I. Introduction^[1]

The Summit of the Americas process � the mechanism through which the Inter-American agenda has been expressed since the first Summit was held in 1994 � has, since its inception, included trade as an essential element to accomplishing the goals of �advanc[ing] the prosperity, democratic values and institutions, and security of our Hemisphere� (Summit of the Americas 1994). The leaders of the Americas, at their initial meeting in Miami, decided together to begin the construction of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), an initiative to unite these thirty-four countries into a free trade zone of over 834 million people and a combined GDP of over $12.7 trillion (2002 figures, World Bank 2004). At the fourth Summit of the Americas in November 2005, in Mar del Plata, Argentina, free trade and increased economic integration were reiterated as key to raising standards of living, improving working conditions and better protecting the environment, and leaders pledged to �expand our trade, as a means of boosting growth and our capacity to generate more, higher quality, and better-paying jobs� (Summit of the Americas 2005, paragraph 18).

The Summit agenda also recognizes gender issues as significant to the promotion of the goal of �economic growth with equity to reduce poverty.�  The Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality, which calls upon governments to strengthen national institutions responsible for women's development, adopt public policies aimed at promoting fairness, bring national legal institutions in line with international treaties, and improve women's access to justice, among other steps was adopted in Quebec at the Third Summit of the Americas in 2001. At the Mar del Plata Summit, leaders of the Americas reiterated in their Declaration that �[w]e will combat gender-based discrimination in the work place, promoting equal opportunities to eliminate existing disparities between men and women in the working world through an integrated approach that incorporates gender perspective in labor policies�� (Summit of the Americas 2005, paragraph 23).

Many countries, through national and international policies and treaties, have committed to promote the concept of gender equality � encapsulated, for example, in the United Nations� millennium development round Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women (United Nations 2005).  The Organization of American States has joined other multilateral organizations in working to �incorporate a gender perspective throughout the inter-American system� and to �make enhanced efforts to integrate a gender perspective into every aspect of the hemispheric agenda, from human rights to trade policy� (Organization of America States 2004). The OAS General Assembly has promised to �[i]ntegrate a gender perspective into its resolutions, activities, and initiatives, as appropriate, to ensure that they benefit women and men on an equal basis� (Organization of American States 2003).

This paper will examine some of the issues that can be taken into account in incorporating a gender perspective into trade policy. The following issues are examined:

Different characteristics attributed to men and to women that may affect their respective roles in trade and their reactions to changes in trade policy;

The means by which gender issues have been incorporated into trade policy in the Americas;

Discussion of tools that could be utilized to address this issue.

It should be noted that this paper is to serve as a preliminary step towards understanding the issues, and is by no means proscriptive; the aim is, rather, to stimulate an initial discussion between trade policymakers and those examining gender mainstreaming issues and to provide trade policymakers some guidance in making future policy decisions. It also recognizes the wide body of work in this area, including work by academics, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

II. Why should trade policymakers care about gender?

In theory, trade is gender-neutral; factors of production include �land,� �labour� and �owners of capital� but not �men� and �women�. Trade enhances some activities and diminishes others; creates opportunities for some sectors and destroys others without regard for the gender of those employed therein or reliant thereon. Trade theory recognizes that different groups are affected differently by changes in trade policy. This can be illustrated by the example of the removal of a tariff. In a simple small-country model, the removal of a tariff on widgets causes the price of widgets in the small country to fall. Consumers will benefit, as they can now buy a larger bundle of widgets for the same income. They may even be able to buy a more varied bundle of goods as a result of the lower price of widgets; that is, the opportunity price of widgets has declined: less of other goods must be given up to buy enough widgets to satisfy the consumer�s needs. Producers and workers are also affected by the removal of the tariff: this policy move will change the relative prices of domestic and imported goods and will cause resources to shift from one sector into another. It is now less profitable to produce widgets, so over time, companies that were able to produce widgets only under the cover of tariff-elevated prices will move out of the widget sector. The resources previously used to produce widgets will shift into other sectors; in a free trade situation, these resources will move to sectors in which they will be utilized more efficiently. Workers employed in those companies will lose their jobs and must shift into other activities. The government will lose the revenue it previously garnered from tariffs on widgets. Overall, the economy will win in terms of the elimination of the so-called �deadweight loss� gaining efficiency and overall welfare.^[2]

Looking at this example, how a person in this country fares has more to do with that individual�s relationship to widgets than to whether they are male of female. People working in firms that used to produce widgets but can no longer compete will lose as a result of the removal of widget tariffs. Those people are important to the policymaker because they will no longer have a job and may need some sort of unemployment insurance, retraining programme or other adjustment assistance. The trade policymaker will need to think about what would best help these people make the transition into a more competitive and sustainable sector. The people working in the sectors into which the resources released by companies leaving widgets are also of interest to the policymaker, as they are the winners from the trade policy decision. These are the people who benefit from free trade and whose industry is providing employment. Consumers are also important to the trade policymaker, as their increased consumption, resulting from the money saved as a result of the eliminated tariff, help the economy grow. The policymaker must also consider the implications of the removal of widget tariffs on the government, which has lost tariff revenue, and the people whose welfare has declined as a result of no longer receiving benefits from government services that had to be cut or cut back as a result.

Gender becomes of concern to the trade policymaker if the fact of being a man or a woman somehow affects the person�s relationship to widgets � that is, if the impact of the trade policy action in �gendered.� If being a man makes an individual more likely to fall into the category of displaced widget workers, this is necessary information to the policymaker. If women as a group benefit more from consuming more widgets, or if they are the group more likely to have previously benefited from government services financed by widget tariffs, this is also important information for the policymaker. 

While economic models do not consider whether the winners or losers are male or female, data and anecdotal evidence suggest that there may be some characteristics inherent to or related to each gender that will cause these groups to react differently to trade policy changes. If policymakers are able to better understand the gender-related constraints and advantages, they can better anticipate the results of trade policy changes and work to construct policies and programmes that can address the consumption, wage, and employment effects in their country. This can help policymakers reach their goals of promoting gender equity and effecting a successful transition to free trade.

Before examining the gendered effects of trade, it is important to understand what is meant by the concept of �gender.� The notion of gender differs conceptually from that of sex, which refers to the biologically determined fact of being a man or a woman. Gender refers to �how a person�s biology is culturally valued and interpreted� into ideas of what constitutes men�s and women�s roles (Reeves and Baden 2000). Gender, as other components of identity, will influence the way people behave, with whom they will associate, their relationship to the state and society, their expectations and decision-making. Gender ideologies are built into social structures, such as the household, legal systems, markets and states and are expressed in practices that are translated into norms of acceptable behaviour, social expectations, differences in access to resources, and in the division of labour.

All societies have gender systems which attribute different roles to men and women. Gender identities are superimposed on other identities, and interact with other factors � level of income, degree of education, ethnicity, race, for example � and at times these other elements may take precedence in determining an individual�s response to changes in economic policy. Nonetheless each group - for example ethnic or socioeconomic - will include roughly half each of men and women, whose relationships to one another are influenced by prevalent gender norms. However, as socially constructed, gender identities are open to challenge, change and variation.

