Women in Trade Facilitation

other

Submitted dateLast Update DateVersionProject Proposal StatusProject Page
2016-02-10
2016-04-29
1.0
Women in Trade Facilitation

 

 

Project Purpose

Gender equity is considered as one of the Millennium Goals of Sustainable Development by United Nations. In the context of the Trade Facilitation Agreement as a centerpiece of the Bali Package developed by World Trade Organization (WTO), gender disparities reduce the gains that can be achieved in terms of international trade opportunities and country’s competitiveness and economic growth. In this regard, WTO, Intracen, UN and The World Bank are sheding some light on the fact that gender equality matters as an instrument for economic development through international trade activities.

Gender discrimination in trade facilitation has multiple dimensions. The synergies of those inequalities affect the integration of women in international trade. In terms of legal framework, discrimination appears in access to assets (inheritance laws, access to credit and loans,…). The inequities affect women as workers, because there are limitations for accessing to the top levels of work, suffer salary inequalities, requires higher security protection in cross-border activities, and women have difficulties to achieve the professional knowledge. All these facts reduce the number of women that participate in activities related to trade facilitation as traders, cross border management, transportation, logistics chain management, infrastructures, ICT, advisory services, etc.

Project Scope

The scope of this project is limited to Women in Trade Facilitation. This project also underscores case examples and the importance of ex-ante and ex-post analysis about gender equality in trade reforms, which involve quantitative and qualitative analysis about the female participation in sectors related to international trade facilitation globally.  

Project Deliverables

The project deliverables are as follows:
a)	A White Paper on Women in Trade Facilitation.

Exit Criteria

The exit criteria that will indicate the deliverable has been completed, are specified as below.
a)	White Paper on Women in Trade Facilitation
•	Internal and external review logs showing how comments have been addressed.
•	Final draft of a text ready for publication.

Project Team Membership and Required Functional Expertise

Membership is open to experts with broad knowledge in the area of trade facilitation and gender (legal, customs, implementation…). In addition, Heads of Delegations may invite technical experts from their constituency to participate in the work. Experts are expected to contribute to the work based solely on their expertise and to comply with the UN/CEFACT Code of Conduct and Ethics and the policy on Intellectual Property Rights.

Head of Delegation Support

Nigeria, Spain, Sweden, US

Geographical Focus

The geographical focus of the project is global.

Initial Contributions

Initial contributions include:
•	Integrating Gender into the World Bank’s Work: A Strategy for Action  (The World Bank, 2002).  
•	Guidance Note of Gender Dimension of Trade Facilitation and Logistics (The World Bank, 2012)
•	Trade, Gender and Development Program (UNCTAD) 
•	Women and Trade Program (Intracen) 
•	Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) 
•	Association of Women in International Trade

Resource Requirements

Participants in the project shall provide resources for their own participation. The existence and functioning of the project shall not require any additional resources from the UNECE secretariat. The project will be prepared in between Forums, in face-to-face meetings, if feasible, and using conference call facilities (provided by the UNECE secretariat).

Project Leadership

Project Leader: Paloma Bernal Turnes
Lead Editor: Daniel Sarr

Milestones

 

DELIVERABLE NAME

Project

Inception

Expected Completion Date

Requirements

Gathering

Expected Completion Date

Draft

Development

Expected Completion Date

Public

Review

Expected Completion Date

Project

Exit

Expected Completion Date

Publication

Expected Completion Date

Maintenance

Expected Completion Date

White Paper
  • YES
  • NO
2016-05-09 
  • YES
  • NO
2016-05-09 
  • YES
  • NO
2016-09-03 
  • YES
  • NO
2016-11-03 
  • YES
  • NO
2017-04-30
  • YES
  • NO
2017-04-30 
  • YES
  • NO
2017-04-30 

Project Proposal Files