Historias

ITC, Caribbean Development Bank team up to mainstream gender in trade policies (en)

16 junio 2014
ITC Noticias

The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) are partnering to mainstream gender into the Caribbean’s trade and economic development agenda.

The organizations are jointly implementing a training seminar called ‘Gender Mainstreaming in Caribbean Trade Policies and Programmes: Promoting Gender Equality for Improved Trade and Development’ on 16-19 June in Bridgetown, Barbados. The main objectives of the seminar are to increase participants’ awareness of the value of gender mainstreaming and to improve their gender-mainstreaming skills. The event targets senior policymakers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and operational staff from other trade support institutions and agencies within CARIFORUM Member States.

This seminar is in line with CDB’s policy to promote gender equality in the region by working with development partners to analyse ‘the economic and social causes of gender inequality in order to reduce poverty and vulnerability and to assist all women and men to achieve their full potential’. It is also aligned with ITC’s Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Action Plan and its commitment to provide relevant training to its partners.

Among the expected results of the training include a collective position paper affirming commitment to gender equality and realizing this in the context of trade and related strategies in the Caribbean, as well as participants’ personal plans of action to integrate a gender perspective into policy and programming in their home countries.

The training, the first of two to be implemented in the Caribbean, is funded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Department for International Development (DFID) CARTFund Programme, and managed by the CDB and ITC’s Women and Trade Programme, also funded by DFID.

Gender equality is a key factor in achieving national and regional trade goals, as women in business contribute to economic development in their communities. As a result of research and analysis revealing the benefits of gender mainstreaming, gender equality has in recent years become a priority of national governments, development agencies and institutions. This action is directly aligned with commitments to the equality of men and women expressed in the United Nations Charter.

ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC enables SMEs in developing countries to become more competitive in global markets, leading to sustainable economic development and contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

CDB’s mission is to be the leading catalyst for development resources into the Caribbean, working in an efficient, responsive and collaborative manner with Member States and other development partners towards the systematic reduction of poverty in their countries through social and economic development.