While the issue of gender concerns both men and women, current policies and programs aimed at �gender equality� have put a seemingly disproportionate emphasis on women. This is because in general (although not everywhere), men have traditionally had a dominant role in social relations, in particular those of authority and power.^[3] Another reason is the manner in which the notion of gender has emerged on the policy agenda.^[4]  The focus on women can be seen as an effort to address an existing situation in which women have had less access to assets, markets and political bodies than, traditionally, have men.^[5]

The issue of gender can be phrased in two different, but often complementary, ways. One approach focuses on equality: the idea that men and women should have equal opportunities with the goal of creating a level playing field. The other approach phrases the issue in terms of equity and places the emphasis more on equal outcomes for men and women, and thus stresses the different needs, interests, and desires of men and women.

The link between trade liberalization and gender issues is far from clearly understood. Some groups claim that trade liberalization hurts women; other research indicates that trade improves prospects for women�s employment and promotes greater wage equality among genders; still others claim that gender does not necessarily determine whether a person will win or lose as a result of a change in trade policy. From a trade policy perspective, if trade liberalization affects men differently from women, it is important for the trade policymaker to be aware of this in the negotiation and implementation of trade agreements and in the implementation of parallel policies that will assist in the transition to freer trade, in order to avoid exacerbating inequities, in the case where gender equality is a goal, or to assist in assuring both groups a smooth transition, when gender equity is the objective.

III. Why may women and men be affected differently by economic policies?

As previously mentioned, trade creates opportunities for some, diminishes them for others. Changes in trade policy impact the price level facing consumers, the level and distribution of employment, and relative wages. This section of the paper will discuss why and how men and women may react differently as consumers, as workers and as participants in the overall economy.

Men�s and women�s reactions to change and interaction with economic structures may vary. Two main source of these differences can be identified: (1) inherent structural factors due to specific physiological characteristics; and (2) socially constructed differences that have been influenced by history, culture and perceptions.

The essential structural difference between men and women is a consequence of their respective reproductive roles. The biological capacity of women to bear children results in particular restrictions and constraints that men do not face. Motherhood causes women to need to be absent from the productive sector at the very least while giving birth and, generally, for some time to care for the offspring � in many societies operationalized as the need for maternity leave and day care. The degree to which this characteristic is a constraint on economic activity will, of course, be directed and determined by existing societal structures.

The second category of differences includes those resulting from characteristics and conceptions of femininity and masculinity, which have been derived from the biologically determined roles, creating different expectations and constraints for men and women. These, in turn, are reflected in men�s and women�s differing rights and responsibilities. For example, in places where women are seen as the primary caregivers and food providers for the household, they will tend to engage in survival activities - such as communal soup kitchens - much more than men. When women are the primary child-caregivers, their responsibilities for child rearing may limit their mobility and thus their choice of jobs. For men, if they are considered responsible for the cash needs of the household, they may be more likely to take jobs that require them to travel away from the home or to enter illegal activities in time of hardship to meet that social expectation and familial need. Although rights and responsibilities are closely interconnected, they have different consequences. Different legal and customary rights for men and women may result in differences in access to resources such as credit and financial services, to decision-making, to the judicial system.

This second aspect of gender differences causes the analysis to generally be quite different in developing and developed countries; in the latter, disparities in access to education, financing and legal rights are much lower than in the former, and gender differences in the responses to changes in economic policies less marked. However, while it is impossible to generalize across all groups, these differing rights and responsibilities, to a greater or lesser extent, have three main implications that should be taken into account by trade policymakers who are attempting to provide for a smooth transition to free trade and aim to take into account gender differences:

• Differences in time allocation;
• Differences in consumption patterns;
• Differences in participation in production.

A. Differences in time allocation

Different responsibilities and priorities result in different time allocation patterns for men and women.^[6] Women and men each play a double role in the economy. Both participate in the productive sector of the economy as paid workers, managers, executives, consultants. They also both participate in the reproductive sector of the economy as parents and caregivers to the family. However, this latter reproductive role is relatively much more significant for women than for men: data show that women still spend relatively more time than men as mothers and primary caregivers to their families.

Figure 1, below, roughly illustrates this difference in time allocation, showing the amount of time spent by both groups on market activities �defined as economic activities generating revenue � and non-market activities � defined by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as including household maintenance (cleaning, laundry and meal preparation and cleanup); management and shopping for own household; care for children, the sick, the elderly and the disabled in their own household; and community services (UNDP 2003). In aggregate, women spend more time on work (market + nonmarket), but less of that time is spent on income-generating activities. In all cases but one, women�s total work time exceeded that of men. In Colombia, women spent 112% of men�s time on work; in Guatemala 117%; in Venezuela 106% and in the United States 105%. Only in Canada did men work more: in this case, women�s work represented 98% of men�s work time.

 

Figure 1. Men�s and women�s time allocation
Source: Authors Calculations based on UNDP Human Development Indicators 2003

This data illustrates the different time constraints facing men and women. This has important implications for the ability of each group to engage in paid economic activity. Non-market work is not remunerated, but these activities are also not easily or costlessly substituted. Although reproductive work is crucial as it ensures the continued capacity of society to engage in productive activities, it is generally uncompensated and unrecognized in economic data. Thus the opportunity cost to women of entering paid work is often improperly conceptualized. Given the greater amount of time spent on total work activities, a much larger percentage of which is non-remunerated, women can be seen as relatively �time-poor� and face different constraints in entering paid work than men. This means they will react differently than men to change, because they have greater constraints in the way in which they can allocate their labour.

There are several ways in which this factor may be affected by trade policy changes. On the one hand, women�s greater time constraints may limit the type of activities in which they can engage, making it more difficult to enter into certain types of industries if there are no clear substitutes for their non-market work. Women may not be able to access jobs that require long hours or do not have some flexibility in scheduling. They may be considered more expensive workers, potentially requiring maternity leave, day care or time off to care for sick children. These perceptions and realities apply much less to men, particularly in developing countries. On the other hand, trade policy changes could impact gender time allocation patterns. In a study done by the World Bank (2004), comparing household time allocation patterns in exporting and non-exporting zones in Ecuador, it was found that in households in the exporting zone in which both man and wife worked, the man spent twice as much time on household work as did similar men in non-exporting regions.

Women may also engage more in activities considered related to the �household� or reproductive realms � such as growing staple crops � that are unpaid activities and yet contribute directly to the household�s welfare and sustenance. A study of the agricultural sector in Mexico showed that only 15% of women working in that sector were wage-earners and 13% were self-employed, thus leaving 72% of women working without payment (Cardero 2000). Underestimating the �unpaid� productive activities of women can also lead to a skewed evaluation of the incentives and dynamics which determine production and output.

The differences in rights and responsibilities and the consequent uneven share of the paid and unpaid workloads constitute a main difference in men and women�s economic participation and in how they will be affected by economic policy changes.

