UNCTAD’s Trade-and-Gender Programme Marks 10 Years of Empowering Women Policymakers
SDG 5: Gender Equality | SDG 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth
Institutions: Ministry of Commerce and Industry | Ministry of Women and Child Development
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has completed 10 years of its Trade and Gender E-learning Programme, a global initiative equipping policymakers to integrate gender considerations into trade policy. Since its launch in 2015 – funded mainly by Finland – the programme has trained 2,500+ participants from 170 countries, nearly two-thirds women, shaping how governments link trade, empowerment, and inclusion.
UNCTAD’s Trade and Gender Toolbox, an analytical framework assessing how trade agreements and reforms affect men and women differently has become a core resource for pre-implementation impact assessments. The curriculum now includes modules on e-commerce, agricultural upgrading, non-tariff measures, and region-specific adaptations for Africa and Latin America.
The 10-year milestone coincides with UNCTAD16 (Geneva, 20–23 Oct 2025) under the theme “Shaping the Future: Driving Economic Transformation for Equitable, Inclusive and Sustainable Development.” Ministerial discussions will focus on:
Ensuring that current trade dynamics—marked by uncertainty and fragmentation—do not deepen gender disparities.
Evaluating the real-world effectiveness of gender clauses in trade agreements.
Learning from national examples that mainstream women’s participation in trade policymaking.
Setting concrete actions to make trade a lever of women’s economic empowerment and social mobility.
UNCTAD’s decade-long work demonstrates how knowledge transfer + policy design can convert global trade into an inclusive growth instrument. For developing economies, gender-responsive trade policy is not symbolic but structural, vital to expanding women-led exports, MSMEs, and digital entrepreneurship.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can India and other emerging economies embed gender impact assessments into trade negotiations and industrial policy, ensuring women’s enterprises are integral to future global value chains?
Follow the full news here: UNCTAD News Release 16 Oct 2025