WT/MIN(17)/ST/85  
 
4 January 2018  
(18-0048) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR S. YVETTE ELIZABETH STEVENS  
AMBASSADOR PERMANENT  REPRESENTATIVE TO TH E WTO  
SIERRA LEONE 
It is my pleasure to address you on behalf of my country’s Honorable  Minister of Trade, Captain 
Momodu Allieu Pat -Sowe, who regrettably is unable to join us at this Conference.  
 
Sierra Leone would like to thank the Government of Argentina for hosting this conference and for 
the warm hospitality accorded to all delegates.   We would also like to express our appreciation for 
the hard  work of the WTO Director General and his staff.  
 
I would like to start by reaffirming the importance that Sierra Leone attaches to the provisions of 
the Doha Development Agenda.  Meaningful outcom es on remaining DDA issues, including 
agriculture, cotton, special and differential treatment and fishery subsidies, are essential for 
positioning  African nations to fulfi l the structural transformation and continental integration 
priorities and objectives  contained in our Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want.  Outside the context 
of the Doha Development Agenda, such issues will undoubtedly continue to be negotiated, but on 
terms that may no longer capture the development focus of the Doha mandate. This will re sult in a 
multilateral trading system that perpetuates inequities, particularly in agricultural trade.  
 
I would like to emphasize that Sierra Leone does not believe that new issues, such as e -
commerce, domestic regulation and investment facilitation are in consequential but, the Doha 
Development Agenda still remains its priority, at this time.  
 
The recent backlash against globalization highlights the need for more inclusivity in the global 
trading system. Trade remains an important tool for sustainable pove rty reduction. This is 
acknowledged in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, 
which have significantly raised the prominence of trade. Reference to trade policy and trade -
related measures feature in at least six of the s eventeen Sustainable Development Goals; covering 
such areas as reforming distortions in world agricultural markets, the improvement of Aid for 
Trade, including increased funding for the Enhanced Integrated Framework for LDCs, special and 
differential treat ment for developing countries, and most importantly, conclusion of the Doha 
Development Agenda.  
 
Let us use the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda as a springboard for change, the change 
that was called for when the Doha Development Agenda was launched b ack in 2001, just after the 
Millennium Development Goals were adopted. The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda  
promises that " no one will be left be hind".  But LDCs are far behind and will get even further 
behind, unless the provisions of the Addis Ababa Ac tion Agenda and the 2030 Sustainable 
Development Agenda are implemented.  
 
Up until now, the global trade regime has fallen short of what is needed for Least Developed 
Countries in general, and Sierra Leone in particular, to use trade as an effective tool f or 
sustainable development and poverty reduction.  According to World Bank data, the number of 
poor Sierra Leoneans actually increased over the period since the Doha Development Agenda was 
adopted, and approximately half of the population still remain in p overty. I ask you this question – 
Would this have been the case if the Doha Development Agenda was effectively implemented?  
 WT/MIN(17)/ST/85  
 
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  Let me conclude by underscoring the importance of an issue very close to my heart - Gender 
equality.  
 
Attainment of the objectives of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda will not be possible 
without achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 which calls for gender equality and the 
empowerment of all women and girls. Despite existing global, regional and national gender 
equality fram eworks, poverty and marginalization continue to disproportionately affect women.  
 
Gender -sensitive trade policies are crucial to securing productive opportunities and decent incomes 
for women. The important linkages between trade and gender must not be an afterthought, as is 
currently the case. Gender considerations must form an integral part of trade agreements and 
trade policy. The structural imbalances which contribute to an unequal distribution of the benefits 
from trade must be acknowledged and acted u pon.  
 
This is why Sierra Leone, in partnership with Iceland, has presented a Joint Declaration on Trade 
and Women’s Economic Empowerment at this Ministerial Conference. This Declaration, which is 
non-binding, is aimed at collaboration to make trade and de velopment policies more gender -
responsive through sharing experiences, best practices and methods relating to gender sensitive 
trade policy and analysis; working together in the WTO to remove barriers for women’s economic 
empowerment and participation in t rade; and ensuring that Aid for Trade supports the 
implementation of more gender -responsive trade policies. To support this collaboration, a series of 
seminars are planned, in coordination with relevant international organizations on a number of 
important themes related to trade and the economic empowerment of women.  
 
I take this opportunity to invite you to join this partnership to empower women through trade.  
 
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