value chain the share of women  and men working in trade.  
 
• Using the 2021 framework of analysis, the OECD combined firm level data with 
employee data e.g. employer/employee data combined with custom's trade data. This 
methodology was used to conduct a review of New Zealand.  
 
• Survey da ta that the OECD and World Bank conducted with Facebook (Facebook -OECD -
World Bank Future of Business Survey from March 2022).  Survey of firms with online 
presence. Use of the Blinder -Oaxaca decomposition methodology. The survey also 
included a qualitative aspect.  
 
• Trade policy settings: use of data on trade policies to better understand how they can 
impact different types of women businesses or women themselves.  
 
UNCTAD's 
approach to on 
gender and trade 
statistics  
 • The approach is derived from the Evidence and Data for Gender Equality.  
 
• The aim of the developed framework is to help nationals statistical offices to review 
what data already exist  for the measurement of gender and trade.  UNCTAD 's approach 
is based on reusing existing statistical data and building the capacity of national 
statistical systems to link their data, allowing for new insights on gender equality in 
international trade.  
 
• List of statistical data resources that can be useful in this exercise:  
­ Statistics on international trade in goods and services  
­ Foreign affiliates trade statistics (FATS)  
­ Statistical business register  
­ Tax administration records  
 
1 Members of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender (IWG) . 
2 Workshop on Gender Based Analysis and Trade, held at the WTO on 16 March 2018. More information 
is available on the WTO website .  
3 Progress Report on WTO Members and Observers Technical Work on Women's Economic 
Empowerment, 9 November 2021, INF/TGE/R/1.  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  Organisation  Approaches and methodologies  
­ Enterprise surveys (for structural business statistics)  
­ Structure of earnin gs surveys  
­ Labour force surveys  
­ International databases on trade policy measures  
 
• Once identified, this data need to be linked across datasets held by different agencies.  
 
• Challenges :  
­ Data confidentiality  
­ Lack of common survey populations across statistical domains  
­ Legal frameworks  
­ IT infrastructure limitations  
­ Capacity gaps  
 
• Developing key gender and trade indicators: mains indicators needed as a basis to 
capture where trade may have gender differentiated impacts.  
­ Share of women 's and men 's empl oyment in export -intensive industries by 
education, occupation and industry ;  
­ Women -to men wage ratios by education, occupation and industry in export -
intensive industries ; 
­ Export wage premium by sex and education level ; 
­ Gender wage gap in exports ; 
­ Share o f female and male entrepreneurs and their participation in international 
trade ; 
­ Female and male entrepreneurs ' productivity by trade status . 
 
ITC's approach 
on business 
surveys as 
source of 
gender -
disaggregated 
data (and 
inspiration ) • Business surveys provide unique evidence on women 's participation in trade and on 
barriers encountered (including if/how they differ from men)  
 
• Since 2010, ITC implements large -scale surveys of exporters and importers to 
understand trade obstacles related to non -tariff measures and (since 2018) services 
trade regulations.  
 
• Key characteristics of the ITC business surveys on NTMs:  
­ Based on comprehensive business registers (usually built as part of the survey 
projects) --> "population " 
­ Representative sample by export sector  
­ Interviewer -led survey  
­ Key research questions:  
­ Do you face trade obstacles related to NTMs?  
­ If so: Details of the trade obstacles encountered, by product/service, partner 
country, etc.  
­ "By-product " of the surveys: unprecedented data on the characte ristics of trading 
firms in surveyed countries, including on women ownership, management and 
female employment in firms  
 
WTO Members have also developed dedicated data collection initiatives, approaches and 
methodologies. In particular, Canada has elaborated the Gender -based Analysis Plus  Methodology,  
Chile has improved its g ender -disaggregated data  conducting its 6th Radiography of Women in Trade , 
and New Zealand used the analytical framework developed by the OECD to review its gender 
disaggregated data. Interestingly, New Zealand's data collection exercise reveled that a larger 
gender wage gaps exi sted in exporting firms compared to non -exporting companies, lead ing the 
government to adopt its new equal pay law , allowing employees and unions to issue a complaint 
with the employer in case of systemic gender discrimination .  
 INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  Case story from Chile: Improving Gender -disaggregated data: 6th Radiography of Women 
in Trade  
The radiography provided evidence through disaggregated data on female participation in foreign 
trade.  
 
Under the umbrella of the Undersecretariat of International Economic Relations and in collaboration 
with the Directorate for Export Promotion (ProChile), customs and the Internal Revenue Service, 
Chile has collected gender disaggregated data on women 's participation in trade, analysing exporting 
companies by gender leadership, by economi c sector, gender gaps by destination and geographical 
region and products traded.  
 
Results show that: only 27.9% of exporting companies are led by women, with a gender gap that 
stands at 44.17%. However, 37.5% of the country 's export value is generated by  companies led by 
women. Women participate in exports within the same sectors as companies led by men, but to a 
much lesser extent. Out of 195 export destinations economies, the value of shipments from 
companies led by women is higher than the returns of c ompanies led by men in only 40 of them.  
 
Links with trade policy: a positive relationship in the trade relations of companies led by women 
from countries with a favourable policy for their inclusion in trade has been established following the 
radiography.  
 
Note: Chile 's data collection process started after the adoption of the FTA with Uruguay in 2016, 
that contained a gender chapter, followed by one year later the 1st women -led companies forum of 
the Pacific Alliance . 
 
