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Sitshengisiwe Ndlovu
Scheduled to take place on the 30th of November 2021, the WTO Ministerial Council 12 (MC12) will offer a platform to negotiate trade issues and build a consensus on some of the outstanding trade issues from past ministerial conferences. The outbreak of the Covid -19 pandemic has forced the WTO to postpone MC12 more than twice.
The 12th Ministerial Conference will take place under the new leadership of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala with a lot of issues to be tackled. Decisions within the WTO members are consensus driven and at times members do not share the same views on issues brought before the WTO body.
This has resulted in the delay of concluding trade related issues compounded nowadays by the need to streamline sustainability as outlined in the SDGs. There are outstanding issues dating back as far as 2001 at the Doha Round! Some members have resorted to the Joint Statement Initiative as a way of trying to tackle issues in a seemingly faster way.
Guided by issues discussed during pre-conferences and by some trade experts, issues around agriculture, subsidies on fisheries and the Covid-19 pandemic will be discussed during the MC12 conference.
Other discussions especially in relation to Africa, revolve around economic development in Africa.
A policy brief paper done by Faith Tigere for the South African Institute of International Affairs calls for the WTO to prioritise issues around the economic development of Africa that is now hinged to the successful waiver of regulations around the Covid-19 vaccines. The above concerns raised are legitimate and urgent, however it has become also urgent to streamline gender concerns in all the issues that are to be raised more so as gender blind trade policies tend to impact the vulnerable groups in communities negatively. Arguably meaningful steps have been undertaken by the WTO on trade and gender however more still needs to be done.
The Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Women Economic Empowerment was adopted in 2017 at the WTO Eleventh Ministerial Council in 2017. It is important to note that out of a total of WTO membership comprising 164 only 127 members are part of this Joint Initiative Statement.
Within the SADC Zimbabwe and South Africa are the notable countries that are not part of the Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Women Economic Empowerment. The US that was not party to the Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Women Economic Empowerment was present in the most recent July 2021 pre-conference, that mainly discussed how Aid For Trade could assist women in overcoming trade barriers amongst other trade related issues that impede participation in international trade.
The Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Women Economic Empowerment is instrumental in ensuring women are effective participants on the international trade arena.
Civil Society including other gender organisations have questioned the WTO’s approach to trade and gender. It has been observed that the fragmented WTO approach towards issues around gender and trade mitigates against the delivery of gender main-streaming of trade policies by its member countries.
Members of the Informal Working Group on Gender and Trade have outlined the road map including the definition of the term gender lens, expected to be adopted by WTO during the MC12 and applied in trade contexts. International development organisations like International Trade Centre have emphasised the need for a gender lens to “ensure that trade agreements do not inadvertently undermine national gender equality commitments.”
The Informal Working Group on Gender and Trade looks forward to significantly build on the Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Women Economic Empowerment during the MC12.
It would be ideal for the WTO to reach a consensus on trade and gender that is endorsed by the whole membership however some members are of the view that the current Joint Statement Initiative and Informal Working Groups is the best approach.
The rationale behind this position is that it tends to overcome the requirements of the WTO consensus and enables processes to be a lot faster.
The inherent risk with this approach is the likelihood of conflict that will arise within different Working Groups. It could be for this reason that the WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo Iweala appears to favour a system where trade and gender issues will be handled formally within the WTO multilateral system.
This position is likely to benefit WTO members holistically especially in the area of gender specific trade facilitation that will not only work for women businesses and MSMEs but will work for entire economies.
In the context of the Africa Continent Free Trade Agreement that is premised on socio-economic inclusivity leaving no -one behind, it will be worthwhile for African countries to consider being part of the Buenos Aires Joint Declaration of Women Economic Empowerment so as to maximise on the capacity building opportunities that will further enhance women participation in international trade.
The MC12 conference will be expected to persuade more countries especially in Africa to take an active interest in digital talks.
The digital divide is felt more by women and youth who need to leverage on e-commerce that is now a significant space to conduct business. The current customs duties moratorium on digital products has been helpful , however data remains expensive so is the hard ware in the form of smart phones.
The concerns around e- commerce by African countries while legitimate nevertheless require a fresh approach that is demanded by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The trade and gender debate cannot be ignored any longer, the WTO MC12 conference should prioritise women economic empowerment as a conduit that will deliver on the inclusive economic growth not only of Africa but of the world as whole.
Although the WTO has manifested its appreciation of the relationship between trade and gender, the general view is that it is expected to do more. It is expected that deliberations done by Informal Working Group on Gender and Trade, at different conferences as preparation for the MC12 conference will be taken into consideration.
Sitshengisiwe Ndlovu President of OWITZIMBABWE: MBA/UNCTAD: Trade and Gender Linkages/ IAC Dip/Cert: Trade in Services and SDGs: Robert Schuman Center of Advanced Studies/IDEPCert: Making the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Work. She writes in her personal capacity. For more on trade matters visit her Blog on website: www.owitzimbabwe.org.
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