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UNCTAD: Expert meeting on mainstreaming gender in trade policy 10 11 March 2009

16 Feb 2009

The topic of the expert meeting was approved by the extended Bureau of the Trade and Development Board on 29 August 2008. The Accra Accord requested UNCTAD to "strengthen its work on the linkages between trade and internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals, including poverty reduction and gender equality" (para. 96 (d)).

Globalization and trade liberalization are often assumed to be gender-neutral. As a result, national priorities for trade policies and trade negotiations are generally determined with little gender analysis. Yet globalization and trade liberalization have different effects on women and men because of their different access to and control of economic and social resources, decision-making and participation.

 

Mainstreaming gender in trade policy means:

 

a)       Assessing which impacts trade policies and trade liberalization could have on the well-being of men and women, under the assumption that distinct sectors and groups within a country will be impacted differently; and consequently

 

 

b)       Formulating trade policies and pacing trade liberalization in a gender-sensitive manner.


The expert meeting will:

 

  • Discuss the impact of trade policies on gender by presenting cases where trade liberalization has been associated with rising employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for women, as well as cases where trade liberalization has exacerbated existing gender inequalities and worsened women´s economic and social status.

  • Offer a forum where different stakeholders including the members of the United Nations Task Force on Gender and Trade may exchange experiences and present the main findings of their relevant work.

  • Provide the opportunity to discuss relevant strategies to make trade policies more responsive to gender considerations. Within this context, specific policies and instruments will be analysed and their possible implementation at the national, regional and/or multilateral levels will be discussed. 
  • Present the occasion for member countries to agree on possible further activities that UNCTAD, in cooperation with the United Nations Task Force on Gender and Trade and other relevant stakeholders, may be requested to carry on in order to further promote and advocate gender mainstreaming in trade policy.

 

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Source:UNTCAD