B. Differences in consumption patterns

Tariff policy can certainly impact one group more than another. Raising or lowering the price of a particular good, by imposing or removing a tariff, will affect those who consume those goods intensively more than those who consume them less. As a consequence of their role as primary caregivers, women�s consumption patterns tend to differ from that of men. Studies show that women�s income is generally spent in large part on the household, in particular on food, education and health care, while a larger proportion of men�s income tends to be oriented towards leisure or personal consumption.^[7] While certainly not always the case, in general, women are still more often responsible for the care-giving activities and food security of the household than men, they will be more affected by changes in prices of certain goods such as, for example, milk and milk products, primary educational materials and medicines. Table 1, below, shows an example of the current tariff rates on some basic consumer goods in one Caribbean country. This data implies that trade liberalization in this case could most likely bring real consumer welfare gains to women.

In this example, we can see that reducing tariffs could have a potentially positive impact on consumers in terms of nutrition and health. Given that the country in this example has little if any local- production of tomatoes or dairy products the impact of tariff reduction on local producers should be relatively minimal compared to the benefit for consumers. While the impact on consumption must be weighed against the impact of reduced government revenue, for such priorities as the provision of basic public services such as transportation or health care, it is evident that this tariff structure would have the greatest impact on those responsible for family care.

C. Differences in production patterns

The differing constraints faced by women and men may also impact the economic activities in which they will engage.^[8] Going back to our example of the removal of a tariff on widgets, the economic winners will be those who shift into the industries that expand as a result of the shift in relative prices. Is there a difference in men�s and women�s abilities to make this shift?

Because of their greater responsibility for reproductive work, women may be more limited than men in terms of the types of jobs they are able to take on. They may seek employment closer to home, may tend to engage in employment on a �needs� basis, making them more vulnerable to changes in the labour market, and may seek more flexible forms of employment. In turn, as a consequence of their inherent reproductive role, employers may perceive women as less reliable and more costly to hire.^[9] Furthermore, women often possess lower levels of technical skills, less work experience, and sometimes lower levels of education � although this is less of a problem in the Americas, where female education tends to match or exceed that of males � resulting in less labour flexibility.^[10] These factors are translated in the labour market in the form of sectorial concentration, vertical segregation and wage differentials.

• Sectorial concentration of production

Data shows that, in general, women�s employment tends to be concentrated in certain types of activities and they may face limitations on the level and degree of earning power and stability they can achieve (Wood 1991).^[11] Initial figures indicate that there are some sectors in which women are disproportionately represented; others in which men predominate. Studies indicate that trade growth in developing countries leads to an expansion in labour-intensive light manufacturing industries and a correlation has been found between the increased concentration of female workers in the manufacturing industry and export growth. Some service sectors, such as the data-processing industry, offer higher quality jobs and heavily employ women (Joekes 1999). For example, in Jamaica, the data-entry industry has provided for relatively prestigious and well-paid clerical jobs, mainly concentrated in the Digiport, an export processing zone dedicated to service industries. On the other hand, some service activities which are also very heavily �feminized� are more precarious and low-paid.

Figures from the International Labour Organization (ILO), shown in Table 2 below, suggest that, globally, both men�s and women�s participation in the economy is tending to shift towards the services sector. While true for both genders, women�s concentration is noticeably greater.

The proportion of women�s employment in the agricultural sector in regard to the total labour force has decreased overall; similar results are seen for men�s share. In terms of men�s and women�s employment, the industrial sector has not changed very significantly although it seemed to have been diminishing, as can be seen in the numbers for Mexico. The services sector has gained the most, particularly in Mexico, where in 1990, 68 percent of women worked in this sector, and where women working in the services sector now represent 20 percent of the workforce; with men working in services comprises 29 percent. Looking at the sample, over 70 percent of the female workforce in Chile, El Salvador, Jamaica, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago are employed in the services sector. It is, however, difficult to know what this means. The term �service sector� is very broad and encompasses a variety of activities, ranging from hotel or restaurant workers to domestic workers. Obviously, the characteristics and quality of these �service� jobs varies widely, as well as the share of female and male employment in each subsector.

While broad trends can be seen, the lack of disaggregated gender-specific data often limits the ability to glean gender-specific impacts. In order to better be able to understand the impact of this trend on the quality of male and female employment, it is necessary to better explain the underlying data, particularly an indication of what makes up different sectors. For example, in the case of agriculture, it is said that women tend to constitute a very large share of the workers in non-traditional agricultural exports (NTAEs) such as cut flowers or in the fruit and vegetable exports. In Mexico, 80 to 90 percent of the workforce in the vegetable production sector is female, mostly temporary or seasonal. In Brazil, in the fruit sector, 65 percent of the labour force is female while in the cut flower industry of Ecuador, 70 percent of the labour force is female (Dolan and Sorby 2003).

While the distribution of the labour force by gender across sectors is one useful indicator for policymakers to consider during the transition to free trade, the case of Panama (below) illustrates the difficulties of making generalizations. Figure 2 shows that the majority of employees in the Food and Beverages sector are men, while women predominate in the Apparel sector.

At first glance, then, policymakers could assume that women would be hurt disproportionally if trade liberalization were to diminish the apparel sector. Figure 3, below, however, shows that the Food and Beverages industry actually represents 50% of total female employment in manufacturing, and the Apparel sector constitutes 23% of total female employment in manufacturing. Thus, even though women make up 80% of the Apparel sector, more women � as well as men -- would in fact be affected by dislocation in the Food and Beverage sector.

Finally, another factor to take into account is the growth of the sector. The Food and Beverage sector has gained in importance for women over time while the Apparel sector has diminished. This indicates that the effect of policies on the food sector should be carefully assessed and also that attention should be paid to workers in the apparel sector in terms of what they may be able to do as employment in that sector diminishes over time.^[12]

Many elements may come into the assessment of the impact of policies on any given sector at the aggregate level (agriculture, manufacturing, services) and at the disaggregated industry level. Furthermore, other factors may come into play, such as the degree of transferability of skills, the relative quality of new job opportunities compared to those existing previously, and the sustainability of the new industries. Women employed in export manufacturing typically earn more than they would in traditional sectors (World Bank 2004, p.1). This is most likely also true of women previously working in the informal sector. In many countries, a large share of women and men work in the informal sector. According to ILO data, in Brazil an estimated 43 percent of women and 28 percent of men worked in the informal sector; in Peru, estimates set 66 percent of men and 77 percent of women as informal employees (International Labour Organization 2002).^[13]
Women�s concentration in the informal sector is explained by the fact that it provides for easy entry, given the low level of skills and capital required and that the flexible hours and often home based employment are compatible with women domestic responsibilities. However, if the informal sector has some advantages for women, it remains unstable and yields small incomes, offers disadvantageous bargaining positions, less formal organization and fewer commensurate benefits, such as pension benefit (Mayoux 1995).

