In addition to our Board meeting, it was a week packed full of business activities…and some pleasure on the side:
Meetings
- With UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade & Development), Trade, Gender & Development Programme/Investment Policies
- With International Trade Centre (ITC),Women and Trade Programme
- With World Trade Organization (WTO)
- With US Ambassador to WTO, Michael Punke
- With Canadian Ambassador, Jonathan Fried
Some outcomes:
- Opportunity for OWIT members to mentor women in developing countries
- Access to information about job vacancies at WTO, which is seeking to hire more women. Log into the OWIT website to access the job bank.
- OWIT is now a Verifying Partner with ITC SheTrades (www.shetrades.com) which provides women entrepreneurs around the world with a platform to connect to markets. We encourage all qualifying members to sign up on SheTrades. A training webinar on how to use the ITC SheTrades app is coming January 26, 2017.
- Kudos for OWIT members: “By putting faces to the work you do and telling your stories, you are pushing forward the agenda of international trade when it’s under attack. It’s not an easy time. I’m hopeful that you can make a difference. Don’t underestimate the power of your anecdotes to sway the debate. Your faces and voices are critical to the narrative.” Ambassador Michael Punke
- Validation for OWIT and feedback from all those we met with about our value as a global network of women in international business and trade.
Presentations & Networking
- At OWIT-Lake Geneva Welcome Networking Evening
- At OWIT-Lake Geneva/ITC joint event: Panel on Inclusive Trade – Expanding Participation of Women in Small & Medium Size Enterprises
- At Cargill Women’s Network
- At WTO Public Forum: Panel on Shaping the Rules to Facilitate Active Participation of SMEs and Women in Global Markets
Exhibit
- At WTO Public Forum: OWIT display with ‘Faces of Trade’ theme, highlighting our chapters and members around the world and roles they play in international trade
Tours
- The Cern – where the World Wide Web was put together and home of the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator
- La Maison du Gruyere (Cheese Factory)
- Chocolate Factory Maison Cailler
