Addis Ababa, 27 January 2022 (ECA): The Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the AfCFTA Secretariat today convened a workshop to validate the report on the role of RECs in gender responsive implementation of the AfCFTA.
The objective of the workshop was to review of the status of gender mainstreaming in trade at the REC level, to identify best practices and success stories, highlight challenges in gender mainstreaming in trade policy, and provide policy recommendations for gender sensitive AfCFTA implementation.
In his opening remarks, the Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division of the ECA, Dr. Stephen Karingi expressed appreciation to all partners, especially to the RECs and the AfCFTA Secretariat, for collaborating with ECA on this important workshop and its findings.
“The effectiveness of the AfCFTA will be limited if women, youth, SMEs, and informal traders are ignored,” Mr. Karingi stated.
In fact, he added that the existing gender gaps could be exacerbated by the AfCFTA if the gender lens is not considered.
“This is why ECA is supporting gender responsive implementation of the AfCFTA in a number of ways – through gender mainstreaming in national and regional AfCFTA implementation strategies and capacity building with women’s business associations and SMEs to ensure they also take advantage of the opportunities under the AfCFTA,” Mr. Karingi informed the meeting.
The findings of the report are based on a literature review, a data collection exercise in selected regional economic communities, a desk review, and the outcomes of continental workshops on trade and gender issues. The report identifies challenges and opportunities for building on the frameworks, programmes, networks, and capacities of the Regional Economic Communities to address trade and gender concerns.
Speaking on behalf of Ms. Emily Mburu-Ndoria, Director of Trade in Services, Investments, Intellectual Property Rights and Digital Trade at the AfCFTA Secretariat, Ms. Marie Providence Mugangu highlighted that the outcome of the meeting would inform the work of the Secretariat in informing relevant policy frameworks, including the upcoming AfCFTA protocol on women in trade.
She highlighted that the outcome of the meeting would inform the work of the Secretariat in translating the recommendations of the report into actionable initiatives with effective linkages to relevant policy frameworks, including the upcoming AfCFTA protocol on women in trade.
Opening the workshop on behalf of the ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement, Mr. Tei Konzi, Trade Officer at ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Christopher Mensah-Yawson stated that RECs are implementing gender responsive initiatives that could be built upon.
“To accelerate implementation, it will be important to build upon existing initiatives and capacities at the RECs level to take the regional integration process forward,” Mr. Mensah-Yawson stated.
The one-day virtual event brought together over 50 participants including trade and gender experts from each REC and the AU and AfCFTA Secretariat, researchers and experts in gender and trade on the continent, and partner agencies and organizations supporting both trade and gender activities at the regional level.
Participants submitted their reviews of the report and recommended that it be approved subject to inclusion of comments raised during this validation meeting.
The study was funded by the Global Affairs Canada as part of an agreement with the ECA to support the implementation of the AfCFTA.
For more information Contact
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Economic Commission for Africa
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Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org or afeworks@un.org