• Vertical segregation of production

The concept of vertical segregation refers to the manner in which men and women are distributed by type of job within the same occupation. Often, one sex is more likely to be at a higher grade or level than the other - for example, as Anker (1998) points out, �men are more likely to be production supervisor and women production workers, or men senior manager and women junior manager.� Studies show that women tend to be concentrated in lower-level positions, typically those not involving decision-making or managerial skills, and also in more administrative positions.^[14]  The reasons behind occupational segregation are multiple, but can be seen as stemming from three main factors: difference in skills, training or experience; perceptions regarding appropriate activities for women and perceptions of women�s reliability in the workforce; and women�s own demand for more flexible forms of employment.

Even in activities that employ a very large share of female labour � such as those in the non-traditional agricultural export industry � the distribution of male and female workers in different positions is noticeably sex-segregated. This clear occupational segregation is largely determined by perceptions of female qualities (such as dexterity and patience) and male qualities (such as physical strength and mechanical skills). In the cut-flower industry, for example, women usually perform the tasks of �weeding, tying plants, pruning, cutting, picking and packing� while men are involved in �pre-cultivation, irrigation, fumigation, construction and equipment maintenance� which are tasks that involve more mobility and more technical knowledge (Dolan and Sorby 2003, p.33).

A World Bank study on the export-oriented manufacturing sector in Bangladesh found that as a result of the development of the export sector, more women were employed. However, those employed in the export sector were found to be no better off than those employed in non-export industries. Women in export industries earned less than their male counterparts, their likelihood of being in the upper-level positions was lower, as well as their likelihood of being promoted. Over time, male workers� wages increased much more rapidly than female workers� and even in activities that were dominated by female workers, such as assembly line work, supervisors were typically male. Female workers in the garment industry earned 58 percent of male�s wages^[15] and the wage gap had increased over time, from 66 percent in 1990 to 50 percent of male�s wages in 1997. The sewing section is dominated by female workers (57 percent), yet managerial positions in the section are predominantly occupied by men (91 percent). In the cutting section, which is the best paid; men dominate all positions (90 percent) (Paul-Majunder and Begum 2000).

Vertical segregation of this type results in women being in relatively more precarious positions. Data from Mexico, set out in Table 3. illustrate this point. The rate of increase of employment in the maquiladora sector has slowed down since 1997, and has actually been negative in 2001 and 2002. While both men�s and women�s employment has followed the trend, women�s share of employment has grown less rapidly than men�s, as women, who occupy lower positions are more easily replaced or dismissed and tend to be the laid off first in times of economic slowdown.
 

Finally, vertical segregation impacts on the possibility for women to acquire new skills and training and thus improve their employment perspectives. As the gender segregation of occupation in some industries tends to result in having women largely concentrated in activities deemed �unskilled� while men are seen as �semi-skilled� workers, women who are concentrated in �low-skill� tasks that, for example do not require using machinery, may not undergo training. When differences in occupations stem from perceptions and prejudices, they may result in inefficiencies as potentially skilled or capable workers are not assigned positions where their capacities would be best utilized.^[16]

• Wage differentials

Another clear gender difference between men and women in productive activities is that, in the aggregate, women typically receive lower wages than men for equal work. Table 4 gives some indication of this situation, which is referred to as the �gender wage gap.�

While this wage gap has decreased at almost all levels of education, women�s wages having increased on average from 70 percent of men�s wages in the early 1990s to 74 percent of men�s wages in the late 1990s, the wage gap still remains significant. It is important to note that a great variation exists between countries, indicating that the issue may have been better tackled in some cases than in others.

The terms of the �narrowing� of the gender wage gap are very important to assess because they can determine whether the narrowing has brought welfare gains, and for whom. However, in terms of the specific impact of trade liberalization on the gender wage gap, no consensus exists. Box 1 below provides a snapshot of some of the existing approaches to the question. This lack of consensus reflects the difficulty in disentangling the effect of trade liberalization on wages from the effect of other policies or other events, such as devaluation, tax reform, change in values and perceptions or other changes in legislation.

PART IV. Trade policy: trade agreements and gender equity

Trade has played an important role in the economic development model of countries of the Americas. Trade makes up a significantly larger component of GDP than in previous decades, and countries are working to gain even greater access to external markets and to enhance their insertion into the international system through bilateral, regional and multilateral trade arrangements. Countries in the Americas have participated actively in the growth of trade and trade commitments taking place over the last decade and a half, undertaking significant measures to unilaterally liberalize their trade regimes at the national level, participating in market-opening trade agreements at the regional and bilateral levels, and obligating themselves to further open their trade regimes at the multilateral level through WTO commitments and negotiations. Tariffs in Latin American countries have fallen and been rationalized,^[17] the use of non-tariff measures has been addressed in various trade agreements, and domestic regulatory regimes revised so as to provide a friendlier environment for trade and investment. Previously protected markets have been opened up and trade disciplines made more compatible among countries, giving foreign firms increasingly the same access to markets as enjoyed by domestic ones.

Modern trade agreements, roughly defined as those signed after the completion of the Uruguay Round in the mid-1990s, include liberalization of border barriers but also go further, addressing issues previously reserved for domestic regulators such as services, investment, intellectual property rights, and competition policy. Since the mid-1990s, bilateral trade agreements have proliferated significantly among countries of the Americas.

Trade agreements in the Americas have as their objective the expansion of trade and investment and the establishment of a framework of predictable rules for conducting business. As stated in their preambular language, most trade agreements also aim, through this opening, to enhance competitiveness, expand jobs and improve working conditions and living standards in their countries.^[18]  Issues not previously addressed in legal trade texts have of late been included in trade agreements � for example, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and subsequent trade agreements negotiated by Canada and the United States include language on labour and on the environment. Additionally, governments have increasingly undertaken studies assessing the impact of trade agreements on the environment, on different sectors of society, and on the economy as a whole. Appendix I sets out language on gender included in trade agreements signed by OAS Member States.

Over time, various civil society groups and NGOs, along with international organizations working on the issue, have called for trade negotiators to take gender into account in their negotiations. While the launch of the Decade for Women by the United Nations in 1985 can be seen as the beginning of the acknowledgement of the relevance of gender concerns by a wide array of actors, the link between gender and trade liberalization was not immediately emphasized, and other issues such as education, healthcare and literacy were first examined through the gender prism. The 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing � and the spur in academic research, activist mobilization and government awareness it generated- gave the impulse for a large section of the literature on gender and trade, and this literature has been developing since then, exploring a variety of aspects linked to trade liberalization. As trade liberalization has come to encompass areas much beyond the simple reduction of tariffs, so has the literature, exploring the implications and interconnectedness between issues such as services liberalization, agricultural liberalization, intellectual property rights regulations, labour mobility, environmental sustainability, as well as labour rights. However, despite the increase in studies, the tools to operationalize concerns about gender equity, have not yet been fully developed.

While many groups seeking to incorporate elements of gender equity into trade policy have focused strongly on incorporating gendered language in the text of trade agreements, trade policy includes much more than the text of the agreement. The actual implementation of trade measures is done through domestic policy reform. Preparations for negotiations include assessments of sectoral and overall economic needs and potential. Implementation of trade negotiations often is done in conjunction with supplementary reforms and technical assistance projects. All of these phases could be strong candidates for addressing gender concerns.
 
