An opportunity for a gender equality focus in trade policy?

Gender is being mainstreamed into several recent trade agreements and negotiations. Gender-specific data and gender-sensitive impact assessments should guide negotiations. The role and needs of women-led businesses need to be addressed to promote their economic empowerment. International trade interacts with gender equality in different ways. Its impact is not neutral and in developing countries and elsewhere it is conditioned by the distinct roles of women and men in economic activity. Today, there seems to be a momentum for mainstreaming gender issues into trade policy, which had not been observed in the 20 preceding years, even though many of the issues currently on the policy agenda had already been raised in the past. The inequality gap between women and men is especially profound in the economic sphere and, considering recent trends, this is where the gap would take the longest to close. According to the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index , at the current rate, women’s economic participation and opportunities gap would close in 219 years! Gender inequality not only carries serious costs in terms of social justice and human dignity, but also reduces economic growth and competitiveness. The OECD estimates that the economic losses caused by gender discrimination...

Written by Alicia Frohmann