key: cord-0050290-f5g3r3nv
authors: Bahri, Amrita
title: Women at the frontline of COVID-19: Can Gender Mainstreaming in Free Trade Agreements Help?
date: 2020-09-10
journal: nan
DOI: 10.1093/jiel/jgaa023
sha: eb3dadea0c52acc9a057ae9f4d9cc84d57593a57
doc_id: 50290
cord_uid: f5g3r3nv

Health pandemics affect women and men differently, and they can make the existing gender inequalities much worse. COVID-19 is one such pandemic, which can have substantial gendered implications both during and in the post-pandemic world. Its economic and social consequences could deepen the existing gender inequalities and roll back the limited gains made in respect of women empowerment in the past few decades. The impending global recession, multiple trade restrictions, economic lockdown, and social distancing measures can expose vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems, which, in turn, could have a profound impact on women’s participation in trade and commerce. The article outlines five main reasons that explain why this health pandemic has put women employees, entrepreneurs, and consumers at the frontline of the struggle. It then explores how free trade agreements can contribute in repairing the harm in the post-pandemic world. In doing so, the author sheds light on various ways in which the existing trade agreements embrace gender equality considerations and how they can be better prepared to help minimize the pandemic-inflicted economic loss to women.

The unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19 has strained and overstretched the health systems worldwide, including in the most advanced economies of the world. 1 It has upended the global economy, and with it the international trade, creating enormous shocks to supply and demand. As a response to this pandemic, countries have increased trade restrictions and closed down their borders, and this has cut the supply chain, that is, 'the fuel line to the engine' 2 of international trade. The World Trade Organization (WTO) economists predict that COVID-19 can cause a bigger collapse of global trade than what we had seen during the 2008-2009 economic crises. 3 The economic contagion has grown as fast as this health pandemic itself. Amidst all this, something else is happening that we need to take an account of.

COVID-19 has put women employees, women entrepreneurs, and women consumers at the frontline of this struggle. 4 ' Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex. ' 5 This article sheds light on the key reasons that explain why women, working women in particular, are placed at the frontline of this struggle. This article is not attempting to show how or why more working women than working men (in absolute numbers) can get affected due to this pandemic; this may not be the case as much more men than women are involved in the economies and hence men may be impacted more in absolute terms Moreover, we need sex-disaggregated data on the economic impact of COVID-19 to better understand its gendered impact. The article seeks to underline how this pandemic could roll-back the limited gains made in respect of women empowerment over the past few decades. The post-pandemic world will require multiple interventions at domestic and international levels to repair this harm. International trade law and policies can form an important part of this recovery, as they can trigger changes at the domestic levels. 6 This crisis presents a unique opportunity to build back the economy in an inclusive manner and explore how trade policies can contribute in this respect through existing and future free trade agreements (FTAs).

FTAs can play an instrumental role in reducing gender gap. 7 Two reasons in particular support this claim. First, the existing and future trade agreements between countries can increase trade flows and hence lead to more business and employment opportunities and a better standard of life for all including women. Second, through regional or bilateral trade accords, countries can encourage their trade partners to create laws and procedures that may encourage women's participation in trade and commerce. As will be discussed in Section II, more and more countries are employing this 'topdown' approach to deal with gender inequality as they are increasingly including gender considerations in their trade agreements. This article sheds light on different types of gender-responsive provisions found in existing FTAs that can play a part in reducing gender inequality. It will also present some discussion on how future FTAs can take a step further in this respect, so they are able to better respond to the pandemic-inflicteddisruptions to inclusive growth. These discussions will provide an understanding of how FTAs can help women participate in the economy and the elements that existing FTAs lack in this respect.

A. Reason 1: loss of employment for women in service sectors Trade in services seems to be most directly affected by this pandemic due to its very special nature. The loss of services (in the form of cancellation of sports events, travel plans, other recreational services) is permanent as, unlike goods, there are no inventories of services and services cannot be stored or restocked for future consumption. 8 Hence, the impact of this pandemic on trade in services is much harsher than its impact on trade in goods.