A. Trade policy: impact studies

Increasingly, governments are carrying out ex-ante assessments of the potential impact that trade agreements may have on various sectors of their societies and economies. Particular emphasis has been placed on the environmental impact, as well as the effect on specific sectors. While gender does not figure as a specific component of most of these assessments, these studies provide important information on the impact on particular sectors and on the overall economic affect.

In the United States, for example, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) conducts an investigation of the potential impact of each trade agreement negotiated or entered into by the United States. These impact assessments, which often use Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) analysis and cover a large number of sectors, are organized according to the issues covered within the agreements.^[19] The Government of Canada, since 1999, has conducted environmental assessments of each of the trade agreements it is negotiating ^[20]  and has developed a thorough methodology for doing so. Recently, Canada has also commissioned consultations with civil society and a study on both the environmental and labour aspects of its negotiations with the CA4, thus taking a more inclusive approach to its assessment of its current negotiations.

The European Union (EU) also carries out assessments, named Sustainable Impact Assessments (SIAs)^[21], that differ from the above experiences in that they are conceived as integrated assessments of potential impacts in economic, environmental and social terms, not only on the EU but also its partners� economies. They explicitly examine the social impacts of trade agreements and specific attention is paid to gender under that header in the studies. For example, in the recent SIA reports by the EU Commission prior to its negotiation of the EU-Chile Free Trade Agreement, it is stated that �[t]he comparison of the sustainability impacts is established on the basis of sustainability indicators. These indicators cover the economic, social and environmental fields. The impact of the trade agreement is assessed for each indicator in relation with several significance criteria: magnitude, pre-existing situation, equity, reversibility and capacity to change. Particular issues paid attention to include economic growth, natural resources stocks, pollution, equity, gender and indigenous people issues� (Planistat - Luxembourg 2002).

The EU-ACP Agreement also provides a sector-by-sector analysis of the partner economies, and special attention is paid to environmental and �social� issues, including gender impacts, under Chapter 3 �Sustainability issues� (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2004). Finally, EU Regional Strategy papers also include gender elements, such as in the EU-Central America regional strategy paper 2002-2006 which states: �The strategy proposed by the EC regarding Central America is aimed at [..] supporting efforts towards economic and social development. In supporting existing common policies, linking rehabilitation and sustainable development, this strategy must also take into account the need to promote equal access for men and women to political, social and economic development� (European Commission 2004).

Rigorous studies utilizing a systematic approach to separate out the gender effects of proposed trade policies, examining all relevant factors, including those examined in this paper, would provide a significant contribution to assist trade policymakers in assessing the impact of trade policy changes. There is a real need for the future research agenda to include the collection of sound data and the development of sound methodology for assessing the gender impacts of trade policy.

B. Trade policy: negotiation of trade agreements

Several trade agreements, particularly those signed after the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), have come to include provisions, often in side agreements, aimed to strengthen the development and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations and to protect, enhance and enforce basic workers' rights. In keeping with this trend, gender issues are also increasingly being incorporated into the texts of trade agreements, often within the framework of cooperation on labour issues.

The EU has been the most active in including gender aspects as part of the trade framework, both in its own internal agreements and their implementation and in agreements with third parties.^[22] In terms of agreements with countries of the Americas, while the EU-MERCOSUR Integration Framework Agreement of 1995 referred only to the promotion of �regard for social development, particularly the promotion of fundamental social rights,� the Political Dialogue and Co-operation Agreement between the European Community and the Andean Community countries, signed in October 2003, which serves as the framework for trade liberalization, makes multiple references to the need to promote equal treatment and opportunities for men and women, to respect their commitment to ILO conventions, to respect and promote the human rights of men and women, as well as the need to promote positive measures in favour of women.^[23] Other EU agreements contain similar text.^[24]

Language on gender equity is also found in trade agreements among countries in the Americas. This language can be seen in the table contained in Appendix I. One of the earlier agreements to include such references was the NAFTA, which was signed in 1992 and came into force in 1994. In this text, reference is made, within the side Agreement on Labour Cooperation, to gender equity in the workplace which includes the elimination of employment discrimination, including on gender grounds, and equal pay for men and women as two of the �guiding principles that Parties are committed to promote.�^[25] Other free trade agreements include similar language. The 1996 Canada-Chile Side Agreement on Labour Cooperation has a reference to the �equality of men and women in the workplace,�^[26] and the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (D.R.- CAFTA), signed in August 2004, makes mention of gender issues in its annex on labour cooperation and capacity building mechanisms.� ^[27]
 
Likewise, the Hemisphere�s Customs Unions all include language on the promotion of opportunities for women, with a view to gender equality. The Andean Community�s revised Cartagena agreement includes language promoting the participation of women, and CARICOM urges increased participation of women in social and economic activities. MERCOSUR language goes further, with a Common Market Group resolution urging all MERCOSUR entities to take into account the issue of gender in their activities, with a view towards promoting gender equity and equality.^[28]

This latter approach � addressing the issues of gender outside of the legal text of the trade agreement, as part of the parallel process of activities and discussions surrounding the organization and implementation of these trade commitments � is part of the effort to include gender concerns in trade policy-making. It can be seen as a means of �mainstreaming� gender into trade activities, and this is also the approach followed in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum � or, as it is more commonly known, APEC. APEC, whose 21 members include five countries of the Americas � the United States, Canada, Chile, Mexico and Peru � has actively sought the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all its activities. APEC is by nature different from free trade agreements such as those mentioned in the previous paragraphs, or from organizations such as the WTO. It is a forum to encourage trade liberalization, through the implementation, through individual action plans, including domestic measures, geared towards trade and investment liberalization by member states.

While the trade liberalizing initiative in APEC is not done through an institutionalized framework � members are not required to enter into legally binding obligations � APEC does include an organized structure of working groups and committees. Within APEC, gender is seen as a cross-cutting issue, which is overseen by a �Gender Focal Point Network� or GFPN, which reports to the SOM (Senior Officials Meeting) and is in charge of monitoring and facilitating the integration of gender in APEC�s activities. This implies encouraging gender training of officials and specialists; ensuring that funding requests and projects respond to gender criteria; encouraging participation of women in APEC fora and projects, etc. The GNFP is also in charge of working with member economies to strengthen women�s participation in these economies, to provide gender training and expertise and to encourage the gathering and use of gender disaggregated data. Finally, the GFPN serves as a means of communication between fora and member economies as well as with the Secretariat and the Senior Officials, to whom it reports.

C. Trade policy: beyond trade agreements

While trade agreements are important instruments for opening markets and can have positive auxiliary effects in terms of domestic market reform, transparency, and increased cooperation, steps taken at the domestic level form an important basis and determine an economy�s successful insertion into the global economy. This is especially true in Latin America, a region that has carried out far-reaching reforms over the past decade in terms of economic stability and democratic governance, but currently still faces major challenges in these areas.

