INFORMAL
WORKING GROUP ON TRADE AND GENDER
WORK PLAN 2025-2026
Revision
The following revised Work Plan dated 10 September
2025 is issued by Cabo Verde and El Salvador, the Co‑Chairs of the
Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender (IWG).
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1 Introduction
1.1 Building
on the work accomplished since September 2020 (_INF/TGE/R/1, _INF/TGE/R/2/Rev.1) when
the IWG was established in the WTO and on language agreed at the 12th
and 13th WTO Ministerial Conferences, the Work Plan provides a
framework for future tangible achievements of the IWG.
1.2 The
Work Plan outlines the objectives, scope, deliverables and timelines of the IWG's
actions for advancing gender equality in trade for the 2025-2026 period.
2 objectives
2.1. The Work Plan defines the actions to be taken by the IWG to advance
its objectives in support of women's economic empowerment as detailed in:
a._
The Interim
Report following the Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Trade and Women's Economic
Empowerment (_
WT/L/1095/Rev.1);
b._
Paragraph 16 of
the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration (_WT/MIN(24)/DEC); and
c._
The IWG Co-Chairs'
Joint statement on Promoting Inclusive And Sustainable Trade through Gender
Equality and Building a Gender-Responsive WTO.
2.2. The Work Plan is aligned with the four work pillars of the IWG, as
per the Interim Report establishing the IWG (_WT/L/1095/Rev.1).
2.3. The main purpose of the Work Plan is to:
a._
Operationalise
the objectives of the IWG and translate them in actionable measures;
b._
Seek to achieve
tangible outcomes and propose specific initiatives for implementation to
advance gender equality in trade; and
c._
Enable the
sharing of experiences and best practice among IWG Members to developing
gender-responsive trade policies and initiatives at the WTO as well as at the
regional and national levels.
Actions in support of these objectives are
further specified under section 3.
2.4. At the end of 2026, and through the implementation of the Work Plan,
the IWG will have made significant advancements in strengthening the trade and
gender nexus. This will involve going beyond sharing and gathering insights
from governments, women entrepreneurs and regional and international
organisations, to implementing a practical and well-defined package focussed on
key areas, as outlined in "Section 3: Scope, Deliverables and Action
Points".
3 scope, deliverables and action points
3.1. Recognising that removing barriers to trade women entrepreneurs and
gender-responsive trade policy making remain the two overarching focus areas of
the IWG, the Work Plan will be structured around three tiers, each addressing specific
priority themes and as outlined below:
|
Tiers
|
Focus areas
|
Deliverables and action points
|
|
Tier one
|
WTO 14th Ministerial Conference
(MC14)
|
1._
IWG Co-Chairs
Joint Statement (based on previous practice in 2022 and 2023).
2._
Creating a compendium
mapping the work on gender-responsive trade policy making undertaken by the
IWG since 2020 to be used as a resource map by members. This index will highlight practices as
replicable options.
|
|
Tier two
|
Mainstreaming gender in the WTO
(integrating the topic into the work of regular committees and other groups)
|
1._
Continue the
work with the MSME group and in particular to further the work done on the
"Compendium of Financial Inclusion Initiatives for women
entrepreneurs" (_INF/TGE/W/7/Rev.3) by designing a policy tool kit in collaboration with the MSME
group and the WTO Secretariat.
2._
Establishing
new avenues to integrate gender in regular WTO committees, such as through joint thematic sessions.
3._
Trade Policy
Review Mechanism:
·_
carry out an
assessment exercise of how Members have integrated gender in their reports.
·_
The SheTrades
Outlook could serve as source of policy data for relevant Trade Policy
Reviews.
·_
The IWG
encourages the Secretariat to incorporate gender-related issues into its
Trade Policy Review reports, with the support of and in coordination with the
WTO Trade and Gender Office.
|
|
Tiers
|
Focus areas
|
Deliverables and action points
|
|
Tier two
|
Gender-disaggregated data in trade
|
1._
Data exchange
workshops.
2._
Skills
enhancement hackathons.
3._
These events
will be directed toward government officials from relevant ministries and
national statistical offices, as well as other relevant stakeholders.
|
|
Digitalisation
|
4._
Working with
other organisation such as ITC, UNCTAD and ITU, as well as the private
sector, building on their work and experience, in addressing gender issues in
digitalisation.
5._
Designing a
compendium mapping Members' trade policy measures focussing on women and
digitalisation.
|
|
Tier 3
|
Other topics of focus (building on work
conducted by the IWG in 2023-2024)
|
1._
Continue
exploring the integration of gender considerations in:
a._
Free trade
agreements and regional trade
b._
Intellectual
property (building on work conducted in 2024)
c._
Support
networks for women and women's trade networks
|
4 timeline
4.1. The Implementation of the Work Plan will start in September 2025 and
be extended to December 2026.
4.2. The priority work will focus on tier one activities while other
initiatives under tier two and three will be undertaken in parallel.
4.3. In December 2026-January 2027, the
IWG Co-Chairs will report back to the IWG on the implementation of the Work
Plan.
4.4. A more detailed schedule and
timeline will be included in the Execution
Roadmap supporting the implementation of this Work Plan.
5 New IWG AGENDA SETTING and secretariat's support functions
5.1. The development and formulation of the IWG agenda will be carried
out with new working protocols as follows:
a._
A new agenda
building process will be prepared and presented at the IWG meeting of 3 July 2025.
It will include proposals for presenting a more detailed and annotated agenda
to facilitate the work of Members such as guiding questions and speakers' names
and titles. This protocol will be implemented subsequently.
b._
Upon requests
from Members, thematic sessions will be incorporated into the IWG agenda.
5.2. The Secretariat will continue to carry out its regular functions in
support of the implementation of the Work Plan and the work of the IWG:
a._
Providing
Secretariat support to ensure the smooth functioning of the IWG;
b._
Providing
analytical work aimed at facilitating deliberations of the IWG;
c._
Collaborating
with other Divisions and cooperating with other regional and international
organizations, including support of women’s economic empowerment;
d._
Providing technical
assistance and capacity building in line with WTO Biennial Technical Assistance
and Training Plan;
e._
Contribute to
knowledge-sharing including through the WTO Gender Research Hub.
6 Reporting on implementation progress
6.1. In implementing the Work Plan, Members intend to engage with other
international organizations, the civil society at large and other relevant
bodies across the WTO.
6.2. The IWG Co-Chairs will report to Members on the implementation of
the Work Plan, as necessary and as progress unfolds, during the regular
meetings of the IWG and based on the timeline set above.
6.3. As required and upon requests by Members, the WTO Secretariat will
provide updates on its support activities to the IWG and the implementation of
the Work Plan, as outlined in section 5.2 above, and during the regular
meetings of the IWG.
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