CONTENT

1
CONTENT

• TRADE INSTRUMENTS AND FRAMEWORKS WORK TOWARDS WTO
  OBJECTIVES
• REACTIONS TO PRO-TRADE ARGUMENTS
• SOME TRADE AGREEMENTS
• IMPACT OF TRADE LIBERALIZATION
• DIFFERENTIATED IMPACT OF TRADE LIBERALIZATION ON
  WOMEN AND HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY
• Income effects
• Health and Morbidity
• Capabilities

2
ARGUMENTS FOR TRADE LIBERALIZATIONYCGI(X-M)

• Trade accelerates overall economic growth, which
  raises profits and promotes greater savings and
  investment and thus further growth
• It promotes competition, improves ressources
  allocation and fosters specialization in sectors
  where countires have comparative advantage (best
  suited to produce)
• Trade enlarges a country s access to scarce
  resources and its consumption capacities
• It increases world output
• It provides access to worlwide markets for poor
  countries
• It tends to promote greater competiton, attracts
  foreign capital, technology and expertise into
  developing countries
• Trade generates very needed foreign exchange to
  pay for debt or imports

3
TRADE INSTRUMENTS AND FRAMEWORKS WORK TOWARDS WTO
OBJECTIVES
HIPC
Liberalization reforms of financial and labor
sectors Reforming goods and services
markets Privatization programmes
WTO
More trade and
Fosters trade liberalization among
nations
COTONOU AGREEMENT
Sets contracts binding nations to keep their
trade policies within agreed limits
Trade liberalization not Aid
less social justice
Establishes dispute settlement measures promoting
freer trade
AGOA
More benefits for large foreign and multinational
investors Endorsement of privatization Rights of
foreign investors to establish in any African
country without conditionality Obligation to cut
corporate taxes and to apply same rules to
foreign investors
Monitors countries appliance to trade rules
and citizen rights
4
REACTIONS TO PRO-TRADE ARGUMENTS

• Development cannot be measured only in terms of
  growth
• Non market activities which are excluded in model
  play a determinant role than cannot be neglected
  in favor of market-focussed trade
• Gender factors in terms of differentiated
  positions and power relations between women and
  men within and outside different markets (labor,
  financial and goods and services) arenas are
  totally excluded from the model
• Gender impacts of trade offset the anticipated
  benefits from trade (increased gender
  inequalities, and womens insecurity)

5
REACTIONS TO PRO-TRADE ARGUMENTS

• Trickle down effect of growth gains from trade
  is a myth not a reality in developing countries
• Limited growth of world demand for primary goods
  exports because of developed countries demand
  shift from high technology and skills intensive
  products
• Secular deteriorating terms of trade against
  developing nations
• Increased sophisticated protectionism from
  developed countries against developing countries
  manufactured and processed agricultural products

6
SOME TRADE AGREEMENTS

• Agriculture sale of transgenetic seeds,
  dependency on chemicals seeds, processing and
  sale of food vulnerability of women small
  farmers and food producers and processors land
  issues production costs no protection for food
  security reduction and elimination of subsidies.
  New and very complex system of subsidies.
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Services (GATS)
  160 sectors involved health, education, debt
  servicing,culture, telecommunications, banks,
  etc, all human livelihoods and security-related
  sectors privatization of public services and
  submission to market and competition laws. Rights
  to education health, culture, positive
  discrimination for girls education...
  Privatization of land, water endangering womens
  livelihood and security.

7
IMPACT OF TRADE LIBERALIZATION
Foreign banks
Foreign Sector
Exports revenues
Cheap labor for little wages
Imports payments
Gendered redistribution of labor
Private Sector
Households
Consumer demand
initiatives
Consumer goods
Credit
Credit
Household savings
Investment savings
Government
Privatization
Financial Institutions
Taxes from households
Investments
Taxes from firms
private sector
Borrowing
Repaying
of
provision of
Government
Government
in foreign
social
services
services
8
DIFFERENTIATED IMPACT OF TRADE LIBERALIZATION ON
WOMEN AND HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY

• 1. Income effects
• New job opportunities More women than men
  accessing new jobs mostly low standard jobs
• Marginal increase revenues
• Threat to poor womens small businesses
• Competition between cheap imported good and
  locally produced commodities
• Comodification of Utilities and public goods
  (water, energy, land, etc.)
• Increased costs of utilities (production or
  consumption good)
• Increased time devoted to provide household
  services and utilities

9

• 2. Health and Morbidity
• Womens access to labor market impact on girls
  household work servicing
• Increased morbidity, health insecurity
• increased expenditure and on health provisioning
• New private sector ande labor lead to reduced
  access to health benefits and social protection
• Food insecurity impacts from exports promotion
  (from market access to nutritional level or
  calorie intake)

10

• 3. Capabilities
• Less rights, participation, security, etc.
• Womens unpaid more devalued work devalued with
  increased focus on markets
• Enterprise development threatened because of
  unleveled competition field
• Access to use of ICT
• Increased organizing capacities
• Increased opportunities for learning

11
NETWORK OF AFRICAN WOMEN ECONOMISTS
National budgets
HIPC
Directory of organisations
NETWORKING
Trade agreements
Case studies
Networks WICEJ IWGGT WIDE, etc
RESEARCH
PRSPs
Regional institutions
ADVOCACY
Civil society organisations
Partners IGTN GERA AAWORD Etc.
Bibliography
AWE

• Ministries
• Finance
• Budget
• Women
• Planning

Indicators and statistics
Data collection
Womens groups
Parliamentarians
CAPACITY BUILDING
Training workshops
Needs assessment
Training materials
TOT
12
MACRO-ECONOMIC POLICY FRAMEWORK