Remarks at the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
New York - 17 March 2016
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint development agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, I join you in commemorating the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I also welcome the launch of the UN High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment and pledge ITC's support to ensure that the outcome of the HLP is operational, forward looking and anchors the narrative around the importance of economically empowering women for the growth of our economies and for decent jobs.
Women's economic empowerment is a game changer. It’s a game changer for households and societies: when women are paid for their work, they reinvest most of their earnings in health and education for their families, laying the groundwork for breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty.
It’s a game changer at the macroeconomic level, too: if women were to participate in the economy on an equal footing with men, it would be like adding a new US and China to the global economy by 2025, what is commonly termed 'the third billion'.
In our work at ITC, we have seen how trade can be a powerful tool for economic resilience and transformation in developing and least-developed countries. Realizing the full potential of this tool, however, requires women to have the opportunity to fully participate.
The growing body of evidence of the potential gains from women’s integration in the global economy is compelling. It is a fact that there is a consistently positive correlation between countries that provide greater economic opportunities for women, and higher competitiveness and national income. We also know that when enterprises trade, they are more competitive, more productive.
And yet, our research shows that women own only one in five exporting companies and that women entrepreneurs face discriminatory barriers to trade when exporting.
As a tool to help facilitate women economic empowerment ITC launched the "SheTrades" initiative and put together a global call to action with a goal to bring 1 million women to markets by 2020.
It sets out the issues that collectively, we need to address in order to unlock markets for women and provides a platform for collaboration on eight issues: Data, Trade Policies, Public Procurement, Corporate Procurement, Certification of Ownership, Supply Side Constraints, Financial Services and Ownership and Control of Assets.
We have launched a web and mobile application that provides women entrepreneurs across the globe a unique platform to connect to markets; and to connect with many of you here in this room.
I ask you to support for the SheTrades initiative, which mobilises stakeholders and provides engagement opportunities to act on the Women’s Empowerment Principles.
Please visit us at www.shetrades.com, and download the app today!
I am also pleased to invite you to the 5th edition of ITC's Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum, the premier global event for women entrepreneurs and companies committed to inclusive supply chains to connect and do business taking place in Istanbul, Turkey on 1-2 September.
Thank you.