Globally, almost 30% of women workforce is employed in service-based industries. 9 Women are mostly employed in labor-intensive services that require physical proximity between providers and consumers. In this pandemic where social distancing has become a global norm, service industries such as tourism, finance, and education are set to suffer a significant loss of revenue. 10 Women workers employed in these sectors stand at an economically vulnerable position. Moreover, women are overrepresented in low-paid, part-time, and temporary employment, often without job protection, maternity benefits, health benefits, or pensions commensurate with their working life. 11 In any industry that is hit hard by the pandemic, women are more likely to feel the impact as compared to men who tend to have higher representation at senior, well-paid, and permanent roles (often with stronger job protection and employment benefits) than women. 12

Recent studies show that two billion people in the world work in the informal sector, majority being in emerging and developing countries. This means that more than 61% of the world's employed population makes their living from the informal economy. If we only look at the world's informal employment in emerging and developing countries, the number goes up to 93%. 13 Out of two billion workers in the informal employment worldwide, over 740 million are women. In South Asia, over 80% of women in nonagricultural jobs are in informal employment. This number is over 74% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 54% in Latin America and the Caribbean. 14 Women in this sector, which is often referred to as a 'gray economy,' frequently work without decent salaries, protection from labor laws, insurance or health cover, maternity benefits, or paid sick leave. 15 With the 'Stay at Home' orders and social distancing norms, petty services traders, street-vendors, seasonal workers, and industrial outworkers will be left out of their already poorly paid employments. 16

In the current era of globalization and trade liberalization, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 17 play an instrumental role in the economy. SMEs account for almost 50% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and over 70% of the employment worldwide. 18 SMEs drive economic growth, but they tend to be vulnerable to changes in the economy or markets forces beyond their control, such as a health pandemic which can alter the market dynamics and supply chain for a considerable period of time. 19 They may not have the capacity and resources to survive a global economic meltdown or a recession as compared to large multinational companies. 20 This would especially be the case with SMEs that are engaged in export and import of goods as well as services, mainly because of the disruptions in service economies and temporary export restrictions imposed on multiple products including drugs, 21 medical equipments, 22 agricultural products, 23 and cereals. 24 These export restrictions could alter the consumption patterns, disrupt supply chains, and hence change the very nature of multiple industries worldwide. 25 Women own close to 10 million of the world's SMEs. 26 This means that more than 30% of SMEs in the world are owned by women entrepreneurs. In the state of lockdown, it is a hard reality that many SMEs will have to close or scale down their operations. SMEs dealing with trade in services, in particular those working in tourism, retail, education, hospitality, and finance, could suffer a gigantic jolt. 27 Moreover, women who are employed by SMEs might also be uprooted from the economy as a result of this pandemic. Globally, approximately 50% of working women are employed in service-based SMEs. 28 This number goes as high as 85% if we look at female employment in service sectors in advanced economies. 29 Hence, loss of employment for women in SMEs could be quite significant. D. Reason 4: women entrepreneurs may require longer times to reactivate their businesses Women entrepreneurs may require longer times to reactivate their businesses due to several reasons. 30 One of the reasons that could impede the process of reactivating women-owned businesses is their lack of access to productive resources such as assets and capital. Approximately 50% of women in the world do not have bank accounts or access to other financial services. 31 In the rural areas of low-income countries, only about 20% of bank account holders are women. 32 Women without bank accounts have no credit history. Also, women generally have less access to assets such as land or other property due to multiple reasons including men-favoring inheritance laws in many countries. 33 Lack of credit history and assets would mean that women entrepreneurs could face significant difficulties in securing credit for reviving their businesses post pandemic.

Another reason that could slow down the process of recovery for women might be the decrease in access to family planning services such as abortions. 34 Difficulty and fear in approaching medical services for having an abortion or accessing contraceptives could cause untimely and unwanted pregnancy to many women professionals, which, in turn, could increase their time constraints. 35 Lack of access to medical services could also lead to an increase in the numbers of maternal mortality and sexually transmitted diseases. 36 Moreover, women may be disconnected further from the economy due to increased household responsibilities and domestic violence during the great lockdown.