Case story from Canada: a n inclusive approach to trade and Gender -based Analysis Plus  
Canada 's approach : i) extensive collection and analysis of gender disaggregated data; ii) extensive 
consultations and engagement with under -represented groups ; iii) Gender -based Analysis Plus 
(GBA Plus) methodology supports quantitative and qualitative analysis and helps identify areas for 
potential new gender responsive and inclusive trade provisions.  
 
GBA Plus in a nutshell : Canada 's assessment process considers how diverse groups of women and 
men experience policies, program mes and initiatives. The "Plus" means that the analysis goes 
beyond biological (sex) and socio -cultural (gender) differences to consider overlapping identity 
factors.  
 
Objective of GBA Plus: changing the way Canada develops its trade policy  
 
A Two -Pronged Approach of GBA Plus : i) quantitative analysis: office of Chief Economist conducts 
an expanded economic impact assessment with a new labour market module and it expands on the 
traditional Computable General Equilibr ium (CGE) model. It takes into account gender, age, and the 
distribution of Canadian workers across eight different occupational groups and 65 sectors of the 
economy. The data sources used for modelling from Statistics Canada such as Census, Labour Force 
Survey among others. ii) qualitative analysis: lead trade negotiators conduct GBA Plus on each 
chapter before negotiations begin and throughout the negotiations, findings inform approach to 
negotiations and regular updates are conducted before each negotiat ing round.  
 
Benefits of the GBA Plus Process : i) richer understanding of the impacts and effects of FTAs; 
ii) supports continuous strengthening and innovating of FTA chapters and implementation of 
inclusive activities;  iii) helps identify new opportunities  for mainstreaming new inclusivity and gender 
responsive provisions in FTAs and committee work; iv) allows for tabling of new provisions in real 
time at negotiating table; v) identifies gaps in knowledge and areas for more strategic data collection 
and ana lysis. 
 
Note: Canada 's data collection has focussed on women entrepreneurs and has used two broad types 
of data sets: i) administrative data: hard data capturing the universe of businesses; ii) survey based 
data: qualitative aspect of the data collection. One key advantage of Canada is the fact that all the 
data is housed by one agency.  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  b. A special focus on female entrepreneurs (a priority topic of the IWG Co -Chairs)  
Members have focussed on this specific target group of women to enhance their knowledge of female 
entrepreneurship and enrich their discussions in the Informal Working Group, to better integrate 
gender issues in their work at the WTO as well as in national  trade policies and agreements.  
 
Key findings of Members ' work on women entrepreneurs   
 
• Many more women than men run very small businesses with one to five employees.  
• Women entrepreneurs are challenged when it comes to navigating foreign regulations 
and acquiring the necessary skills to start exporting.  
• The promising opportunities for women are digital trade and the fact that countries have 
increasingly begun pursuing policies that support women exporters.  
• Trade facilitation measures have the potential to reduce high trade costs weighing on 
small-sized firms.  
• Digital tools help women to operate a business more effectively and efficiently and 
enable them to establish  their business in a foreign market.  
• Hidden costs exists in e -commerce oper ations such as trading in different currencies 
which requires specific financial skills. Additional costs include : electronic and online 
payment systems; shipping and safe packaging costs; website maintenance; and data 
protection costs.  "Trading vast amoun ts of goods that require palletizing and containers 
raises compliance issues with various export markets, for instance regarding packaging 
regulations".  
• The role of large companies play an important role in prioritizing the inclusion of women 
entrepreneurs  within their supply chains and the need to improve digital trade 
facilitation. However, working with large corporations proved more difficult on supply 
chains diversity as it is challenging to find enough women entrepreneurs who are ready 
to meet the stan dards and demands in terms of volume, price, and quality. Dedicated 
programmes exist supporting women entrepreneurs access to GVCs, such as the UPS 
ITC Women Exporters Program (WEP) which supported between 2018 and 2022, more 
than 38,000 women entrepreneur s and small business owners worldwide to navigate 
the export process enabling them to expand their reach, grow their revenues, hire more 
employees and invest in their families and local communities.  
• Women exporters face major difficulties in accessing tra de finance  
• Women 's employment growth in services outshines that of men over the last 
20-30 years. However, women -owned services firms export much less than men -owned 
firms, as women entrepreneurs mostly operate in the least -traded services sectors such 
as education, health and social work activities.  The outlook is however positive as 
technical barriers to services trade are coming down rapidly, especially in sectors that 
employ more women, notably thanks to digitalization.  
• Women entrepreneurs have suffere d a triple financial shock during the COVID -19 
pandemic, wh ose impacts still persist today. Existing regional trade agreements provide 
several policy solutions to these barriers, such as positive discrimination -based 
measures in favour of women businesses,  provisions enhancing women 's access to 
finance, and those seeking to increase women 's access to digital learning and e -
commerce. However, most gender provisions do not address women as cross -border 
traders or informal vendors, and are drafted with soft, p ermissive language. Moreover, 
most of these agreements do not identify specific institutions, procedure, or funding 
mechanism to implement commitments.   
 INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  Trade policy case stories from New Zealand, Argentina, El Salvador and ITC  
 
Case story from New Zealand: a  Gender Investment Gap  
Women -owned start -ups accounted for between 7 % and 11% of the investments; when pitching the 
same startup venture, men receive d 60% more investment than women; those women -owned 
ventures that do receive investment generate more for every dollar invested; startups with at least 
one female founder outperformed all -male teams by 63%. This led the report authors to conclude 
that: the  Gender Investment Gap represents a $32 billion opportunity for economic growth in New 
Zealand if women were able to secure investment at the same rate as men.  
 
