This report is intended to do – provide aggregate information on women serving on the boards of companies listed in the stock exchanges of 12 large economies in the region as ranked by the World Bank. Beyond the numbers, the precise names of companies with and without women directors are indicated, as well as the names of women currently serving on these corporate boards. The difficulties encountered by researchers in securing the data already point to a need for greater transparency and access to current corporate information equivalent to those available in other regions of the world. The low percentage of women directors in the African countries covered will not surprise anyone, but it should be noted that numbers globally are indeed low, except in those countries, which have decided to do something about improving those numbers as noted above. The African percentage of women directors actually surpasses the percentages in other regions of the world. What is evident, however, is that board composition is tied to corporate governance, and the principles of what constitutes good governance is still at its early stages in many African countries.

This paper discusses some relevant gender-related issues regarding the implications that the agricultural trade expansion and liberalization have on aspects linked to gender inequalities that exist in the agricultural and rural sector. Section 2 provides a general framework together. With a brief review of women’s contribution to agriculture. Section 3 gives an analysis regarding the experiences of selected developing countries, from which some conclusions are drawn out about the impact of the agricultural trade development on aspects like agricultural work, land use, women access to productive resources and to new productive opportunities in agriculture. Section 4 considers the main features of trade liberalization agreements, both multilateral and regional, and in particular provides an overview of four key commodities for developing economies. Section 5 makes some considerations on the main implications of liberalized agricultural trade for small-scale farming, questions the conditions in which are provided the new economic opportunities for women, and indicates other aspects of relevance from a gender perspective that are ignored in trade policies and negotiations on agricultural commodities. Section 6 highlights some major considerations and conclusions that arise out of the examination conducted throughout this article.

This short analysis demonstrates, international trade, as it is currently formulated and practiced, does not adequately take into account women’s experiences and has resulted in one-sided agreements neglect the gendered aspects of the economy and society. Ensuring trade policy does not affect women adversely is sound public policy that the Southern African region must engage in to foster effective development. This inclusive development can only be realised once gender analysis is applied to trade policy.

The research involved the following steps: Review of literature on the status of gender mainstreaming of the trade policies of the EAC and its Partner States. - Interview of officials from the EAC Secretariat and Ministries responsible for trade in the Partner States as well as Public and Private Sector trade Organisations/institutions such as Chambers of Commerce, Export Promotion Councils and Private Sector Federations. - Selection of a gender and policy analysis model and adapting it to fit a trade-focused gender analysis framework to guide the overall analysis. The report is organized as follows: Part I gives an introduction to the study, with analysis of gendered constraints to trade. Part II looks at the level of gender responsiveness of the trade policy instruments; Part III provides conclusions and recommendations on the way forward.

This report identifies best practices and provides policy guidance on how public policy can promote the participation of women entrepreneurs, women producers and women-led export firms in accessing market opportunities through trade agreements. Specifically, the report: provides a brief overview of the evidence on gender and trade liberalization; identifies key obstacles that reduce the participation of women entrepreneurs, women producers and women-led export firms in accessing the market opportunities of free trade agreements; sets out global, regional and bilateral, best practices in promoting the participation of women entrepreneurs, women producers and women-led export firms in accessing the market opportunities of free trade agreements; and provides policy guidance to stakeholders in Peru and Colombia to further this agenda.