World Trade Organization chooses Woman as Director-General


 

On February 15, 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria was chosen as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) starting March 1, 2021.  This choice is unique in several ways. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman in this position. She is also the first African to lead the WTO. It is hard to say which is more unprecedented. History is made.

Okonjo-Iweala has over three decades of experience in both private and public international financial institutions, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, and serving as finance minister of Nigeria, her home country, among numerous other roles. The appointment comes at a very difficult time, as the global economy and world trade have to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As former board chair of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, Okonjo-Iweala is expected to try to help poor countries get access to COVID-19 vaccines. Most affluent countries are scrambling to get hold of vaccines as a way forward to opening businesses. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, ten countries have administered 75% of all vaccinations and 130 countries have not received a single Covid vaccine dose. Guterres said this is „wildly uneven and unfair“ and continued, “At this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community,”.

This is not the only problem the new director-general will have to deal with. Africa has long been unsatisfied with its global economic status quo. There are long-standing trade disputes. New global trade rules must be decided on as the WTO needs to be reformed. It will not be an easy task for Okonjo-Iweala, but she has professional and diplomatic experience.

The 164 members of the WTO have realized that the current global trading system is unbalanced and unsustainable. This is something only someone from outside the big countries can tackle. Okonjo-Iweala is expected to take up her mandate with courage and fairness.

President Barack Obama concluded on December 16, 2019, in Singapore: „Women are better leaders than men.“

He said, "I'm absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything... living standards and outcomes."

Eleanor Roosevelt, a former First Lady of the USA and UN Ambassador was convinced that women who go into politics do so because they want to change the world for the better. I am sure that Okonjo-Iweala has the same ideals in the world of finance and trade. It is high time that women are given the chance to show that they can lead and tackle difficult problems.

 



Photo: International Monetary Fund (photographer uncredited) - IMF Photographic archives

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