Source: The Gender Investment Gap Report  and Workshop on "Gender Related Issues in Trade Policies", held at 
the WTO on 25 October 2023 . 
 
Case story from New Zealand: Women in Export  Trade  
In 2023, government agencies from New Zealand commissioned a report to research barriers women 
face in the exporting sector, conducted by Business and Economic Research Ltd.  
 
Main barriers identified : i) socio-cultural factors, including conscious and unconscious bias, and 
vertical and horizontal occupational segregation; ii) access to networks within an industry, or in the 
export sector. iii) access to finance and capital. iv) lack of experience in leaders hip. v) access up to 
date information on foreign markets, regulatory changes, and export requirements.  
 
Main recommendations : i) targeted support and advice for female -owned and led firms; 
ii) facilitating networking events; iii) Access to finance; iv) knowledge sharing for exporters; 
v) shining a light on successful leaders and businesses; vi) more targeted support for Māori and 
Pasifika women.  
 
Initiatives undertaken by New Zealand : based on these findings and recommendations, New Zealand 
Trade and Enterp rise has developed specific programmes for women in export: i) a dedicated 
"Women in Export " lead available to talk "one-on-one2 with women -led businesses; ii) a programme 
of "Women in Export " events has been developed; iii) a network for women in export b usiness 
leaders has been established (Women in Export LinkedIn); iv) regular nationwide networking events 
to create opportunities for women and highlight successful female founders; v) sector -specific cohort 
learning groups to target early -stage SMEs to support their growth and investment readiness; 
vi) New Zealand Trade and  Enterprise running "InvestHer " investment showcases to help female -
founded companies gain investment; vii) an inaugural all -women trade mission organized during the 
FIFA Women 's World Cup aimed to empower women in export  
 
Results : the women in export work  has resulted in a lift in the number of female founders by 2% 
and a reduction in the number of companies with no senior female leaders by 2%.  
 
Case story from Argentina: Argentinas al Mundo  
This programme promotes women's leadership and equal participatio n in international business. It 
is intended for companies, SMEs, entrepreneurs and cooperatives led by women who want to export, 
or who already export and seek to acquire new tools to improve their performance in international 
trade. It specifically target s female partners who own, at least, 50% of the company 's shares, women 
in managerial positions (a single individual, chairperson, general manager or similar position) with, 
at least, one year ' seniority and/or 51% of executive, managerial or decision -making positions are 
held by women. The benefits are: i) business training:  aimed at developing professional skills and 
competencies; ii) information for decision -making  on strategic international markets and potential 
buyers identification; iii) "Argentinas a l Mundo " seal, on the ExportArgentina digital exportable offer 
platform.  iv) recognition in the specific category "Argentinas al Mundo " in the Export Award; 
v) investments: priority to enter the Federal Technical Assistance Program in the formulation of 
"Argentina Proyecta " private investment projects.  
 INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  Case stor y from  El Salvador: Integrating gender equality in trade policies, in a cross -
cutting manner  
The Government of El Salvador works for gender equality and the empowerment of women.  
 
Through the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women ISDEMU, the National Equality 
Plan 2021 -2025 was presented, which contains the guidelines of government policy and the general 
strategy on equality and combating discrimination. In this plan, eight areas of action were defined, 
one of them being the economic autonomy of women. Additionall y, El Salvador promotes the 
implementation of the Salvadoran Technical Standard for a Gender Equality Management System in 
the workplace, which is expected to provide principles and practices that will allow the integration 
and incorporation of the gender perspective in the organization of companies and public sector 
institutions, this supporting El Salvador's efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 5, 8 
and 10. 
 
On the other hand, in conjunction with the ITC and the cooperation of the European Uni on, a project 
was concluded to contribute to the digitalization of small Central American companies, led by women. 
The objective was to improve the export performance of small businesses in Central America to sell 
their products in the European market, thr ough electronic commerce. As a result, some of the 
beneficiaries are already exporting their products to new destinations, such as: Switzerland, the 
United States and Canada.  
 
Likewise, El Salvador's participation in the SheTrades Outlook project, which ai ms to promote equal 
opportunities and greater participation of women in trade.  
 
It should be noted that within the framework of the National Trade Facilitation Committee, the 
majority of representatives of the business sector are women. Since 2023, this Co mmittee has had 
a National Trade Facilitation Strategy (2023 -2027), with one of its guiding principles being inclusion. 
This is so that the actions for the execution of the six axes that make up this strategy promote the 
integration of women and MSMEs in f oreign trade.  
 
Case story from ITC: Shetrades Hub  
The SheTrades  Hubs are initiatives set up with host institutions in countries and regions throughout 
the world. The first Hub kicked off in 2018, and today 18 Hubs have been set up across Africa, Asia, 
Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa.  Co-implemented by ITC 
SheTrades and national and regional institutions, SheTrades Hubs serve as resource centres for 
women -led businesses, policymakers, business support organizations and private -sector partners to 
improve the business support ecosystem a nd foster a community of partners to enable women 's 
success in trade. These resource centres support women entrepreneurs ' access to trainings on key 
topics, market and investment opportunities; institutions to access to a community of partners from 
a netwo rk. 
 
c. A special focus on trade agreements and foreign feminist policies  
The expansion of the Global Trade and Gender Arrangement  
 
In May 2023, Ecuador (INF/TGE/COM/5) and Costa Rica (INF/TGE/COM/6) joined the Global Trade 
Arrangement on Trade and Gender (GTAGA) .4  
 
Ecuador emphasized the fundamental and growing role of women in trade and the relevance of 
transforming this role into a more inclusive reality by boosting women 's personal and economic 
empowerment and actively seeking the elimination o f inequality gaps. One of Ecuador 's intentions, 
as a member of the GTAGA, is to design and implement mechanisms and measures that support the 
activities of female entrepreneurs, businesswomen, women producers and farmers, and all those 
involved in trade pr ocesses, so as to enable them to achieve their professional, economic and social 
goals.  
 
