The World Trade Organisation has appointed Te Taumata Māori Trade board member Tania Te Whenua (Tūhoe, Te Whakatōhea) to its first civil advisory board.
Te Whenua will attend a biannual meeting with WTO director-general Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, along with eight other non-governmental leaders from around the world to share perspectiveson some of the most urgent issues affecting trade and the stability of the global economy.
Okonjo-Iweala visited New Zealand last November, meeting Te Whenua and other wāhine Māori leaders who worked in tourism, business and other sectors to highlight the importance of indigenous voices and women being heard at the WTO and discussing opportunities for increasing it.
Te Whenua said the meeting was a “huge success” whereby the group was able to “spotlight the intrinsic nature of Māori culture, which has long since acknowledged the mana of Māori women as political, social and economic leaders within Te Ao Māori, alongside Māori men”.
“Under the tikanga of gender duality, mana tāne and mana wāhine doesn’t compete, it supplements.”
An economist and having served two terms as Nigeria’s finance minister, Okonjo-Iweala is the first female and first African to lead the WTO as director-general.
Te Whenua says, “I’m fast learning that our perspective as Māori is highly valued for being both steeped in ancient wisdom while at the same time remaining relevant, sophisticated and advanced.
“We have a lot to offer and so much to be proud of.”
