UN HLPF: Trading better: Women's economic rights in building a sustainable future

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 identifies strengthening the multilateral trading system as a key aspect of the means of implementation and partnerships for sustainable development. The years since the pandemic have exposed how trade rules under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation and the economic crisis bear on the rights of women workers, peasants and Indigenous People in the global South.

The side event will tackle long-running concerns on the coherence of trade liberalisation with sustainable development imperatives of an equitable trading system, of developing local industries and agriculture, and strengthening public services – which are crucial for the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality.

Women activists and development workers will share their recommendations towards building a multilateral trading system that upholds people’s rights and contributes to women’s full and effective participation in economic life, and control over resources (SDG 5).