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Gender and Globalisation: Trade and Employment issues

Debating Gender and trade: Adelaide Mkhonza, Assistant Secretary-General, ACP Secretariat, Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Director, Economic Affairs, Commonwealth Secretariat and Asenaca Caucau, Minister for Women, Social Welfare and Povert Alleviation, Fiji Islands.At the Sixth Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Women's Affairs (6WAMM), held in New Delhi in April 2000, Ministers noted the interrelationship between structural adjustment, trade liberalisation and globalisation, and noted as well the impact of privatisation on health care, education and employment in some countries. Whilst recognising the positive aspects of globalisation for many countries and particular sections of society, the Ministers expressed serious concern over some of the negative effects, particularly on weak and vulnerable economies and especially on women and children. These included rising unemployment, poverty and the difficulty of providing social safety nets. The Ministers endorsed the need for a framework to effectively respond to the impacts of macroeconomic policies on women.

Ministers emphasised the need for the Commonwealth to facilitate women's access to resources and markets, noting the additional hardships faced by small island states due to their size and isolation. They expressed concern about the adverse impacts experienced by those states already overburdened with debt and agreed that special attention needs to be given to women in the informal sector. See the 6WAMM Communiqué and Fancourt Declaration.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has embarked on a number of programmes to fulfil the mandates from member governments, which include:  

  • Women in Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) - to provide the enabling environment for employment opportunities for women in SMEs - a critical growth area for women in many countries
  • Women in the informal sector - working with the global organisation: Women in Informal and Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) - for a more supportive policy process towards the informal economy;
  • Commonwealth Businesswomen Leaders' Network (CBLN) - promoting the development of Commonwealth businesswomen and their networks and thus provide opportunities to larger markets and influencing women-friendly trade policies; 
  • Gender and Debt - bridging the gap between gender and debt, and exploring ways of integrating gender into debt management, negotiations and monitoring processes;
  • Gender and Trade -focusing on providing user-friendly information on the multilateral trading system (MTS), gender and governance issues and increasing governments' awareness and capacity to response to these issues through the provision of technical assistance to strengthen capacity at the Commonwealth mission to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva and to governments and relevant regional institutions across the Commonwealth.