STATEMENT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION ON GENDER AND TRADE FOR UNCTAD XI June 15th 2004 |
The UN has recognised that gender equality is both a core value for sustainable development and a prerequisite for poverty elimination. With the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN has developed an internationally accepted analytical framework and action plan for gender equality. We welcome the creation of the UNCTAD-led Task Force on Gender and Trade set up by the UN Inter-Agency Working Group in February 2003 and the UNCTAD XI initiative to highlight gender and trade as a cross-cutting issue. As a UN body, UNCTAD has both the responsibility and the competence to take a leadership role in ensuring that gender concerns are incorporated in a meaningful way in macro-economic policy. Trade policies impact on gender relations and human development by rearranging relations of power and access to resources between women and men. If trade policies are assumed to be gender neutral, they may reproduce or even worsen current forms of inequality and discrimination against women in all countries. We also welcome the statement of the European Union that 'UNCTAD should mainstream gender equality in its work. UNCTAD's support to developing countries should enable their economic and trade policies to empower women as both actors in, and beneficiaries of, economic growth.' Gender mainstreaming must be understood in the agreed terms of CEDAW and the BPFA as being strategy towards transformation of gender relations and gender stereotypes, and the empowerment of women. The impact of trade policy on the lives and livelihoods of women is compounded in countries of the South by the structural inequalities between North and South. The international economic order through UNCTAD, therefore must proactively promote the interests of those women who are most vulnerable to the negative impacts of international trade agreements. UNCTAD should also assist developed countries in gender mainstreaming and engendering their national and regional trade and other economic policies to ensure gender equity and women's empowerment. UNCTAD must take a leadership role by Promoting the implementation of UN gender equality and women's empowerment agreements within trade agreements. Devoting increased emphasis in its work to the social implications of trade and other economic policies, including their gender impact. Developing systems of gender and trade indicators and gender impact assessment mechanisms in both monitoring trade agreements and in ex ante assessment to forestall negative impacts of trade agreements on vulnerable women and men. Including in its independent research and analysis the evaluation of the impact of trade on women. Such research should focus not only on criticising the current neo-liberal framework, but on developing alternatives, drawing, for example, on the established body of feminist economics, and on the range of existing local level alternatives. Focusing its gender analysis not only on improving the condition of women in their current roles (e.g. better access to credit and micro-finance etc) and seeing them as potential actors in economic growth, but should draw on the transformative analysis of CEDAW to ensure that women are not confined in discriminatory positions by gender stereotyping. UNCTAD must ensure that every country has the competence and freedom to design development measures aimed at achieving gender equality and social justice. Donor countries should ensure that appropriate resources are directed to UNCTAD's work on gender equality.
WIDE (Network Women In Development Europe)
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