The instruments of trade policy include the variety of measures aimed at removing trade distortions and increasing a country�s integration into the world trading system. These include measures as wide ranging as domestic regulations, institutional reform with a view to increasing the efficiency of institutions to support entrepreneurial activities, infrastructure reform designed to improve efficiency, measures to improve human capital and boost labour force productivity, initiatives to create and assimilate knowledge about technology and to enhance the capacity to utilize that technology.

It is also at this level that gender equity and gender equality concerns are most relevantly addressed. While trade policy effects may coincide with some gendered results, it is evident that trade is not the cause, but rather a catalyst for these effects. It is widely recognized in the economics literature that the most effective way to remedy a distortion is to address the cause of that distortion directly. Thus, an inherent inequity resulting from a domestic structure cannot be remedied by language in a trade agreement. The source of the problem must be identified and remedied. However, it must be recognized that while trade may not be itself biased against a particular gender, or �gendered,� trade policies may have gendered impacts on societies due to the existence of gendered social structures and thus may act as a �magnifying glass� and worsen existing disparities. As such, parallel activities designed to assist in the transition to free trade may effectively incorporate elements designed to mitigate this exacerbation.

While these gender equity issues do not arise from trade liberalization, they may, to an extend, be able to be addressed as countries prepare for the transition ot free trade. If, for example, in a particular country, it is known that women are underrepresented in the more competitive economic sectors, programmes may be developed to assist women entrepreneurs to gain entry into this sector. Such programmes could be tailored to the needs of these particular people, taking into account their time constraints, for example, their skill level and previous experience. At the same time as conducting targeted retraining programmes, the government could also look to the slightly longer-term, placing emphasis on training women in more technical skills in order to help them move up the skill ladder, and schools could be oriented to become more forward looking in developing the skills of girls, for example by focusing on teaching them more math, science, and computer skills, elements traditionally not emphasized in female education.

Studies, notably those conducted by the World Bank, show that there is empirical evidence that the gender-based division of labor and the resulting inequalities slow development, economic growth and poverty reduction. Gender inequalities often lower the productivity of labor, both in the short and long term, and create inefficiencies in labor allocation in households and the economy at large. They also contribute to poverty and reduce human well-being. As such, countries, in their effort to meet their stated goal of increasing welfare through trade, could gain real benefits from taking into account the gender differences existing in their countries, when formulating their strategies for maximizing their benefits from free trade.

• Trade capacity building initiatives

Recently, in their trade agreements, trade policymakers have begun to explicitly recognize the importance of activities undertaken in parallel to the trade negotiations that are designed to assist countries to better take advantage of the eventual agreement.

This recognition was operationalized in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, through the creation of a Hemispheric Cooperation Program (HCP), ^[29] announced at the seventh FTAA Ministerial Meeting held in Quito, Ecuador in November 2002. The HCP�s purpose is to �strengthen the capacities of those countries seeking assistance to participate in the negotiations, implement their trade commitments, and address the challenges and maximize the benefits of hemispheric integration, including productive capacity and competitiveness in the region� (Quito Ministerial Declaration, paragraph 18) and includes �a mechanism to assist these countries to develop national and/or sub-regional trade capacity building strategies that define, prioritize and articulate their needs and programs pursuant to those strategies, and to identify sources of financial and non-financial support.� These needs are to be identified as follows: assistance needed to support the negotiation of the agreement; assistance in the implementation of the agreement; and assistance to countries in the transition to the FTAA.

The importance of this third element � assistance to countries in the transition- was recognized once again by Ministers at their eighth Ministerial meeting, held in Miami in November 2003, where they stated that �[w]e recognize that trade can play a major role in the promotion of economic development and the reduction of poverty. Therefore, we underscore that the commitment of countries to integrate trade into their national development plans, such as Poverty Reduction Strategies, is central to ensuring the role of trade in development and securing increased trade-related assistance in the region.� They called upon their vice ministers and the Tripartite Committee �the Organization of American States (OAS), Inter America Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) � to undertake a number of steps that will �constitute a beginning to the process of enhancing the capacity of the countries that are seeking assistance to complete negotiation of the FTAA Agreement, prepare to implement its terms, and to enhance their capacity to trade, and successfully adapt to integration.�

The HCP has begun to be implemented. Countries, with the support of the Tripartite Committee, have undertaken extensive consultations with national stakeholders to determine their broad needs and to set these out in specific project profiles. Various projects addressing specific needs have been implemented.

Trace capacity building was also given prominent place in the negotiations towards, and was included in the text of the Dominican Republic � Central America � United States Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). Chapter 19 on Administration of the Agreement and Trade Capacity Building recognizes that �trade capacity building assistance is a catalyst for the reforms and investments necessary to foster trade-driven economic growth, poverty reduction, and adjustment to liberalized trade� (DR-CAFTA 2004). Similar language is included in the draft text of the U.S. � Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. The summary of the U.S. � Colombia agreement indicates that this agreement will also include �programs for small and medium-sized enterprises and rural farmers, and programs for improvements in the transportation infrastructure and telecommunications, to assist Colombia in implementing the obligations of the agreement and more broadly benefiting from the opportunities it creates� (USTR 2006).

The activities described in the project profiles of the FTAA�s HCP, and those identified in the DR-CATA�s National Action Plans, can be roughly grouped into the categories of institutional reform, infrastructure development, private sector development, and human capital strengthening. Gender considerations could be included within these project profiles and under these four categories as a means to tackle existing gender inequalities at the domestic level, with the help of the donor community and with the perspective of maximizing the benefits of trade liberalization. The gender component in project profiles could furthermore be inspired by other projects that have been carried out previously.

Institutional and regulatory framework - Commitments made under the WTO agreements and the implementation of eventual FTAA obligations necessitate that countries to modernize their legal and regulatory structures and strengthen their institutional and administrative capabilities. Institutional reform goes hand in hand with the steps policymakers have taken towards implementing stable macroeconomic policies --- for example, policies aimed towards maintaining a stable real exchange rate, policies to discipline the budget and external deficits, and stable monetary policies --- to create an enabling environment for private sector growth and to better a country�s investment climate.

Institutional reform can play a significant role in the success of trade policy reform. Efficient, transparent, credible institutions minimize transactions costs and foster an environment conducive to doing business. A priority of governments as they make the transition to free trade is often that of upgrading the quality of institutions that play a particular role in trade, such as customs administration, taxation, banking and financial supervision, enterprise registration and monitoring, investment promotion and others that directly impact the result of reform. Of prime importance is the legal framework, including effective law enforcement and increased administrative efficiency.

In this context, preparing for the transition to free trade, may afford countries the opportunity to analyze their legal framework concerning labour legislation to ensure that men and women face equal terms in their labour market participation. A non-discriminatory labour market will serve as a step towards gender equity as well as towards economic modernization. Similarly, revising and simplifying the processes for creating small and micro-enterprises, reducing disincentives to small entrepreneurs, could serve to boost competitiveness as well as increase access to groups who previously were not able to start a business � in many cases, this could include women. In keeping with this, the means of disseminating information regarding the legal framework for operating a business could be re-examined to ensure that it reaches even rural women or those with less access to the formal channels of information.

