United Nations Economic Commission for Africa African Center for Gender and Social Development ACGS

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United Nations Economic Commission for
AfricaAfrican Center for Gender and Social
Development (ACGS) Gender and Trade Activities
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ACGS Mandate

• ECA is a knowledge based institution
• Within ECA, the ACGS is the Division dealing with
  gender issues and the advancement of women
• It works with national and sub-regional
  structures engaged in the advancement of women
  and gender equality
• Following up on the implementation of Global and
  Regional commitments on gender equality
• It is also tasked with gender mainstreaming
  within the ECA.

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Background to Gender Trade Work

• ACGS is undertaking research on the links between
  gender and trade in Africa and developing tools
  to help African countries monitor their progress
  towards gender equality in trade related sectors.
• Within the ECA, the ACGS is collaborating with
  the ATPC and other divisions in order to
  mainstream gender concerns in this important area.

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1. AGDI in Trade

• The African Gender and Development Index (AGDI)
  is a composite index, developed by the ECA,
  combining both quantitative and qualitative
  indicators to measure the status of women as
  compared to men in the social, economic and
  political spheres.
• Complementing the AGDI, the ECA is also
  developing sectoral indices (in the areas of
  Agriculture and Trade) to measure critical
  indicators that had been left out of the AGDI for
  feasibility of calculation.
• The objective of the AGDI in Trade is to define
  a set of indicators for the AGDI in the area of
  Trade, which will inform on the status of gender
  equality in this sector at country level and
  provide a framework for assessing country
  performance in implementing relevant
  international commitments on the issue of trade
  and gender.

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AGDI in Trade Outputs

• Literature review paper identified main
  mechanisms through which formal and informal
  trade integration affects gender equality and
  vice versa and presented evidence from African
  countries
• AGDI theoretical framework reviewed existing
  indices, frameworks and agreements in area of
  trade and gender drew on all the above info to
  suggest the main blocks, components,
  subcomponents indicators of the AGDI.

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Literature review main findings

• The conclusion re overall effect of trade on
  gender equality in Africa is severely hampered by
  lack of data
• Evidence reviewed suggested that the relationship
  between trade and gender in Africa is highly
  context specific but that the effects of trade
  are rarely gender neutral
• Trade integration has been associated with
  expanded opportunities for African women while
  also associated with threats disproportionately
  affecting them
• Conversely, gender inequalities are associated
  with reduced productivity and therefore likely
  reduced trade competitiveness
• The paper also identified the mechanisms through
  which the relationship between trade and gender
  is likely to manifest itself e.g. womens access
  to resources, employment, wages, time poverty,
  education and health levels and political power

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AGDI in Trade Next steps

• Internal peer review of literature review paper,
  theoretical framework and indicators
• Experts peer review
• Finalisation of the index and roll out across
  pilot countries.
• Your comments are very much welcome at this stage
  on the literature review paper in your packs

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2. Women and Intra-African Trade Study

• To contribute towards win-win policies that both
  empower women and increase intra-African trade
  levels, the ACGS is collaborating with NRID to
  research the effect of constraints affecting
  womens productivity on the benefits they are
  able to gain as well as on their contribution to
  the level and quality of intra-African trade.
• The objectives of the study include
• Increased understanding among relevant
  stakeholders of womens contribution to and
  benefits from intra-African trade
• Increased understanding among relevant
  stakeholders of the missed opportunities to
  African countries in increasing the level and
  quality of intra-African trade as well as in
  improving womens status, due to the constraints
  affecting women

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Women Intra-African trade Outputs

• A general analysis has been undertaken looking at
  the constraints affecting womens productivity
  levels in two sectors important to intra-African
  trade - formal agricultural trade and informal
  cross border trade
• The analysis found that indeed the constraints
  against womens ability to produce and trade are
  a significant factor in the supply side
  constraints that hinder the level and value added
  of intra-African trade as well as being an
  obstacle to increasing womens incomes.

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Women intra-African trade Next steps

• Undertaking a case study of one agricultural
  commodity traded between two African countries,
  using the gendered value chain approach (VCA) to
  quantify the effects of the constraints to women
  at every stage of production and trading
• Undertaking two case studies on the situation of
  women in intra-African trade in ECOWAS and COMESA
  and highlighting best practices and policy
  recommendations on improving womens capacities
  to contribute and benefit
• Internal and external peer reviews
• Publication of the study and contributing a
  chapter to the ECAs Assessing Regional
  Integration in Africa (ARIA IV) flagship report

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3. Collaboration with ATPC on Gender and Trade

• ACGS is assisting ATPC to fulfill the 3rd Pillar
  of its strategy mainstreaming of cross cutting
  issues including gender
• This has included gender mainstreaming training
  and advisory support
• Future plans include joint activities and
  research on women informal cross border traders,
  women farmers, etc

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We look forward to collaborating with you

• Starting immediately with
• Your comments on the literature review paper in
  your packs
• Your comments on the other outputs we are
  engaging in
• Your ideas on future work we should undertake
• Joint work / partnership
• truzvidz_at_uneca.org