Gender, Trade And Development
Objectives
Gender equality is a development goal on its own but is also key to accelerating socio-economic development and improving the prospects of poor households, communities and nations. Despite gender equality being central to the commitments contained in Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the global Agenda 2030, it is still an unfulfilled objective in Africa. According to the 2016 UNDP Human Development Report for Africa, on average, African women achieve only 87 percent of men’s human development. UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index – that measures gender inequalities in reproductive health, empowerment and economic status for 155 countries across the globe – reports that 32 of the 55 lowest ranked countries in 2014 were in Africa. African women play many key roles in trade as producers, paid or unpaid workers, entrepreneurs and consumers. Trade therefore provides an important tool for addressing gender and development issues of importance to the continent’s poverty reduction agenda.