Finally, to ensure the coherence of national policies at all level and facilitate the taking into account of gender specific needs, countries may require assistance in �mainstreaming� gender in their administrations and in providing training for their civil servants. For example, Argentina has established a partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank to help finance the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the offices in charges of �women�s issues� at the federal, provincial and municipal levels. ^[30]

Infrastructure improvement - A functioning physical infrastructure is essential to conducting the flow of goods and services. Infrastructure includes transportation infrastructure such as roadways and ports, energy infrastructure, but also quality assurance and testing infrastructure, and information technology and communications infrastructure. Infrastructure is key to unable both men and women to participate in the productive sector. However, because of the time and spatial constraints women may face, well-functioning infrastructure becomes all the more important. In this regard, projects to improve roads and public transportation or to facilitate access to � for example - financial services can bring significant improvements for women. Similarly, childcare infrastructures are also essential, whether through neighbourhood cr�ches or on-site facilities.

Private sector development. In order to be able to participate effectively in the international economy and to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the transition to freer trade, such as those created by the implementation of an eventual FTAA, countries will need to upgrade their productive capabilities, increase product quality and enhance the private-public policy dialogue. In many countries that have liberalized relatively recently and do not have a long history of active private sector participation of the international economy, there may be a strong need for support in developing the infrastructure for and capacities of entrepreneurs to take advantage of external markets. Such initiatives could include the formation of agencies or bodies to help firms export; government provision of matching grants or favourable trade financing for firms that export; duty drawback or temporary admission regimes; provision of information on foreign markets; support for small businesses to help them continue their activities in the face of increased competition and to promote the competitiveness of firms.

Projects to upgrade the technology of small firms have proven very successful. One concrete example is that of Ecuador, where the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the government of Norway and a local foundation el Centro de Desarrollo Integral y Endogeno de la Mujer partnered to upgrade the technology used by a small, women-owned, chocolate producing firm, La Carmela. As a result of the introduction of state-of-the-art machinery and of the re-training of the personnel, La Carmela�s production has increased in quantity and quality and is now producing �top-class� chocolates which could compete with those produced in the USA or Belgium (United Nations Industrial Development Organization 2003). UNIDO carried out similar projects in other countries, such as in Brazil where it contributed to improve the textile and garment industries competitiveness by introducing computer-aided design and manufacturing (United Nations Industrial Development Organization 2005). Such specifically-targeted projects can assist in boosting small businesses and enabling them to participate in the world economy.

The creation of networks can also be a successful strategy to help small firms benefit from liberalization. Female entrepreneurs statistically tend to have smaller businesses and to be less formally organized. Programs could be developed that take this fact into account that specifically reach out to them and address their needs, could help mitigate women�s under-representation in typical fora such as Chambers of Commerce.

Human capital development. A key component in determining a country�s success in a competitive international market is the development and strengthening of human capital. People need to be trained to be competitive: a literate, educated, capable workforce can serve to attract quality investment and to advance higher value-added activities. Human capital development activities includes basic and targeted training, including training oriented towards building capacity for the workforce to absorb new technology; programmes designed to enhance innovation; and trade capacity building to assist countries to undertake and implement new trade commitments, especially in areas such as customs procedures, TBT and SPS, enforcement of intellectual property rights, development of competition policies and so forth. In addition, in preparing for the transition towards free trade, targeted retraining programs for sectors that may experience dislocation as a result of trade liberalization are of pirme importance.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of activities undertaken in this sphere, policymakers must ensure that the types of policies and programmes enacted met the needs of the population. Here, taking gender into account can strongly contribute to the success of the activity. For example, if it is known that a large percentage of microentrepreneurs in manufacturing are women, it is likely that this group of people will have had less technological training and have received less information about issues related to globalization than male entrepreneurs, and may need to spend more time catching up in these areas. Second, trade adjustment programmes can be tailored to meet the needs of men and of women. For example, when providing training programmes to retool worker�s skills, taking into account that the time at which they are held may determine their success: a main caregiver, usually a woman, will find it difficult to attend classes during the time that the family needs to be fed.

There have been several programs aimed at entrepreneurs. For example, the IDB and UNCTAD have partnered for a three-year capacity-building programme for El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama whose general objective is to create sustainable capacity for entrepreneurship promotion and is focused on making extra efforts to reach out to women entrepreneurs, university graduates, and technology-based entrepreneurs (UNCTAD-IDB Partnership for Central America and Panama. 2003). Another program is that of the government of Mexico, which, as part of its campaign �More and Better Jobs for Women�, in cooperation with the ILO Gender Promotion Unit (GENPROM), has launched in initiative in the state of Guerrero to train 400 women in the urban informal sector in entrepreneurship skills as well as improve their knowledge of the financial system and of the opportunities that are available to them for technical training (International Labour Organization. 2003b).

Thus, some programmes may specifically target women but others can also be very successful if potential differences between men and women are acknowledged and taken into account in the designing of the training programs.

The four main domains examined above give examples of areas in which project profiles could be drawn and some of examples mentioned could serve as basis for programs within the framework of trade agreements� technical capacity building programmes. These capacity building programmes, such as the FTAA�s HCP, can indeed constitute a logical mechanism for countries that may benefit from trade capacity building or technical assistance in addressing promoting gender equity and equality goals. In fact, within the context of the FTAA, a number of countries have already expressed needs in the area of gender or in the area of promotion of women in their Trade Capacity Building Strategies.^[31] While the FTAA has not yet been completed and there is no indication whether gender equity or equality will be addressed in the text of the negotiations.^[32]

For example, within the HCP program, Colombia has taken advantage of this mechanism to request assistance in the design and implementation of a programme that takes gender considerations into account, with specific project requests in leadership training for female entrepreneurs and skills training for female workers (Free Trade Area of the Americas 2003a, p.9). In their project profiles relating to microenterprises, both Antigua and Barbuda and El Salvador recognize the multiplier social and economic impacts of the high concentration of women in this sector. Antigua and Barbuda makes mention of the concentration of women in the sector in a project profile on assistance to small farmers in the transition to free trade (Free Trade Area of the Americas 2004, p.49) and El Salvador reflects the importance of female participation in a profile requesting assistance for a national bond programme (Free Trade Area of the Americas 2003b, p.71).

Honduras has developed a project profile for a project entitled �Support for Women Micro-Entrepreneurs� whose aim is to �[e]nhance the administrative capacity of women handling micro-enterprises, provide training to improve the quality of their production, advice on how to use distribution channels, and financing to support their efforts so as consolidate subsistence micro-enterprises and make it possible for them to expand or transform their operations� (Free Trade Area of the Americas 2003c, p.45).

