2020 Trade for Peace Week

Trade for peace through decent work

This event, scheduled for 2 December, is being organised as part of WTO's 2020 Trade for Peace Week.

The WTO Accessions Division is organizing a series of lectures, dialogues and roundtables on issues of interest to all relevant stakeholders interested in the Trade for Peace Initiative. These sessions are aimed at promoting a better understanding of the Trade for Peace Initiative through the exchange of information and experiences.

The events are aimed at government officials, development partners, private sector, academia, media, civil society from WTO Members and Observers.

To contribute to the peace-building objective, the ILO and WTO are joining hands through a panel discussion at the WTO’s Trade For Peace week on December 2nd 2020, where they will discuss Trade for peace through decent work.

Expected outcomes
  •  Advocate on the importance of trade and decent jobs in promoting peace in fragile and conflict-affected countries through multilateral cooperation between international institutions (i.e. International Labour Organization and World Trade Organization and United Nations Development Programme).
  •  Showcasing, through real-life experiences, how trade and decent jobs can contribute to national, regional and global peace and security
Session format
Panel discussion (90 min): interactive format allowing for an extended discussion between trade, employment and peace experts aiming at disseminating the importance of the triangle.
The virtual event will be held on Wednesday, 2 December at 10:30 AM CET.

Speakers
  • An overview on ILO employment for peace approach and its implication through trade and structural transformation in humanitarian development peace nexus - Ms. Mito Tsukamoto, Chief, Development and Investment Branch, Employment Policy Department, ILO Geneva
  • Government representative with experience on WTO Accession negotiations - Mr. Mozammil Shinwari, Former Chief Negotiator for the Accession of Afghanistan to the WTO
  • Employer representative to discuss the private sector’s experience on undertaking trade in a fragile/conflict environment with a focus on correlation of jobs and peace - Mr. Matthias Thorns, Deputy Secretary General, International Organisation of Employers (IOE)
  • Are workers benefiting from trade agreements with decent jobs creation in fragile settings? To be discussed by a representative from a Workers’ organizations in a country facing fragility and/or affected by Conflict - Mr. Omar Faruk Osman, General Secretary, Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU)
  • UNDP’s experience on creating an enabling environment for private sector development in countries facing conflict and/or fragility - Ms. Luisa Bernal, Policy Specialist, UNDP Geneva
Moderator: Ms. Roberta Piermartini, Chief of Section, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO

To register for this session click here.
To download the flyer click here.