against women Women professionals tend to take a bigger chunk of domestic responsibilities as compared to men even during their working hours. 37 Lockdown implies that children across the world are at home, which would mean an increase in child-care work for women 30 and higher time-poverty for them. 38 Time-poverty is one of the barriers that impede women's participation in economies, as it implies for them lack of time to receive education, skill development, vocational training, employment prospects, and business opportunities. 39 Moreover, most of this household work is largely invisible and unpaid. 40 This puts women a step farther from being economically empowered. Moreover, for some women, staying at homes could also mean being locked down with their physically abusive family members. 41 France has reported a spike of 30% in domestic violence cases against women during the lockdown. 42 In the United Kingdom, calls to the national abuse hotline have increased by 65% during the lockdown. 43 A similar spike in the numbers of domestic abuse cases is noticed in other countries including China, Spain, and India. 44 This shows how global this problem is, and these reports do not even take into account the actual numbers as many instances of domestic violence remain unreported. 45 Domestic violence can lead to loss of lives for some; for the survivors, it could cause physical injuries, anxiety, and distress. Women can be psychologically scarred due to increased domestic violence and household responsibilities; this could jeopardize their confidence or psychological set-up to succeed or progress in their professional endeavors.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, this pandemic might reverse the gains we have made in respect of women's economic empowerment. 46 International trade can serve as a tool to minimize this damage, as it can create more economic opportunities for women. It can also be used to deconstruct or minimize the formidable barriers (in the form of domestic laws, policies, practices, and perceptions) that impede women's participation in the economies. 47 As discussed in the following section, international trade instruments can play an instrumental role in guiding countries on conducting trade in a manner that can lead to equal benefits and opportunities for women and men.

The pandemic has forced governments to take unprecedented measures to protect human health and lives. Some of these measures have caused an unavoidable decline in trade of goods and services, leading to painful suffering for the global economy. The increasing protectionism and nationalism seems to be reversing the trend of economic globalization. In these testing times, international trade is emerging as a 'necessary evil. ' Some scholars in the past have shed light on its 'evil' effects because in addition to the rapid transmission of virus to different countries partly aggravated due to globalization, trade has fostered interdependence among countries even for essential products such as food items, drugs, medical equipments, and clothing. 48 This interdependence becomes an acute problem when countries increase their restrictions on trade as a response to crisis-like situations such as a health pandemic. Does this mean that countries postpandemic might not remain as open to trade as they were before the pandemic in order to be more self-sufficient? The answer seems to be a 'no,' as although trade flows might reduce for a period of time, trade is 'necessary' because no country-powerful, developed, or developing-has resources to produce everything it needs. 49 Nevertheless, countries might want to revisit the way and the extent to which they trade and how this trade might be regulated in the future.

This crisis presents a unique opportunity for countries to explore how trade policies can contribute in 'building back better' 50 and in an inclusive manner in the post-COVID-19 world. Inclusive growth is the cornerstone for sustainable development. Foreign trade needs to be sustainable to ensure that countries can harmonize trade liberalization with their important national interests. It needs to be inclusive so as to better include and benefit marginalized players. A recent study has found that if women play an equal role in labor markets to that of men, the global GDP will increase by 26% in 2025. 52 These numbers may not hold in the post-COVID-19 world, but they certainly make inclusive trade a compelling business case for the post-pandemic economic recovery.

Encouraging women participation in trade and commerce has a two-fold benefit. On one hand, increased participation of female workforce can lead to faster economic recovery for the world; on the other hand, it could help minimize the extent of economic and social harm women might have suffered during this pandemic. Multiple interventions are required to undo the harm, and international trade could arguably be one of the required and effective interventions in this respect. Women's economic empowerment and international trade share an intricate and complex relationship as the former could be enhanced through an effective regulation of the latter. 53 This is not a new realization.

One of the first acknowledgments of the interrelationship between gender and commerce can be traced back to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 54 Moreover, the Addis Ababa Agenda of Action 55 and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 56 recognize foreign trade as an important instrument to reach development objectives including gender equality. The Addis Ababa Agenda of Action builds a clear nexus between international trade and gender. It reads as follows: 'Recognizing the critical role of women as producers and traders, we will address their specific challenges in order to facilitate women's equal and active participation in domestic, regional and international trade. ' 57 The Sustainable Development Goals also directly address the need to achieve full and effective participation of women for furthering economic growth and sustainable development. 58 almost 70% of the WTO membership, reaffirms that 'international trade and investment are engines of economic growth for both developing and developed countries, and that improving women's access to opportunities and removing barriers to their participation in national and international economies contributes to sustainable economic development. ' 59 The following section explores this relationship further, as it provides a discussion on how FTAs can enhance women empowerment and hence help with rebooting the economy in an inclusive manner in the post-pandemic world. 60

