speech empowering women in a changing global economy speech by christine lagarde, president of the ecb, at the international women ’ s day event organised by world trade organization ( wto ) in geneva geneva, 8 march 2023 it is a pleasure to be here at the wto to discuss women and the economy on such an important occasion : international women ’ s day. and this discussion is happening at a critical time : geopolitical tensions and the fragmenting of world trade are threatening to roll back decades of advances in women ’ s economic empowerment. since the great financial crisis, the global economy has been hit by a series of unprecedented shocks – most recently, russia ’ s war against ukraine. and all this has taken its toll on trade growth, which has plateaued as a share of world gdp. instead, protectionism is on the rise – and may well get worse – as countries reconfigure their supply chains to align with new strategic goals. the number of trade restrictions in place has jumped tenfold over the last decade. this is not to say we are facing an outright deglobalisation – far from it. the powerful economic logic underpinning the gains from international trade remains as valid as ever for governments and firms alike. but the nature of globalisation is changing. we are likely to see more trade within blocs as countries that share common values and interests deepen their trade ties to increase their resilience to external shocks and threats. and the changing nature of globalisation can have implications for women empowerment. the rise of global trade has been intricately tied to women ’ s emancipation. in developing countries, firms that trade internationally are also those that employ more women. women make up a third of the workforce of such firms, compared to less than a quarter for non - exporting firms. and in advanced economies, tariff burdens can at times fall disproportionately on the shoulders of women. in the us, the average tariff rates on products for women are higher than those for men. overall, countries that are more open to trade tend to have higher levels of gender equality. [ 5 ] that is in part because trade liberalisation is linked to a higher accumulation of education and skills for women. so we need to act immediately – not only to preserve, but to expand on the existing achievements won for women ’ s economic empowerment. and we need to ensure that a changing global economy does not introduce new inequalities.

burden ”, economics working paper series, working paper 2018 – 08 – b, u. s. international trade commission, august. 5. trade openness measured in terms of trade - to - gdp ratios. see world bank and wto ( 2020 ), “ women and trade : the role of trade in promoting gender equality ”, washington, dc. 6. schultz, t. p., “ does the liberalization of trade advance gender equality in schooling and health? ”, discussion paper series, no 2140, institute for the study of labor, may. see also world bank and wto ( 2020 ), “ women and trade : the role of trade in promoting gender equality ”, washington, dc, p. 6. 7. see wto ( 2020 ), “ wto report draws attention to impact of covid - 19 trade disruptions on women ”, 5 august. 8. unctad ( 2022 ), “ making trade work better for women after crises : a q & a with unctad deputy pedro manuel moreno ”, 8 december. 9. pierli, g., murmura, f., and palazzi, f. ( 2022 ), “ women and leadership : how do women leaders contribute to companies'sustainable choices? ”, frontiers in sustainability, vol. 3, july. 10. the percentage is specific to 33 of the largest multilateral organisations. see gwl voices for change and inclusion ( 2023 ), “ numbers matter : to fix the multilateral system start by including women ”, 6 march.