ITC to boost youth and women development UN One Partnership in Rwanda (en)

(Kigali) The International Trade Centre (ITC) today joined the United Nations’ One UN inter-agency partnership to boost youth and women development in Rwanda.

ITC Executive Director Arancha González signed up to the One UN partnership during a meeting with Lamin Manneh, the UN’s Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to Rwanda. ITC’s work in Rwanda has a special focus on promoting trade among youth and women -owned small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Mr. Lamin said that he was extremely encouraged by ITC joining the initiative, saying that boosting export opportunities are crucial to achieve sustainable development in the country. ‘I am very pleased to work with ITC, and I am very impressed by the practical approach of the agency to encourage more exports from Rwanda, especially its focus on SMEs.’

Ms. González pointed out that ITC, as part UN and part World Trade Organization, stand in a special position to leverage the maximum cooperation with other UN agencies on issues related to trade. ‘ITC is fully committed to work with UN agencies under one UN roof, and ensure that we bring Rwandan companies to market,’ she said.

She also pointed out that through the World Export Development Forum (WEDF), which is taking place in Kigali on 15-17 September, important capacity building is already happening. ‘At WEDF we want Africa and the outside world to understand that Africa is about doing business and there is a huge untapped potential on the continent. And when we mean trade we are not talking about only trade with Europe or US, but also within Africa,’ Ms. González said.