EXAMPLES AND THE ROAD AHEAD FTAs can play an important role in reducing gender inequality. Through FTAs, countries can encourage their trade partners to create laws and procedures that can eliminate or reduce the barriers that impede women's participation in trade. 61 This can be seen as a 'top-down' approach to deal with gender inequality at the domestic levels. 62 Certain countries (such as Canada) are emerging champions of this approach, as they have offered their market access to other countries through negotiating some of the world's most gender-responsive trade agreements so far. 63 FTAs create different outcomes and opportunities for women and men. 64 Some argue that trade agreements can exacerbate existing gender inequalities. 65 It can put livelihoods and employment of women at risk. 66 Trade liberalization can disrupt economic sectors where women are most active, thereby depriving them of employment and business opportunities. 67 It can increase gender wage gaps and create poorer working conditions for women in developing countries. 68 Scholarship, on the other hand, observes that trade agreements can translate into more job opportunities and better business connections for enhanced market access for women. 69 Mainstream economics' literature notes that there is a positive correlation between the increase in production for exports in developing countries and the increase in levels of female employment in various sectors including manufacturing. 70 These observations show that the scholarship is divided on how trade agreements can impact gender equality; moreover, we need sex-disaggregated data to understand the impact the existing agreements have had on men and women in different sectors of different countries and regions. 71 However, in the meantime, it is crucial to promote gender mainstreaming in trade agreements to ensure that these agreements do not perpetuate gender inequalities as they are put back to operation in the post-COVID-19 world. Mainstreaming gender in FTAs entails the inclusion of gender equality considerations in the drafting and implementation of FTAs. The process of gender mainstreaming affirms a party's commitment, understanding, and political will to reduce gender inequality through trade policies and instruments. The process also aims to maximize the positive impact and minimize the negative impact of trade agreements on women's empowerment.

In the recent years, we have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of FTAs mainstreaming gender considerations. 72 Gender equality is gradually emerging as a policy norm in trade agreements. Out of 292 FTAs currently in force, almost 75 have at least one gender-explicit provision. 73 The last three years have been phenomenal in this respect. In 2019, two FTAs were enforced with a dedicated chapter on gender. 74 The European Parliament in 2018 passed a resolution to include gender equality consideration in all future EU trade agreements. 75 By doing this, the EU has committed itself to ensuring that trade-related aspects of gender are adequately addressed in its future trade agreements. 76 These developments affirm that neither international trade nor gender equality is a zero-sum game. Everyone benefits from making trade fair and inclusive. The following subsection takes a look at some examples that further clarify how existing trade agreements may serve to strengthen women empowerment in the post-pandemic world.

More and more countries are including gender considerations in their trade agreements, albeit in very different ways. Some FTAs have a whole chapter on gender, but no legal obligations. 77 Some FTAs have a single provision, but that single provision creates a strong legal obligation related to gender equality or nondiscrimination based on sex. 78 Several agreements include these provisions in their main text 79 ; others load them in a side agreement or an annex or a protocol. 80 In some agreements, all we find are general statements where parties acknowledge the importance of inclusive trade and the role of women in trade and commerce. 81 In other agreements, we find reaffirming provisions, wherein parties reaffirm their commitments made under other international instruments such as Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 82 or International Labor Organization conventions. 83 However, one thing is common: almost in every agreement, implementing gender-related commitments is left to the parties' willingness and available resources. 84 At one end of the spectrum, we have agreements that merely show the parties' awareness in this respect as they acknowledge the importance of gender concerns as a social value amongst other noneconomic concerns. For example, Article 9.3 of Chile-Vietnam FTA mentions gender equality as one of the issues for cooperation and capacity building. 85 A relatively more gender-responsive agreement is the COTONOU Agreement, which explicitly acknowledges the importance of gender equality for economic development of the region. 86 The Chile-Uruguay and Chile-Canada agreements take a step further. In addition to acknowledging the importance of gender issues for economic development and international trade, they provide a list of cooperation activities and institutional mechanisms that can enable parties to carry out trade in a gender-sensitive manner. 87 At the other end of the spectrum, we have the Canada-Israel FTA which is perhaps the most advanced FTA in this respect.

In Canada-Israel FTA, parties make explicit affirmations to work on gender issues and reaffirmations to implement the commitment they have undertaken under other international instruments such as the CEDAW. What makes this agreement unique in this respect is the possibility parties have to enforce these commitments, as it is perhaps the only FTA which explicitly subjects gender-related provisions to the agreement's dispute settlement mechanism with a binding (but not compulsory) jurisdiction. 88 The parties in this FTA commit themselves to various activities directly related to women empowerment, and these activities envisage women not merely as an employee or labor but also as an entrepreneur, leader, decision-maker, and scientist. 89 The cooperation activities also focus on enhancing education or skill development opportunities in the fields that can translate to high-paid job opportunities for women (such as STEM and ICT focused education). In this respect, this FTA is more of an exception, as most FTAs that make a mention of education or skill development opportunities for women limit these opportunities to fields that have traditionally been reserved for women (such as farming, handicraft, textile, and fisheries).

