The First International Conference and Exhibition on Women and Trade kicked off in Tehran today, Tuesday 13 July. Organized by the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, the Conference brought togethera number of Iranian decision makers, international organizations, women entrepreneurs and a number of foreign missions based in Iran.

The Conference sought to achieve an overall objective of supporting small and medium size firms which are either owned or run by women entrepreneurs, paving the ground for women traders to have access to domestic and international markets and linking different organizations and establishments active in the field of women empowerment all over the world.  The UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ms. Consuelo Vidal participated in this conference and delivered remarks.Ms. Vidal underlined that women’s economic empowerment requires bold and sustained action to advance their opportunities. She further noted that to increase their economic opportunities, women need access to more and better jobs, a trade climate that supports them in starting and doing business, a financial sector that gives them access to financial services tailored to their needs, and greater livelihood and security in times of economic crises and said that this was especially true for women living in rural areas and vulnerable environments.'

She referred to the statistics by UNIFEM and said, ’Women perform 66% of the world’s work and produce more than 50% of the food. However, they only earn 10% of the global income and own 1% of the property. Their nominal wages are 17% lower than men’. She added, ‘Globally, women make up more than 40% of the working labor force and 6.3% of the unemployed population. Female workers make up more than 28% of the industrial labor force. In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the agricultural sector makes up more than 60% of all female employment’. She also said that the global economic crisis is beleived to be plunging a further 22 million women into unemployment, which would lead to a female unemployment rate of 7.4 percent (versus 7 percent of male unemployment). Ms. Vidal underlined that in Iran, the ratio of employed women to the population has increased from 23.7% in 1999 to 28% in 2008—a 4.3 percentage point increase in nine years; a trend that she wished should continue.

Highlighting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and particularly the third Goal the UN Resident Coordinator reiterated that working towards materialization of this goal can also help speed the progress toward other MDGs. She also referred to a new effort by the UN General Assembly that in a historic move voted on 2 July in favour of creating a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide, the UN Women.

In addition to Ms. Vidal, the UNCTAD Head of Technical Cooperation Section, Ms. Manuela Tortora and also the Vice President of Women and Families Affairs, Mr. Mojtahedzadeh delivered remarks in support of women entrepreneurship.

In the end of the first morning session, President of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, Dr. Nahavandian presented Ms. Vidal a plate as a token of appreciation for her participation in the Conference and also the efforts by the UN in promoting women entrepreneurship.