African Trade Policy Centre’s Cross Cutting Issues- Gender

1. African Trade Policy Centre’s Cross Cutting Issues- Gender Amal Nagah Elbeshbishi Regional Advisor on Trade African Trade Policy Centre United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

2. The Strategic Orientation of ATPC Rest on Three Pillars • Providing fully integrated trade capacity building for Regional Economic Communities (RECs) • Providing comprehensive capacity building for trade constituencies • Mainstreaming cross-cutting issues in trade policy analysis and implementation.

3. Mainstreaming Cross-Cutting Issues in Trade Policy Analysis and Implementation - Gender Trade policymaking in Africa will benefit from taking cross-cutting issues into account. Of particular importance in this regard is gender.

4. Gender • Gender inequality remains one of the main challenges facing African countries. These inequalities manifest themselves in various forms, ranging from women’s limited access to ownership, and control of factors of production and social services, and socio-economic opportunities, to low representation in decision-making spheres. Such marginalization is even more evident in areas of trade policy and trade practices.

5. Gender (Continued) • Trade can have different impacts on women and men at country and continental levels and as a result of the multilateral trading system at global levels.

6. ATPC Adopts a Hybrid Model with Three Parallel Strategies • Strategy 1:Gender integration into all ATPC current activities, processes and policies • Strategy 2:Mounting tangible gender specific initiatives • Strategy 3:Work in coordination with broader UNECA initiatives – the African Centre for Gender and Social Development (ACGSD)

7. Strategy 1: Gender Integration into all ATPC Current Activities, Processes and Policies • ATPC systematically integrates gender into current and planned policies, programmes and activities so that it is more gender responsive at all levels. • ATPC developed a Gender policy and implementation framework, which states its commitment to gender equality and makes all staff a part of its enactment.  

8. Strategy 1 (Continued) • ATPC training workshops ensures the covering of gender issues and respect a gender balance in participation to ensure the voices of women are heard and their concerns are addressed. • ATPC developed a gender and trade roster of experts from within Africa and its diaspora along with international gender specialists in trade to help with gender issues.

9. Strategy 2: Mounting Tangible Gender Specific Initiatives ATPC is uniquely positioned to become an interlocutor between policymakers and women traders through: - Championing gender and trade issues and findings at higher policy levels. - Becoming a think tank for gender and trade issues in Africa. - Championing African gender and trade issues in recommendations to member states and RECs. - Recognizing and “messaging” the real value of women in trade in Africa

10. Strategy 3: Work in Coordination with Broader UNECA Initiatives – the African Centre for Gender and Social Development (ACGSD) The ACGSD developed indicators for gender and trade areas and ATPC is promoting them at policy and training workshops to better inform governments on how to apply such indicators.

11. In ATPC We Do Believe in the Proverb “Until You Spread Your Wings, You Do Not Know How Far You Can Fly”   Thus we try to help African countries and RECs to explore and reach their potentials, because the African continent has immense human and natural resource potential that if properly harnessed, could improve the living conditions of its habitants.

12. Thank You