 
4 Other Members are:  Argentina , Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand and Peru.  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  Costa Rica considers that such instruments as the GTAGA are consistent with its vision of 
development and encourage trade policies to be more inclusive so that the ben efits of trade and 
investment are distributed more equitably. Costa Rica 's active participation in the GTAGA is a further 
step towards more inclusive trade and enables more women to become involved, remain and fully 
develop in the international market.   
 
Analysis the impact of Regional Trade Agreements on women  
 
Canada and New Zealand released their CPTPP5 Three -Year Review conducted under the Inclusive 
Trade Action Group and examining the implementation of CPTPP through an inclusive and sustainable 
trade lens.  
 
The table below outlines the key results of these reviews : 
 
Country  Review results  
New Zealand  • More than half a million New Zealanders are employed in firms that export 
goods to CPTPP.  
 
• Employment representation of women in these firms is slightly higher than in 
other firms (45%, compared with 43% in other exporters).  Moreover, 
employment in CPTPP exporters has grown, including for women (up 14%) 
and Māori (up 4%), in the period 2018 -2020.  
 
• Median wages for women and Māori also tend to be h igher in these firms than 
in other exporting firms, with women 's earnings 4% higher on average and 
those of Māori employed in CPTPP exporting firms 2% higher.  
 
• Review limitations: availability of data (for example, coverage was confined 
to goods and did not include services, and only covered an initial period – 
2018-2020 – during which the agreement was not fully in force). Therefore, 
this first review only provide early preliminary indications.  
 
• The review helped to develop an initial dataset and benchma rks against which 
to assess future progress, as well as to identify areas for improvement in 
analysis.  
Canada  
 • The CPTPP has delivered clear trade benefits in Canada, including for SMEs 
and workers, including women workers.  
 
• SMEs represent 94% of all Can adian exporters to CPTPP markets with which 
Canada did not have a prior FTA. Their dutiable exports to the new CPTPP 
markets increased by over 12% ($241 million) in the first year the CPTPP was 
implemented.  
 
• Canadian firms that significantly increased thei r exports to CPTPP markets 
increased total employment in the first year by 23.8%, while female 
employment increased by 11.4%.  
 
• From an environmental and sustainable development point of view, Canadian 
firms also increased their exports of environmental goo ds by 14.6% during 
the first year and continued to increase environmental goods exports 
during  2021.   
 
• Canada has called for stakeholders ' feedback on this Review.  
 
The trade aspect of Feminist Foreign Policy: examples from Chile and Peru  
 
Feminist foreign policies are instruments that seek to establish the principle of gender equality as a 
guiding axis in the work of foreign ministries.   
 
  
 
5 Comprehensive and Progressive Agreemen t for Trans -Pacific Partnership.  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  The table below reviews the specificities of the Feminist Foreign Policies from Chile and Peru : 
 
Country  Key elements of the Feminist Foreign Policy  
Chile 1. Chile's Feminist Foreign Policy is based on the following premises : 
• recognizes that gender gaps are an obstacle to the full exercise of 
fundamental rights; what is the participation of women in the 
construction of more representative democracies; furthermore, these 
gaps are limiting for the sustainable development and well -being of 
the country.  
• understands that moving towards gender equality is a legal obligation 
emanating from international treaties signed by our country; and it is 
also a commitment derived from multilateral instruments that reflect 
Chile's consistent int ernational trajectory to achieve this objective.  
• seeks to influence multilateral and bilateral bodies with the purpose of 
strengthening global and regional governance that ensures the 
protection and promotion of the dignity and autonomy of women and 
girls in all their diversity.  
• aligns with national policies and priorities regarding gender equality.  
• highlights gender equality as a democratic value and a principle that 
reinforces the image, status and international recognition of Chile; and  
• establish es gender equality as a strategic objective and a transversal 
axis of the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  
 
2. The eight priority areas:  
• human rights and strengthening of democracy with a focus on gender 
equality;  
• promote the eradication and eli mination of gender violence;  
• empowerment and greater representation of women;  
• Women, Peace and Security Agenda;   
• climate change and gender;  
• digital agenda, science, technology and innovation;  
• comprehensive care system; and  
• international eco nomic relations and gender.  
 
3. Within the trade axes of its feminist foreign policy, Chile intends to:  
• generate more spaces for women in international trade through the 
permanent incorporation and/or deepening of gender and trade 
provisions;   
• promote the exchange of experiences and good practices in the 
implementation of policies that promote the incorporation of women in 
international trade;  
• develop cooperation activities that facilitate access to the benefits of 
the integrated economy;  
• address the analysis of the impacts that gender agreements produce; 
as well as the identification of new gaps to address;  
• promote actions that allow the development of collaborative forms of 
work in different areas of commerce with the transversal persp ective 
that inclusivity proposes;  
• analy se the role of women as exporters; but also in their role as 
workers and consumers of sectors and goods related to international 
trade;  
• propose to incorporate in its future investment negotiations the gender 
dimension in investor -State arbitration and review the gender 
representation in the lists of arbitrators of our trade agreements and 
other bodies such as the International Center for Settlement of 
Disputes related to Investments (ICSID).  
 
