On the 100th anniversary of International Women’s
Day in March 2011, ITC celebrated the successes women have made in trade. At an
event co-hosted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), ITC recognized the vital
contribution women make to export, such as the gains made in the coffee sector.
Opening the event, WTO Director General Mr. Pascal Lamy
remarked on the progress women have made over the past 100 years and the
inequalities that still persist, noting that ‘women have achieved levels of
excellence that have, indeed, made our world a better place. But these advances
cannot hide the fact that in many parts of the world women remain economically
and socially disadvantaged.’
Ms. Sandrine Salerno, Mayor of Geneva, addressed the
100-plus participants on the topic of equality for women in government. Mr.
Jean-Marie Paugam, Deputy Executive Director of ITC, focused on ITC’s Women and
Trade programme, which empowers women entrepreneurs and improves their
representation across value chains. Mr. Paugam stressed that ITC considers
gender as a powerful entry point for leveraging poverty alleviation through
trade and contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development goals.
One such example is ITC’s partnership with the International Women’s Coffee
Alliance (IWCA) to identify and eliminate barriers to women’s success in the
coffee sector.
Ms. Phyllis Johnson, representing IWCA, also spoke about
the opportunities for women in coffee trade. In the African coffee industry,
women do 70% of the field work and harvesting, but are only engaged in 10% of
the in-country and international trade of the product. As there are
approximately 25 million farmers and coffee workers in over 50 countries
involved in producing coffee, ITC recognizes the opportunity to work with the
coffee sector in terms of the high potential for export and the human
development impact, particularly for women.
Speaking from International Women’s Day events at the UN
in New York, ITC Executive Director Patricia Francis – commented on the
importance of partnerships in achieving economic empowerment for women. She
highlighted ITC’s Platform for Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors, which
brings together corporate, government and institutional leaders committed to
increasing women’s share of procurement.
In emphasizing the importance of the links between
developed and developing countries, Ms Francis said, ‘There is great potential
for consumers in developed country markets to ensure benefits flow to women,
their families and communities in developing countries.’ ITC is supporting such
efforts by linking African women working in the coffee industry to new buyers
and markets, working with governments and trade institutions to address
persistent gender-based barriers to export success and through supporting
initiatives such as the Cup of Excellence Awards.
Ms. Francis continued, ‘ITC is committed
to bringing together the right public and private sector partners to assist
women in achieving their potential as entrepreneurs for the benefit of
themselves, their families and their communities.’
The newest United Nations body, UN Women, was
officially launched in by UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon in February
2011. The organization is dedicated to supporting individual countries in
moving towards gender equality in economics and politics, and ending violence
against women. By establishing international standards for progress, UN Women
will assist in creating new opportunities for women and girls within the UN
programmes for peace and development. The former Chilean president and
Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet, spoke at the event, drawing a
connection between women’s empowerment and national growth in areas such as
food security.
For more information visit www.unwomen.org.