As discussed earlier, the pandemic has made women more time-poor as it has drowned them in increased household responsibilities, taking them further away from the possibility of availing educational opportunities they might have otherwise availed. The physically locked-down academic institutions have worsened this situation particularly for those women that have no or insufficient technological abilities to seek online education due to the existing digital gap between men and women. 90 women's access to education is a crucial commitment that policymakers may consider to better prepare their agreements to work for women in the post-COVID-19 world. Efforts directed at women's access to education should also include increasing their access to technology and internet, which is crucial to reconnect women back to the economy and help them reap the benefits of trade digitization.

Another remarkable development in this respect is the recent African Continental Free Trade Agreement. 91 In its Preamble, the agreement recognizes the importance of gender equality for international trade and development. Including gender equality considerations in the preamble is an effective way of mainstreaming gender perspective in trade agreements, as it can be instrumental in determining the intentions of the negotiators or drafters of the agreement at the time when it was concluded. Article 3 of the agreement outlines gender equality as one of the general objectives of the agreement, frontloading gender concerns even further in the agreement. In Article 27, parties commit to mobilizing resources to improve the export capacity of women entrepreneurs and women-owned SMEs. This provision is a best practice example, as identifying or mobilizing funds for gender-related commitments is fundamental for their implementation. Identification of funding options alongside these commitments can bring such promises a step closer to their implementation. In the absence of finance made available for this purpose, the resource-constrained pandemic-hit countries may not have sufficient resources to invest in the women-favoring promises they might have made in trade instruments.

The EU-Central America 92 is another accord that provides a best practice example for future trade negotiations for two reasons. First, it gives particular attention to initiating programs that could address violence against women. This is a unique provision, not found commonly in other agreements. With increased cases of violence against women during the pandemic, policymakers in future trade negotiations could trigger their trade partners' commitment to work on this issue. Second, the parties in this agreement commit to improving women's maternal health and address other health priority areas such as sexual and reproductive health and the care for and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. 93 Insufficient protection of health requirements such as maternity needs, childcare, and prevention of unwanted pregnancy have been an impediment to women empowerment even before the onset of this pandemic. 94 The pandemic has exacerbated these preexisting concerns, as medical services worldwide are now focused on tackling the virus-inflicted patients and patients with nonurgent issues are reluctant or even fearful to approach the medical establishments. 95 This can lead to complications in birth and higher rates of unwanted pregnancy. Hence, COVID-19 has reduced women's access to crucial health services.

To top it all, women that work in informal sectors mainly in developing countries are putting their lives at risk as they still have to venture out in search for their livelihood. A focus on access to health services is therefore crucial in the future trade negotiations to undo the repercussions this pandemic might have on women's access to health services. The discussion brings to light a number of ways in which the existing FTAs can help connect more women to the economy in the post-COVID-19 world. The cooperationbased provisions in Canada-Israel, for example, have shown how countries can encourage their trade partners to create laws and procedures that can reduce barriers that women face such as lack of access to finance, business opportunities, and technology. 96 Discussion on EU-Central America has shown how parties can endeavor to increase women's access to health services and reduce or eliminate violence against women. 97 Canada-Chile is a leading example where parties have shown how FTAs can include commitments on increasing women's access to education and skill development. 98 Parties in this agreement also seek to create encouraging conditions for women entrepreneurs; such a commitment if put to action might help women revive their businesses post pandemic, for example, by pushing for the creation of business networks and improved infrastructure in relevant sectors and industries. 99 However, to ensure that these promises are put to action, it is crucial to ensure implementation of these provisions. The following section provides some observations on how policymakers can plan the road ahead to ensure that the gender-responsive provisions are indeed put to action.

As discussed in the previous section, a number of agreements mainstream gender considerations in their own unique ways; however almost no FTA so far contemplates how gender-related commitments could be implemented, financed, or enforced. For the implementation of gender-related commitments, countries in their future FTAs need to create dedicated procedures and institutions that can put their long list of commitments into action. FTAs need to spell-out the functions of the institutions, milestones and objectives they are expected to achieve, and a timeline by which to achieve these milestones. The most important in this regard is to provide for funding arrangements to finance gender-related activities if we genuinely intend these commitments to be put into action. As of today, even the most advanced FTAs in gender concerns such as the ones signed between Canada and Chile or Canada and Israel do not clarify precise procedures or identify channels to finance these activities. Moreover, almost all FTAs have explicitly and unambiguously excluded gender-related provisions and chapters from the application of their dispute settlement machineries.