4. Through its Feminist  Foreign Policy, Chile will deepen the work it has 
undertaken on trade and gender and will continue delivering tangible and 
positive impact on the insertion of women in international trade.  
 
5. In particular, and in terms of collaborative work at the regiona l and 
international level, Chile will also continue its work within the GTAGA and the 
WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender. It will also focus on the 
implementation of the La Serena Roadmap for Women; Chile will also continue 
its work in relation  with the Inclusive Growth in the APEC forum and on the 
advancement of the Roadmap for the Autonomy and Economic Empowerment 
of Women of the Pacific Alliance.  
 INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  Country  Key elements of the Feminist Foreign Policy  
6. At the national level, Chile will continue carry out gender equality initiatives as 
part of its  Export Promotion activities (General Directorate of Export 
Promotion). In particular, ProChile coordinates and implements the Mujer 
Exporta Program me, which seeks to steadily increase the percentage of export 
companies led by women.  
 
Peru 1. Peru is currently considering the development of a Feminist Foreign Policy, 
through the Directorate of Studies and Strategies of the Foreign Ministry.  
 
2. Peru adopted a regulatory framework and public policies on gender equality, 
parity and alternation, as well as t he eradication of gender -based violence, 
all of this also taking into account the greater vulnerability of indigenous 
women, who constitute 50.2% of the total indigenous population of the 
country.  
 
3. The objective is to advocate for a gender approach in the treatment of all 
global issues and their diversity of issues, such as security, climate change, 
health, science and technology issues, and trade sphere.  
 
4. Trade implications: the feminist foreign policy that is being designed will 
include guidelines that ta ke into account the gender approach in international 
trade and promote the economic empowerment of women, considering that 
the multilateral regulatory frameworks that regulate different aspects of 
international trade also have an impact on your situation.  
 
5. The field of action in the trade axe of the feminist foreign policy  sphere seeks 
to: 
• intensify international cooperation for the development of studies 
and diagnoses of the problems faced by women in international trade, 
identifying the most pressing ob stacles and lines of action to overcome 
them.  
 
• consider the inputs of the diversity of agents not only from the 
commercial sector, but from producer associations, academic entities, 
cooperation networks, among others, for the treatment of trade issues in  
the bilateral and multilateral spheres.  
 
• emphasize specific issues such as access to digitalization, financial 
inclusion or professional training in specific sectors, comparing realities and 
complementing efforts, which are possible through multilateral spaces 
such as the WTO.  
 
• promote a timely evaluation from a gender perspective of the 
various proposals put forward by the delegations for the numerous topics 
discussed at the WTO, so that the progress and consensus sought 
contribute to the progress of society as a whole.  
 
d. Reporting gender -responsive trade policies in TPRs  
Key reporting statistics though the Trade Policy Review Mechanism  
 
In 2022 and 2023, 90% of WTO Members under trade policy review reported on at least one measure 
suppo rting gender equality in trade as well as employment and business -related statistics by gender.  
 
Key trends in 2022 -2023 as reported in Members ' trade policy review reports6  
 
• Gender equality at the centre of national trade policies: WTO Members have been 
increasingly including gender equality as part their development plans and trade 
policies, recognising that women 's economic empowerment improves poverty reduction 
and contribu tes to their development as well as achieving SDGs (SDG 5 in particular). 
Some WTO Members also recogni ze the link between gender equality and their 
integration in the multilateral trading system, therefore confirming that women 's 
economic empowerment supp orts their trade expansion and export growth.  
 
6 See also WTO Secretariat report WT/TPR/OV/26, page 67 . INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  • Supporting women entrepreneurs ' exports: most national trade policies target women 
entrepreneurs and establish dedicated support programmes for small scale 
businesswomen to develop their trading capacity, their  access to finance and to 
government procurement markets. In particular, export promotion programmes include 
measures to assist entrepreneurs in exporting for the first time or to further expand 
their presence on international markets. Other measures focus  on carving dedicated 
quotas for small scale female entrepreneurs (often between 5% and 10%) to have 
access to government procurement markets. Access to finance and credits with 
advantageous conditions, is also a key focus of trade policies, which for exam ple provide 
female entrepreneurs with medium - and long -term indirect credit lines or guarantees 
for their loans. Also, some Members provide such financial support targeting the green 
sector. To give an advantage on foreign markets and in accessing all thei r support 
schemes for businesswomen, some governments also provide them with a certification 
(based on specific eligibility criteria) confirming their status as a female entrepreneur.  
Lastly, as part of their trade policy review, some members are starting to report on the 
measures they took in favour of female entrepreneurs during the COVID -19 pandemic, 
mostly focusing on financial support.   
• Supporting women in agriculture: trade policies also target female farmers, often 
smallholders. Some governments use their domestic support and their green box 
subsidies for this purpose. Such support measures can include access to productive 
resources such as farming and processing equipm ent as well as input subsidies. They 
also focus on providing women access to training (building their trade capacity) or 
agricultural land. They also provide female farmers with financial support by for example 
creating dedicated funds providing grants to smallholders with a quota for women, often 
in specific agricultural sectors.  
• Access to the labour force: some Members have conducted analysis or data collection 
exercises on wage discrimination in their export sectors, mobility issues and 
discrimination o n access to public transport, therefore exploring female employment in 
export -led sectors. The purpose is to better target their policies in support of women, 
as many measures found in trade policies aim at fostering women 's access to the job 
market and th e labour force in internationalised sectors.  Such measures can for example 
provide tax incentives to the private sector, with specific conditions.  Interestingly, one 
Member (E uropean Union) has created a facility with one key objective to foster 
women 's integration in the labour market and limit gender discrimination in 
employment .  
• Assessing the impact of trade and trade policies on women: some WTO Members have 
started to integrate impact assessments as part of their policy implementation 
processes. Some have developed specific "sustainability impact assessments", that 
include a gender perspective.  
• Others have included an estimation of the impact of their policy initiatives that also 
incorporates a performance and achievement monitoring exercise. Sometimes such 
assessment processes are coordinated at the highest level of government or focus on a 
specific issue such as income generation. Also, it is in teresting to note that one 
government 's policy aimed at protecting women from the adverse effects of trade. Also, 
impact assessments of gender provisions are increasingly  being negotiated in new free 
trade agreements. Lastly, it is interesting to note that  one government (Djibouti) has 
set up a regular monitoring of the female beneficiaries of government -led programmes 
targeting women entrepreneurs and has created a centralized database managed and 
hosted by the Ministry of Women 's Affairs.  
• Making gender r esponsive trade policies: in the policy making process, some 
governments organi ze internal consultations involving various ministerial actors 
including the officials responsible for women 's affairs, allowing for gender issues to be 
integrated in trade poli cies in a cross -cutting manner. Also, remarkably, one 
government (Malaysia) has embarked in gender budgeting to ensure that the gender -
responsive measures included in its national policies are supported financially.  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  • Challenges in policy making: the key cha llenge highlighted by WTO Members in 
gender -responsive trade policy making is the lack of sex -disaggregated data in trade 
and the technical difficulty to collecting such evidence.  
2  ADVANCING ON WORK PILLAR 2: CONDUCTING AND REVIEWING RESEARCH 
(LEAD  TBC)  
a. Intellectual property, women in tourism and trade agreements: key research topics 
presented by WTO Members  
Intellectual Property Rights can Empowering Women and People with Disabilities  
 
