Ambassador Julian Braithwaite's statement on Women's Economic Empowerment.
M2 PRESSWIRE-July 8, 2020-: Ambassador Julian Braithwaite's statement on Women's Economic Empowerment
(C)1994-2020 M2 COMMUNICATIONS
RDATE:08072020
Thank you for inviting me to join this panel. I am delighted to be here and am proud that the UK has funded the ITC report we are launching today.
Increased trade can be a tremendous force for providing new opportunities for women. A 2016 report by the International Trade Centre has found that women-owned businesses that export are on average more than 3.5 times more productive than those that do not. However, improving women's access to the benefits of trade remains a global challenge.
At the London-hosted Commonwealth Summit in 2018, the UK committed to intending 'to establish a fully gender-responsive trade policy'. Two years on, I think it is remarkable how international expertise is growing, and I would like to thank the ITC for their role in important agenda.
Today I wanted to both reflect on the UK's progress on trade and gender equality, and draw upon the four key challenges that today's ITC report sets out for mainstreaming gender in Free Trade Agreements: Greater awareness, expertise, gender-disaggregated data, and political will.
Firstly, there is a need to increase awareness by looking beyond the visible. If we agree that trade is not gender neutral, or that trade outcomes vary by gender, then we also must acknowledge that many of the barriers for women in trade may be hidden.
This report invites us to consider whether there is more to be done in trade agreements to address those barriers to trade faced by all but which may be disproportionately experienced by women. One important example is considering women-owned SMEs.
Secondly, our stakeholders have made clear that much of the underpinning expertise comes from outside of Government too. The UK recognises the importance of seeking the meaningful inclusion of women's voices throughout our policy development, and that we need more women in particular to participate in conversations around trade.
Thirdly, the importance of gender-disaggregated data. As the report makes clear 'the impact of gender mainstreaming on women and trade will only become visible with the passage of time.' To know if we're achieving our goals, we must be able to monitor them.
Just yesterday the ITC Executive Director Dorothy Tembo and the UK Minister for Africa launched the SheTrades Outlook tool at the UN High Level Political Forum.
Part of the UK's Aid for...
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