Three women have been nominated for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

They are: Kenyan Amina C. Mohamed, Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean Yoo Myung-hee.

In addition to these women, they participate in the competition: the Saudi Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, the Mexican Jesús Seade, the Egyptian Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh, the Moldovan Tudor Ulianovschi and the British Liam Fox.

Candidates for the post of Director-General have been invited to meet with WTO members at a special call of the General Council to be held on July 15 and to continue on July 16 and July 17, as necessary .

Women

On May 20, 2020, the President of the General Council, David Walker (New Zealand), informed Members that the process of appointing the next Director General would formally begin on June 8 and that nominations would be accepted thereafter and Until the 8th of July.

The President will report the nominations to WTO Members as soon as they are received. After July 8, Walker will distribute a consolidated list of all nominations to Members.

Once the nomination deadline has closed, candidates will be invited to meet with Members at an extraordinary meeting of the General Council to be held from July 15 to 17.

At this meeting, they will have an opportunity to voice their views and answer questions from Members.

If any of the three female candidates wins the race, it would be the first time that a Director-General has served in the history of the WTO.

Women are increasingly gaining ground within the senior leadership of international organizations. Currently, for example, Christine Lagarde has served as President of the European Central Bank since November 2019.

Previously, she was the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from July 5, 2011 to July 16, 2019.

Another prominent Latina woman is Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, who since July 1, 2008 has served as executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).