Trade and gender group kickstarts thematic discussions for 2026

The co-Chairs, Ambassador James Baxter of Australia, Ambassador Clara Delgado of Cabo Verde and Ambassador Patricia Benedetti of El Salvador, explained that adopting a thematic focus for each meeting helps maintain closer links to the Work Plan. "Mainstreaming gender in the WTO" as stated in the Work Plan, which entails integrating the topic of trade and gender into the work of regular committees and other WTO bodies, was the focus for the first meeting of the year. 

The next thematic focus of meetings in 2026 will be on intellectual property, women's trade networks, and digitalization. The co-chairs also encouraged IWG members to identify possible initiatives, such as information sessions and networking activities. 

14^th Ministerial Conference

The co-chairs updated IWG members on member-led initiatives for MC14, noting the completion of the compendium mapping the IWG's technical work. The database, which contains 185 entries, reflects all policy measures and support instruments presented by members and WTO stakeholders since the IWG's creation in 2020. The co-chairs said the compendium can serve as a practical trade policy tool for governments as well as for external stakeholders. 

The co-chairs also briefed members on their Joint Statement for MC14 and on the joint communication with the Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Group Coordinator, which proposes a new compendium on "Empowering Women to Trade through Digitalisation: Policy Insights". They also informed members about preparations for the MC14 side event on gender, a collaborative initiative by the WTO Secretariat, the International Trade Centre (ITC), the IWG and the MSMEs Group, scheduled for 25 March. 

Presentations by members and international organizations 

Canada reported on a side event on menstrual product safety and efforts toward global standardization, held in the margins of the Technical Barriers to Trade Committee in November 2025. The event was organized jointly with the United Kingdom, Barbados and Costa Rica in collaboration with the UN's Sanitation and Hygiene Fund. The session highlighted the absence of global standards for menstrual products and provided an update on related work under way at the International Organization for Standardization. Canada noted support for continuing discussions on this topic at the WTO, including through the Committee on Market Access, which could offer policy direction on possible adjustments to the Harmonized System at the World Customs Organization. 

The European Union reported on its joint initiative with ITC to develop a "Global Trade Policy Toolkit on Women's Economic Empowerment", aimed at supporting policymakers in applying a systematic "gender lens" to trade policy development and implementation. The EU noted that this initiative forms part of its broader gender-mainstreaming efforts, guided by the Gender Equality Strategy and the Gender Action Plan, both currently under review. It also highlighted how gender equality has been increasingly embedded in EU trade agreements and preference schemes.

ITC explained that the toolkit will offer practical, step-by-step guidance for integrating gender considerations into WTO processes and national policy cycles, and noted that the project builds on earlier analytical work carried out with EU support on gender-responsive approaches to trade. 

Update by the Secretariat 

The WTO Secretariat updated members of the IWG on its planned activities, structured around three priorities: capacity building for gender-responsive trade policymaking, support for gender mainstreaming across WTO work, and strengthening research and evidence. 

It outlined plans to work within the Secretariat to support the IWG's engagement in regular committees and other WTO bodies, and to advance data collection and mapping exercises, including compendiums and databases. The Secretariat said this work will be supported through partnerships at global, regional and internal levels, involving international organizations and academic institutions. It noted that these activities are aligned with the IWG's work pillars and with the WTO Secretariat Strategy 2030.