In the absence of applicable dispute settlement procedures, enforcement of genderrelated commitments remains a distant reality. This implies that a country's failure to comply with these obligations or commitments or affirmations has no direct consequence. The only exception is the Canada-Israel FTA that provides (for the very first time) a binding dispute settlement procedure that is applicable to its chapter on trade and gender. 100 Unfortunately, this also seems to be a cosmetic attempt to provide for an enforcement mechanism as the parties have subjected the binding jurisdiction of this mechanism to their consent, making its jurisdiction noncompulsory in nature. 101 Future trade agreements should consider going a step further by subjecting gender provisions to binding and compulsory dispute settlement provisions. Parties could subject gender provisions either to the agreement's dispute settlement chapter or create a specialized mechanism to enforce gender-related commitments. This recommendation should be considered with a word of caution. While gender-related provisions need to be enforceable, their enforcement often requires deep societal changes and long-term cooperation between different stakeholders. Ensuring enforcement through dispute settlement provisions may be a top-down approach to trigger societal changes; however, the long-term solution to the problem of gender inequality lies in changing the domestic laws, cultures, beliefs, and stereotypes in a given community. 102 Another way to drastically increase the gender-responsiveness of FTAs is by negotiating a gender-specific exception. Countries have in the past included or incorporated by reference the GATT-like exceptions in their FTAs for the protection of public morals, human health or animal life or environment. 103 In the same manner, a new exception for gender can be designed and employed by FTAs in the future. 104 No such exception exists to date in FTAs. Countries may hesitate to employ such an exception as it could enable other countries to enact new rules and regulations which could pose as a barrier to trade. It could also enable countries to violate the provisions of the given FTA under the justification of gender exception. This hesitation is understandable, but it is not justifiable. If countries can allow FTA-inconsistent practices and laws to operate if they are important to protect their public morals, or animal health or life, or even plant health or life, how can countries oppose an exception that can reduce gender inequality and include humankind's half population in the journey towards economic growth and development? Are gender considerations and removal of barriers women face any less important than the conservation of exhaustible natural resources (such as sea-turtles) or protection of public morals (including religious beliefs)? The answer seems to be a categorical 'no. ' A gender exception could allow a party to pursue an otherwise FTA-inconsistent measure if it is necessary to protect or empower female entrepreneurs or employees. In this uncertain environment, more governments than ever may be looking to extend various support measures mainly to those industries that are most severely hit by the pandemic. The proposed exception can allow countries to provide such favorable support for domestic industries that particularly impact women employees and entrepreneurs in the form of state-aid, government bail-outs, loans, or subsidies. For a temporary period of time post this pandemic, countries may also consider crafting women-favoring government procurement measures. According to the International Trade Centre, only one percent of the global government procurement market is currently offered to women-owned businesses. 105 Adoption of gender-responsive government procurement initiatives may help in increasing the participation of womenowned enterprises in the bidding process, which, in turn, could help in reviving the women-owned SMEs that might have had to scale down or face closures during the pandemic. 106 In addition, countries may consider mandating or encouraging several industries to employ supplier diversity programs 107 Through these programs, they can obligate or somehow incentivize their multinational companies to make a percentage amount of their purchases from marginalized vendors such as women entrepreneurs. These are a few examples to show how a gender exception may allow countries to take a measure that might otherwise entail inconsistency with other obligations of an agreement.

