“Globally, women comprise almost 50% of the population – that is half of humanity. If we are to achieve Global Goals for development, eliminate extreme poverty and environmental sustainability we must tackle inequalities, especially those affecting women. During this half century, one of the biggest imbalances that we see is in the realm of women in the economy – where now more than ever, it is imperative that we work collectively to make equal economic opportunities for men and women a reality.”

I, Ms. Arancha González, support the GGC Panel Parity Pledge.

As the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), I commit to undertake the following:

• Systematically raise the importance of women’s empowerment and the gender dimension of matters related to trade and the economy.
• All panels in ITC-sponsored events to include women.
• Ensure that women benefit from 40% of ITC actions: this includes market intelligence, support to increase export competitiveness, and assistance to access markets.
• Gender equality and the empowerment of women is integrated into the core values of ITC. ITC gender parity policy makes hiring managers and senior managers accountable for promoting gender equality, which includes equal representation of women in staffing. ITC has committed to reach gender parity at the professional category by 2020.
• The economic empowerment of women is a key strategic priority for ITC; to that end, ITC has launched a global Call to Action to take one million women entrepreneurs to markets by 2020. ITC will monitor steps taken towards that goal and will shed light over systemic barriers to women’s participation in trade.