• Intellectual property rights when used correctly can advance entrepreneurship by 
enabling women  who develop innovative ideas and products to secure financing, signal 
their inn ovation, and negotiate access to the IP rights held by others.  
• Patents  can help women inventors, secure funding, which can aid in commercializing an 
invention to bring it to market.  Similarly, inventions designed for women, by any gender 
inventor, can empo wer women by making their lives easier or better. In addition, in 
some cases, holding a patent is a sign of professional success, and can help a woman 
advance in her field, get a promotion, or a higher -paying job. This may be particularly 
helpful for women  in male -dominated career fields.  
• Trademarks  help women -owned businesses identify their goods and services. This can 
help establish a "brand " which consumers recognize and seek out. Once consumers 
begin to recognize a brand, they may develop loyalty to it , which may lead to more 
sales of a product or service. It can also lead to licensing agreements and other such 
partnerships with sellers, as we 'll see in an example later on.  
• Copyright  can help women artists protect and obtain compensation for their musi c and 
other artwork.  
• Some recommendations : there still exists a significant gender gap with respect to 
women 's participation in the IP system. Improving women 's participation in IP would 
improve not only their own earnings but also economic growth. Many co untries, along 
with the World Intellectual Property Organization, are seeking to promote women 's 
participation in innovation and science and technology. Increasing awareness of the 
benefits to women of using the IP system is an important factor in increasi ng this 
participation.  
Women in community - involved tourism enterprises: Experiences in Philippines  
 
• The Asian Institute of Management in the Philippines developed a participation -
empowerment model to analyse women 's contribution to the tourism sector, understand 
their role and level of economic involvement in the and measure the level of women 's 
empowerment in and through the tourism sector.  
• The model looks at four pillars of empowerment:  
­ Psychological empowerment: Self-perception: attitude, well-being, confidence, etc.  
­ Social empowerment: Community relations, social standing, etc.  
­ Political empowerment: Leadership position, voice in decision -making, etc.  
­ Economic empowerment: Access to employment and entrepreneurial opportunities, 
ability to control economic finances, etc.  
 
• Key findings of the research and the analysis of women 's experience in the tourism 
sector  
­ Women needed  to work because of financial constraints.  
­ Women 's participation in economic activities became an expectation rather than an 
exception  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  ­ Tourism offers a unique space for women to be involved and be seen  
­ Women are more engaged in tourism than their male counterparts (men have other 
jobs such as fishing, construction work, etc.)  
­ Activities that are extensions of wome n's domestic role (i.e., relationship building, 
communications, administrative work, food preparation, souvenir making, etc.)  
­ Gradually taking up jobs that are traditionally for men (Boat guide, forest rangers, etc.)  
­ More involved in conservation work (i.e ., effective policy enforcers, educators of the 
young, guardians of cultural knowledge, etc.)  
 
b. Supporting research -related work by the WTO Trade and Gender Office  
The WTO Trade and Gender Office has supported the research work pillar with some 
additiona l work, through the WTO Gender Research Hub.  
 
In December 2022, the WTO Secretariat jointly with the WTO Gender Research Hub and WTO 
Members, organi zed the World Trade Congress on Gender  to which  14 WTO Members from Africa, 
Europe, the Pacific, Asia the Caribbean, Latin and North America contributed on the various research 
discussions on gender -responsive trade agreements, solutions to mitigate the impact of COVID -19 
on women, or how to facilitate trade fo r women and female entrepreneurs. The World Trade 
Congress on Gender is the first international research conference on trade and gender .7  
 
The Congress generated two major research outcomes: a new WTO publication entitled "Making 
trade work for women: ke y findings from the World Trade Congress on Gender " and the Youth Trade 
Summit on Gender.  
 