Alternatively, it may be possible to invoke public morality exception to protect the economic interests of women stakeholders. This seems to be a very ambitious interpretation of GATT Article XX (a), and there is no jurisprudence which supports such an interpretation. 108 However, we can find some support in favor of such an interpretation in the existing jurisprudence. In US-Gambling, 109 the Panel found that the term 'public morality' denotes standards of good and bad conduct on the part of or on behalf of a community or nation and that the meaning of this concept for Members may vary over time and space, depending on various factors, including prevailing social, cultural, ethical, and religious values. 110 The Panel also stated that Members should be given certain freedom to define and apply the concepts of 'public morality' in their respective territories, in accordance with their own systems and scales of values. 111 In EC-Seals, 112 the Appellate Body found that the term 'to protect' when used in relation to 'public morals' did not require the panel to identify the existence of a risk to EU public moral concerns regarding seal welfare. 113 In light of these interpretations, a country could argue that the protection of women's business and employment prospects in a particular industry that might have been severely hit by the pandemic is a public moral concern for its nation. The defending country could argue that this concern amidst the pandemic amounts to a clear legitimate objective, provided the 'design, architecture, and revealing structure' of the measure reflects a genuine public moral concern in this respect. 114 The discussions in this section show that there is a half-opened door in FTAs that countries need to push upon further by finding different ways of implementing or enforcing their gender-related commitments. Moreover, due to the COVID-19triggered wave of protectionism, the operation of FTAs might be significantly hindered. Lesser exports and imports between Canada and Israel, for example, would mean that Canada-Israel FTA would result in less business and employment opportunities for both men and women in their respective economies. 115 It would also mean that companies may not have the funds to engage in gender-responsive corporate social responsibilities encouraged in this agreement. Also, public authorities may not invest the required resources and time in expanding the promised access to education and skill development and creation of business networks for women in business as countries during and in the post-COVID-19 world would have shifted priorities of saving human lives and their country's economy. The issue of gender equality could take a back seat in the minds of many policymakers. This intervention seeks to reiterate the role trade policymakers and negotiators can play in rebooting an inclusive economy in the post-COVID-19 world by connecting more women to the global economy.

Populism and nationalism have made themselves obvious during COVID-19 crisis. Wild enthusiasm against international trade, including by pioneers of trade such as the EU Member States and Canada, is unprecedented. Majority of WTO Members have imposed export restrictions. The good news is that all restrictions so far are imposed with an expiration date. However, this expiration date could be revised, depending upon how the pandemic unfolds in the future. On a positive note, the WTO economists have projected that if the pandemic is brought under control relatively soon and the right policies are in place, trade and output could revive to their pre-pandemic trajectory by as early as 2021. 116 The fast-approaching economic recession, disruption in international trade, changing supply and demand patterns, and the social distancing mode can jeopardize jobs and business opportunities for many. Women are positioned to bear a disproportionate burden of this pandemic, in terms of health, employment, business, consumption, and social protection. The limited gains made in the past decades in respect of achieving gender equality are at the risk of being rolled back as the pandemic is deepening the preexisting inequalities. FTAs may play an important role in minimizing this loss, as they can help restart the economy in the post-COVID-19 world. FTAs can provide the architecture for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

Through gender mainstreaming, FTAs can help in reducing the formidable barriers that impede women's participation in the economy. They can encourage countries to carry out ex-post and ex-ante gender impact assessments of trade agreements that they are party to. 117 Countries can bind themselves to certain minimum legal standards for improving the employment conditions for women or prohibiting sex-based discrimination. Countries can also endeavor to increase women's access to health services, education, and skill development. They can also create encouraging conditions for women businesses to flourish, for example, by the creation of business networks and improved infrastructure in relevant sectors and industries. Countries in FTAs could also commit to increasing the representation of women in decision-making and policymaking roles. The base line is: countries can use trade agreements as laboratories where they can experiment with different legal provisions and commitments regarding gender equality.

The WTO also has an important role to play. With 164 Members and 24 Observers, WTO can play an instrumental role in preparing a framework for the regulation of inclusive and sustainable trade. 118 The WTO can encourage its Members to remove the export restrictions as promptly as possible. This would allow the trade volumes to go up again, having a trickle-down impact on employment, businesses, and the overall global economy. The Trade and Gender Focal Point can play a role in encouraging more research in this area and gathering different stakeholders for future discussions on inclusive economic growth. Moreover, the WTO Trade Outlook may also conduct research on the gendered impact of COVID-19, that is, the extent to which this pandemic might roll-back the progress made in gender equality and the loss of employment and business opportunities to women. In this manner, the WTO could regain relevance as a forum to redesign and reshape economic and trade cooperation during/after the crisis caused by the pandemic. Before this crisis is over, policymakers and international organizations should work together and prepare action plans for repairing the harm. Governments, international organizations, and policymakers need to be aware of the loss it could cause to women as employees, employers, and consumers. The world economy will suffer even more if women-who account for one half of the world's working-age population-are further excluded from the economy and hence impeded from contributing to economic growth and economic recovery post-COVID-19 recovery. Women will be the hardest hit by this pandemic; however, they will also form the backbone of the economic recovery in almost every country. Hence, future trade policy response must recognize this and include women at the heart of the COVID-19 response. Placing women at the center of economies will lead to a more rapid recovery; this recovery will put us back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Small and Medium Enterprises and Global Risks: Evidence from Manufacturing SMEs in Turkey

Temporary export ban on certain personal protective equipment

Amendments introduced to the export policy of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and formulations made from these APIs

