What is Buenos Aires Declaration on Women and Trade?

Buenos Aires Women and Trade Declaration is a non-binding declaration that seeks women empowerment by expeditiously removing barriers to trade. Trade policy for women took an international leap with the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, agreed at the WTO Ministerial meeting of 2017.

It is a declaration announced at the 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, in December 2017. With this declaration, 121 members of World Trade Organisation (WTO) members and observers have pledged to support measures to remove barriers to women’s economic empowerment and promote greater inclusion of women in international trade.

Aspirants would find this topic very helpful in the IAS Exam.

About the Declaration

• The Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, signed in December 2017, seeks to foster a more inclusive trade agenda that benefits all.
• Key Components of the Declaration include:
  • Promoting the collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data,
  • Sharing country experiences and good practices, and
  • Collaborating to raise the profile of the link between trade and gender,
• This can deepen our understanding of using trade policy to advance gender equality and frame recommendations for policymakers to make inclusive trade a reality.
• As of September 2020, 127 World Trade Organisation (WTO) members and observers from all regions of the world have joined the declaration. This shows the overwhelming interest in supporting women’s economic empowerment and giving it the attention it deserves to secure lasting change.

What is Women’s Empowerment?

The process of empowering women by giving them more prominence in decision-making roles, more representation in the political system, and in economic spheres is called women’s economic empowerment. They are empowered when they have equal access to education, profession and lifestyle. Empowerment is built on the foundation of self-respect.

What is Women’s Economic Empowerment?

Women’s economic empowerment refers to the ability of women to control the following:

1. Resources
2. Assets
3. Income
4. Time
5. Risk
6. Improvement of their status and well-being.

What is the 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India?

As per the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, there will be a reservation of seats in the local bodies of panchayats and municipalities for women. The above 2 amendments were done in the year 1993 by the Government of India. These amendments were done to give greater representation to women in the political field and fulfil the objectives of women’s political empowerment. 

The above details would help candidates prepare for UPSC 2021.

Related Links