• The key findings from the World Trade Congress on Gender8 were released in 
September  2023 in a new WTO publication which looks at how to help women 
entrepreneurs re ap the benefits from international trade. New research and analysis 
explores gender inequalities across a range of areas. It also explores how trade policies 
can be used as a model for future trade negotiations and how tariff liberalization and 
trade polic y reform can tackle gender issues and reduce gender wage gaps.  
• The Youth Trade Summit on Gender  was held at the WTO in November 2023 and 
organi zed in partnership with the objective to promoting the next generation of experts 
and researchers. The Summit was  organi zed in partnership with Spain, which held the 
Presidency of the Council of the European Union from June to December 2023.  The 
event brought together 51 young researchers and professionals nominated by academic 
institutions or governments from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America 
and with 17 WTO Members from Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Caribbean and Asi a 
also contributed to the Summit 's discussions. The aim of the Summit was also to deepen 
the knowledge of young researchers and professionals through a technical assistance 
conference on trade and gender, which covered topics such as gender -based research 
data, a gender -based perspective on e -commerce, gender aspects of trade finance, as 
well as linkages among gender, non -tariff measures and trade in services. The Summit, 
which sought to act as a "talent incubator", also highlighted young people 's perspecti ves 
on how to make trade work for women. The WTO introduced for the first time its Gender 
Equality Pioneer Awards to celebrate the contribution of two trade and gender equality 
pioneers .  
The WTO Trade and Gender Office research publications in 2023  
 
• Gende r Social Norms: New Trade Barriers Addressed through Trade Policy.9 
 
7 The second edition of the World Trade Congress on Gender will be held on 2 -5 December 2025 at 
the WTO.  
8 Making Trade Work for Women: Key findings from the 2022 Wo rld Trade Congress on Gender, WTO 
Publication, September 2023. Available of the WTO website here. 
9 der Boghossian, A. Chapte r 23: " Gender Social Norms: New Trade Barriers Addressed through Trade 
Policy ". In The Elgar Companion to the World Trade Organization, edited by Julien Chaisse and Cristian 
Rodríguez -Chiffelle . Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. (December 2023) https://www.e -elgar.com/shop/gbp/the -
elgar-companion -to-the-world -trade -organization -978180088 2850.html  Available at the WTO library  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  • Trade and Gender: Addressing Barriers to Women 's Decent Work through Trade Policy.10 
• Finding Feet on Trade Agreements: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Amidst a 
Pandemic.11 
• Gender -Responsive WTO: Making Trade Rules and Policies Work for Women.12 
 
3  ADVANCING ON WORK PILLAR 3: GENDER LENS APPLIED TO WTO (LED BY THE EU)  
a. A gender lens on trade policy: perspectives from Latin America13 
How to build a gender -responsive trade poli cy 
 
Closing, the gender gaps could increase GDP by US D 1 trillion in Latin -America alone 
(Inter-American Development Bank ). Therefore an inclusive trade policy can contribute to 
reduce gender gaps.  
 
Several tools exist at country level and at the WTO to make a trade policy gender -responsive, 
such as : i) data on trade and gender; ii) impact assessment of trade on women (Cana da and 
European Union developed methodologies); iii) mainstream a gender focus into trade 
disciplines ; iv) gender responsive trade facilitation and aid for trade; and v) support for women 
traders.  
 
A specific focus on trade agreements  
 
In recent years, gen der provisions in trade agreements have contributed to position gender 
on the trade agenda. The WTO has identified 257 agreements between 1990 and 2020 which 
include and implicit or explicit gender provision. Agreements in different regions (e.g. AfCFTA) 
and plurilateral initiatives such as the Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (GTGA) are 
addressing gender as a core issue. Increasingly, countries have included stand -alone gender 
chapters in their trade agreements, which focus on joint commitments on the p romotion of 
gender equality through cooperation. More than addressing specific trade disciplines, the focus 
of these chapters is on women 's economic empowerment and women 's rights.  
An additional step is to mainstream gender provisions into trade disciplin es. This would be a 
direct means to address gender gaps and inequalities within the trade agreements.  
 
Modalities to mainstream gender provisions in trade disciplines  
 
• Provisions that do not allow for gender discrimination : i) non-discrimination between 
men and women ; and ii) not fail to enforce laws that protect the equality of opportunities 
for men and women in order to encourage trade or investment ; 
• Affirmative action to accelerate equality between men and women : i) provisions  to 
further women 's empowerment and equal opportunities ; and ii) transitory provisions to 
promote women in trade ; 
• Reservations for non -conforming measures  to protect national legislation and policies 
that further women 's rights and equal opportunities ; 
• Affirmative action : differential treatment between men and women that is reasonable 
and objective and aims to achieve a legitimate purpose. Such treatment co uld establish 
temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and 
women and would not be considered discrimination for the purposes of this provision. 
 