Temporary restrictions on the non-commercial export of personal protective equipment and sanitizer products

Temporary decrease of import tariffs on certain products, for example, medical supplies, raw materials, agricultural products, meat [The General Office of the Ministry of Commerce issued the Circular on actively expanding imports to combat against novel coronavirus epidemic

Temporary elimination of import certification requirements on imports of onions and garlic [Permanent Delegation of Indonesia to the WTO (1 April 2020) and Ministry of Trade Regulation No

Temporary export ban on certain dried leguminous vegetables

Tackling COVID-19 Together: The Trade Policy Dimension' , Global Trade Alert

Filling the Gap: How Technology Enables Access to Finance for Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises

see note 20) 73 [the authors explain how natural disasters and global recessions can impact SMEs, with a special focus on SMEs in Turkey.] 28 'Global Employment Trends 2014: The Risk of a Jobless Recovery', International Labour Organization

Economic Restructuring, Gender and the Allocation of Time

Discussion on gross distribution of unpaid care work between and men discussed in ECLAC

Recasting Women in the Global Economy: Internationalization and Changing Definitions of Gender

Infographic: The Shadow Pandemic-Violence Against Women and Girls and COVID-19', UN Women

Coronavirus: I'm in Lockdown with My Abuser', BBC News

A New Covid-19 Crisis: Domestic Abuse Rises Worldwide

COVID-19: A Gender Lens

Violence Against Women (VAW) in the Context of Covid-19: Lessons and Tools for Latin America and the Caribbean' , IDB

Buenos Aires Joint Declaration on Trade and Women's Economic Empowerment' (WTO Ministerial Conference

Domestic laws and policies also have an important role to play in this respect; however this discussion remains outside the scope of this article. For more information on programs and policies countries have initiated as a response to COVID-19, see 'Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women

Measuring the Gender-Responsiveness of Free Trade Agreements: Using a Self-Evaluation Maturity Framework

Top-down' approach in this respect could be seen as an approach that uses international trade instruments to trigger changes at the domestic levels

See Bahri (note 61)

North-South Trade and Female Labour in Manufacturing: An Asymmetry

Trade Policies in Developed Countries

Employment Responses to International Liberalization in Chile

Gender Justice in Trade Policy -The Gender Effects of Economic Partnership Agreements

Global Defeminization? Industrial Upgrading, Occupational Segmentation and Manufacturing Employment in Middle-Income Countries', Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis Working Paper

Gender Justice in Trade Policy' (see note 65)

An Examination of the Gendered Effects of Trade Liberalisation

for the case of North America, see Philip Sauvé and Hosny Zoabi, 'International Trade, the Gender Wage Gap and Female Labor Force Participation

Increased employment for women in Pakistan discussed in Asma Hyder and Jere R Behrman, 'International Trade Openness and Gender Gaps in Pakistani Labor Force Participation Rates over 57 Years

North-South Trade and Female Labour in Manufacturing: An Asymmetry

Trade Liberalisation and the Feminisation of Poverty: The Mauritian Scenario', 22 (78) Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity

The EU's Trade Policy: from Gender-blind to Gender-sensitive?', Directorate for External Policies, European Parliament

Gender-Related Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements' , WTO Economic Research and Statistics Division

Modernized Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) (enforced

Modernized Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) (enforced

ECA Policy Brief Spotlights Women's Wellbeing and Health Care Systems Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Some examples of these provisions in the agreement are the following: 'access to, and ownership of, economic resources' (Art 13.1); 'promoting financial inclusion for women, including financial training, access to finance, and financial assistance' (Art 13.3(b)); 'promoting female entrepreneurship and women's participation in international trade

Articles N bis-03(d), (e), (g)

Article 13.6. 102 'Mainstreaming Gender in Free Trade Agreements' (International Trade Centre

USMCA, Article 32.1 is one example of such a provision

Proposal mentioned in 'Mainstreaming Gender in Free Trade Agreements

Members may need to assess this proposal's compatibility with the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement if they are party to this plurilateral agreement

Supplier diversity programs can allow multinational companies to make a percentage amount of their purchases from marginalized vendors such as women entrepreneurs. For an example of Walmart US and the supplier diversity initiative it has employed, see Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization

United States-Measures Affecting the Cross-Border Supply of Gambling and Betting Services, WT/DS285/R, adopted

European Communities-Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products

Countries can the UNCTAD's toolbox on trade and gender for conducting these assessments. More details at UNCTAD, 'UNCTAD Trade and Gender Tool Box

World Trade Organization