A high-level event on women and trade will take place on 25 March on the margins of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Cameroon. Bringing together women entrepreneurs, development partners and WTO members to advance gender-inclusive trade. The gathering will spotlight ongoing efforts to integrate women more fully into global commerce and digital markets, while encouraging collaboration across institutions.
Members of the WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender (IWG) will review progress on gender-responsive trade policy and launch a new compendium summarizing their technical work since 2020. They will also initiate a second joint project with the WTO Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. The project will be titled “Empowering Women to Trade through Digitalisation: Policy Insights.” In addition, IWG co-chairs will issue a joint statement reaffirming commitments to inclusive trade and stronger coordination with other WTO bodies.
The Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund will host an interactive session titled “100 WEIDE Women Said,” presenting findings from a survey of beneficiaries. The discussion will highlight opportunities and barriers facing women in digital trade and identify priority areas for targeted partnerships and support. A quiz-style competition among country teams will add an engaging element, with winners receiving products from WEIDE-supported businesses. Launched in 2024 by the WTO Secretariat and the International Trade Centre (ITC), the fund receives backing from the United Arab Emirates, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Legacy Fund and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
ITC events
Marking the 10-year anniversary of the ITC SheTrades initiative in 2025, ITC will organize two sessions at MC14. “Champions of ITC SheTrades” will feature donors and partners reflecting on achievements and future collaboration. The “ITC SheTrades Innovation Festival will showcase young African innovators pitching scalable, market-ready solutions, with the winner announced during a networking reception.
That reception will also highlight the work of the Agency for Robusta Coffee of Africa and Madagascar (ACRAM). Including initiatives to expand women’s roles in the coffee value chain and improve access to finance. Organizers have set 22 February as the deadline for registration, inviting stakeholders to participate in shaping a more inclusive global trading system.
Reference
WTO. (2026, February 19). Women’s access to international markets to be spotlighted at MC14 high-level event. World Trade Organization. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news26_e/weide_19feb26_290_e.htm