Ms. Simonetta Zarrilli is a trade analyst with over 30 years of experience in policy-oriented analysis, capacity-building, and multi-stakeholder dialogues on trade and development issues in international, multicultural, and multilingual settings.

In 2010, Simonetta initiated the Trade, Gender and Development Programme at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a programme she led until her retirement from the UN in 2024. The Programme provided analytical, policy, and capacity-building support to countries, particularly developing ones, on the gender implications of trade and other economic policies.

In November 2023, Simonetta received the first ever "Gender Equality Pioneering Award" from the World Trade Organization for her innovative work on the connections between trade policy and gender equality.

Before leading this area, Ms. Zarrilli worked on various trade and development-related issues, including renewable energies, biotechnology, health and environmental services, and preferential tariff treatments, conducting numerous analytical, intergovernmental, and technical cooperation activities on these topics.