10 der Boghossian, A. " Trade and Gender: Addressing barriers to women 's Decent Work through Trade 
Policy ". In Integrating Trade and Decent Work, Volume II. The potential of trade and investment policies to 
address labour  market issues in supply chains , ILO publication, 2023.  
11 der Boghossian A., Bahri A. 2023. Legal Issues of Economic Integration. Volume 50, Issue 1  (2023) 
pp. 13 – 40. January 2023.  
12 der Boghossian A. Chapter 2: "Gender -Responsive WTO: Making Trade Rules and Policies Work for 
Women"  in Handbook on Trade Policy and Gender Equality, edited by Amrita Bahri, Dorotea López and Jan 
Yves Remy . Cam bridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023.  
13 Presentation made by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean 
(ECLAC) at the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender on 22 September 2022. INF/TGE/CN/10/Rev.1  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
- 14 - 
 
  An example if such provision is included in the WTO, Joint Initiative on Services 
Domestic Regulation. Reference Paper on Services Domestic Regulation (INF/SDR/1).  
Sustainable Development in the WTO Reform Agenda  
 
Trade is an implementing means to achieve the SDGs. SDG 5 (Gender Equality) is a core goal 
of the Agenda and also a  cross-cutting issue within the other SDGs. This needs to be addressed 
in the WTO reform process.  
 
b. The Gender Lens Framework to the WTO  
To examine how trade and gender considerations interact, in January 2022, the European Union and 
the ITC launched a  project on a Gender -Lens Framework for the work of the WTO, focusing on four 
topics: i) trade facilitation ; ii) e-commerce ; iii) government procurement ; and iv) investment 
facilitation for development .14 Argentina, Australia, Chile, Ecuador and the United States also 
contributed to this work which outlined a few themes. The framework paper to guide WTO Members ' 
action in promoting women 's economic empowerment includes suggestions on how gender 
considerati ons can be integrated into the current structure of the WTO and into Members ' domestic 
policies following six steps:  
 
• assessing gender effects of agreements and negotiations  
• ensuring consistency between WTO rules and national gender equality commitments  
• promoting substantive representation of women 's interests  
• gender -sensitive monitoring  
• making Aid for Trade more gender -responsive  
• strengthening gender statistics.  
 
Despite being WTO -centered, this work indicates that the process of developing a gender  lens for 
certain aspects of trade can and must go beyond the WTO. In fact, findings highlight the importance 
and complementarity of public policies was underscored, for instance, in extending digital access to 
rural areas, improving access to financial se rvices, training and capacity building to help women -
owned or women -led businesses, improving data collection and definitions, educational policies, and 
other measures.  
 
4  ADVANCING ON WORK PILLAR 4: AID FOR TRADE (LED BY AUSTRALIA)  
Members have been buildi ng on the experiences shared at the thematic discussions on aid for trade 
in 202115 and have conducted deeper discussions on gender dimensions in development 
programming. In 2023, Members ' objective was to take stock of lessons learned and identify 
concrete workstreams to take forward – both at the national level and in the WTO, includin g the 
agreed 2023 -2024 Aid for Trade Work Programme. Members also looked at some cross -cutting 
themes relevant to gender mainstreaming in development programming, especially examining the 
work done by the World Bank, the WTO Trade and Gender Office and the  private sector as well as 
monitoring and evaluation specialists in this area.  
 
Members also recalled and stressed the continued relevance of the Busan Principles, including 
country ownership, focus on results, and mutual accountability.  
 
In particular, the IWG work focussed on e -commerce and trade facilitation development program mes 
in the Pacific region. Members provided valuable insights into the impact of gender perspectives and 
development program mes in the Pacific.  
 
 
14 In October and November 2023, the ITC organized four webinars on these topics based on papers 
written by independent academics. The work accomplished fed into a fifth paper called "Gender Analytical 
Framework to Guide WTO Action to Promote Women 's Economic  Empowerment ". All reports are available 
online at the ITC SheTrades Outlook website ( www.shetrades.com/outlook ).  
15 Progress Report on WTO Members and Observers Technical Wo rk on Women's Economic 
Empowerment, 9 November 2021, INF/TGE/R/1.  INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1  
 
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  A case story from  Australia: E-Commerce Aid for Trade Fund  
This specific development program me run by the Australian Government which mainstreamed 
gender into program me design and implementation. Australia highlighted the significance of gender 
equality and women 's econom ic empowerment and outlined it includes a gender equality objective 
in all of its investments over AUD 3,000,000. The completion of the E-commerce Aid-for-Trade 
Programme worth AUD 5.6 million, supported 11 projects, trained over 700 staff, helped over 
800 MSMEs improve their capacity, and saw approximately 50% female participation.  
 
 
A case story from Australia: Regulation Capacity Building for Female Lawyers in the Pacific  
The programme of Australia 's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade  resulted in the development 
of national ecommerce frameworks for targeted Pacific countries. The programme had helped build 
the skills of generalist lawyers to develop these frameworks, including close to 50% female 
participation. The legal "eagles", as t hese selected women were referred to, were now generally 
recognized as the top ecommerce legal experts in their country. Some lessons had been learned in 
the process, including the need to measure the impact of social media outreach, integrate chapters 
or sections on ecommerce and gender in the national ecommerce strategies, and plan for integrating 
gender into legal and regulatory outcomes more properly.  
 
 
Three key takeaways on Aid for Trade  
 
• The widespread and systematic lack of data, lack of internation al standards to properly 
compare data and lack of granularity around metrics specific to female traders (e.g. 
trade costs, access to finance, etc.).  
• Trade -related measures are not necessarily gender -neutral and can significantly 
disadvantage female trader s without tailored interventions. The World Bank 's on-the-
ground work on trade facilitation in the Pacific region provided some apt examples.  
• The need for programme design to be gender -inclusive from inception and throughout 
the program me lifecycle, assis ted by harnessing female perspectives throughout the 
process, training on gender issues including for men and ensuring monitoring and 
evaluation specifically consider the gender perspective. The WTO Trade and Gender 
Office outlined gender -related developme nt programming indicators in its work on 
assisting Members in this effort.  
Future work was highlighted by members to focus on exploring other regions and other kinds of 
development programming to improve understanding of these issues.  
 
__________