Fourth Regional Capacity Building Workshop, July 2-6 2007, Namibia

NamibiaThe workshop would build on the experience of the previous three regional capacity building workshops organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat on Gender, Trade Policy and Export Promotion in East Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia.  The workshops were held respectively between 25-29 July 2005 in Arusha, Tanzania; 23-27 January in Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and 28 August – 1 September in New Delhi, India.

The Rationale

Globalisation and trade liberalisation have both positive and negative impacts. The realization of the limited   capacity of many countries, especially the smaller countries, to negotiate effectively during trade negotiations and to formulate appropriate trade policies has led various multi-lateral and bilateral agencies to consciously work towards improvement and enhancement of this capacity.  However, in overall terms, there has been much less   focus on the relationship of gender and trade, and in fact there are often assumptions regarding the “gender neutral” character of the processes of globalisation and trade liberalization.

However, the terms on which men and women enter the labour market vary. This is often dependent on the   differing    roles and responsibilities of men and women within the household, as well as their differential access to resources – material, financial, technological and social.  Consequently, there are gender differentiated impacts of trade policy, and the need to take into account women not only as producers but also as consumers.  

There are two broad areas in which capacity needs to be developed.  Firstly, an understanding needs to be built within the relevant negotiating government ministries as well as private institutions of the gender implications of the substantive issues that are on the table.  Import/export policies and market access create specific opportunities and present challenges in terms of the nature and location of jobs, appropriate skills, etc.  Tariff structures and export promotion can impact on domestic agriculture, food security and the nature of government services that are provided.  A clearer picture of the gender implications of measures taken can be gained by examining specific sectors - agriculture, services, investment or intellectual property.

The second important aspect regarding trade relates to the contribution and participation of women and organizations that represent their interests in setting the agenda, formulating priorities and negotiating. Lastly, there have to be conscious efforts to increase the number of women around the negotiating table.  In order for this to happen capacity need to be built and enhanced in these constituencies.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and Gender and Trade

The Gender Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat has been focusing on issues related to budgets, the multilateral trading system and globalisation.  It has supported publications on Gender and the Multilateral Trading System, and more recently a book showcasing best practice called Chains of Fortune: linking women producers and workers with global markets. The former publication has highlighted the need for more effective participation of women in trade negotiations as well as the need to take gender into account for trade policy formulation and implementation.  The latter book emphasizes how women can be enabled to take advantage of globalisation and access global markets. 

In order to move from analysis to action and to embed and build capacities in various regions to address trade policy related issues, the Commonwealth Secretariat is seeking to systematically institutionalize and mainstream gender and trade in relevant institutions/organizations at regional and national level in the Commonwealth countries.  systematically.  This will build on the materials that it has developed but also on the work of organizations like IGTN, ITC who have initiatives, capacity building efforts and analysis on this subject.  

As a first step in this process the Commonwealth Secretariat has started to develop a generic training module on gender and trade.  Previous workshops were held  in Arusha, Tanzania and Ocho Rios, Jamaica in July 2005 and January 2006 respectively, and a  training resopurce is also being developed for wider dissemination .

Purpose

1. The purpose of the module is:
2. To build capacity  to integrate gender analysis in trade policy formulation and implementation
3. To analyse impacts of trade policy on women’s employment and entrepreneurship
4. To focus on region specific issues and trends and impacts on women
5. To build capacity of public and private institutions to enable women to respond to changes in trade policy

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