As such, the Hemispheric Cooperation Programme, which is an ongoing program, could serve as a vehicle for countries to address their goal to benefit as much as possible from trade liberalization and to promote greater gender equity. Within the bilateral trade agreements, capacity building committees could serve this same purpose. At the multilateral level, this issue is sure to be a component in the discussions of trade-related technical cooperation and aid for trade (World Trade Organization 2005).

V. Conclusions

While trade is not the cause of gender differentials, it may act as a magnifier to existing disparities. Evidence suggests that in many cases men and women are affected differently by changes in trade policy. This is in large part due to the different domestic constraints confronting men and women. In general, particularly in developing countries, it has been found that women have greater constraints to taking advantage of the opportunities than men do. Due to their greater role in the reproductive sector, they tend to be more time-poor than men, and have less flexibility in terms of mobility than men do. This implies that technical assistance activities and programmes to promote women entrepreneurs will need to really take this factor into account in order to be successful. Women and men tend to be concentrated in different industries. In order to successfully plan for a smooth transition to free trade, policymakers must be aware of the impact on industries, of the composition of the labour force, in order to be able to tailor assistance to workers in declining industries. Women and men tend to work at different levels of the same industry, and women in general receive less pay for similar work than men do. While the education level of women and men in the Americas is equal or, in various cases, better for women, women tend, on average, to have lower technical skills than men, which makes them less flexible in moving across jobs and in moving to higher quality jobs. As countries move up the value-added chain, targeting technical education for women would assist them in more effectively utilizing their resources.

Empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that gender-based labor inequalities slow development, economic growth and poverty reduction, lower the productivity of labor, and create inefficiencies in labor allocation in households and the economy at large. As countries prepare for further trade liberalization, for example, through trade capacity-building programmes, efforts could be made to target industries that employ women intensively and implement skills-building programmes. As such, countries, in their effort to meet their stated goal of increasing welfare through trade, gain real benefits from taking into account the gender differences existing in their countries, when formulating their strategies for maximizing their benefits from free trade.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Almeyda, G. 2000. �Financial Services and Women Micro-entrepreneurs�.  In L. de Pauli, ed., Women'sEmpowerment and Economic Justice: Reflecting on Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.  New York: UNIFEM.

Alvarenga, L. 2001. �La situaci�n econ�mica-laboral de la maquila en El Salvador: Un an�lisis de g�nero�. Mujer y Desarrollo, Series No 34. Santiago: ECLAC, 2001.

Anker, R. 1998. Gender and Jobs: Sex Segregation of Occupations in the World. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Arias, O. 2000. Are Men Benefiting from the New Economy? Male Economic Marginalization in Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica. Washington: World Bank.

Baden, S. 1998. Gender Issues in Agricultural Liberalisation. BRIDGE. Report No 41. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.

Barrientos, S.1999. �Ethical Trade and Gender: Exports of Non-traditional Horticultural Products.� In Trade, Sustainable Development and Gender. Papers prepared for the Pre-UNCTAD X Expert Workshop on Sustainable Development and Gender, Geneva, July 12-13, 1999.  Geneva: United Nations.

Barrientos, S., A.Bee, A.Mateur, and I. Vogel. 1999. Women and Agribusiness: Working Miracles in the Chilean Fruit Export Sector. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Beneria, L. 1979. Reproduction , Production and the Sexual Division of Labour. Cambridge Journal of Economics (3), pp. 203-25.

Beneria, L. and A. Lind, 1995. Engendering International Trade: Concepts, Policy and Action. GSD Working Paper Series No.5, Geneva: United Nations Development Programme.

�agatay, N. 2001. �Trade, Gender and Poverty: Listening to the Needs of Women in Trade Negotiations�, Background Paper to the UNDP Program on Trade and Sustainable Human Development, New York: United Nations Development Programme.

Cardero, M.E.  2000.  �The Impact of NAFTA on Female Employment in Mexico.�  In L. de Pauli, ed., Women�s Empowerment and Economic Justice: Reflecting on Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.  New York: UNIFEM

Cleaver, F. ed. 2002. Masculinities Matter! Men, Gender and Development. London and New York: Zed Books.

de Pauli, L. ed.. 2000. Women's Empowerment and Economic Justice: Reflecting on Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.  New York: UNIFEM.

Daeren, L. 2001. The Gender Perspective in Economic and Labour Policies: State of the Art in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mujer y Desarrollo series No 29. Santiago: ECLAC.

Deere, C.D. and M. Leon.  1997.  Women and Land Rights in the Latin American Neo-Liberal Counter Reforms. Women in International Development Working Paper No. 264, Michigan State University.

Dolan, C. and K.Sorby. 2003. Gender and Employment in High-Value Agriculture Industries. Agriculture and Rural Development Working Paper 7. Washington: World Bank.

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 2002. Demographic Bulletin: Selected Gender-Sensitive Indicators. United Nations: Santiago, Chile.

Elson, D. 1999. Labor Markets as Gendered Institutions: Equality, Efficiency and Empowerment Issues. World Development 27( 3).

Espino, M.A.  2000.  "Women and Mercosur: The Gendered Dimension of Economic Integration."  In L. de Pauli, ed., Women's Empowerment and Economic Justice: Reflecting on Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.  New York: UNIFEM

European Commission. 2004. Central America- European Community Regional Strategy Paper 2002-2006. Brussels: European Commission. 

Fetherolf Loufti, M. ed. 2001. Women, Gender and Work: What is Equality and how do We Get There? Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Fontana, M., S. Joekes and R. Masika. 1998.  Global Trade Expansion and Liberalisation: Gender Issues and Impacts. A Study Prepared for the Department for International Development (DFID) UK. BRIDGE. Report No 42. Institute of Development Studies. University of Sussex.

Free Trade Area of the Americas. 2003a. Colombia.  National Strategy for Strengthening Trade-Related Capacities (FTAA.sme/inf.149). October 13.

���.  El Salvador. National Action Plan for Trade Capacity Building: Meeting the Challenge of Globalization. Vol II:  Projects Profiles.  FTAA.sme/inf/143 October 7. Free Trade Area of the Americas. www.ftaa-alca.org.

���. Honduras.  National Action Plan for Trade Capacity Building.  FTAA.sme/inf/162. November 11. Free Trade Area of the Americas. www.ftaa-alca.org.

���. 2003c. Miami Ministerial Declaration. Free Trade Area of the Americas. www.ftaa-alca.org.

���.  2004. Antigua and Barbuda. National Strategy to Strengthen Trade-Related Capacity. TAA.sme/inf/158/Rev.1, May 27. Free Trade Area of the Americas. www.ftaa-alca.org.

Fussell, E. 2000. Making Labour Flexible: The Recomposition of Tijuana�s Maquiladora Labour Force. Feminist Economics.6 (3), p 59-79.

Gammage, S., H. Jorgensen, E. McGill, and M. White, 2002. Trade Impact Review.  Washington: Coalition for Women�s Economic Development and Global Equality Inc.

Greig, A., M. Kimmel and J. Land. 2000. Men, Masculinities and Development: Broadening our Work Towards Gender Equality. Gender in Development Series. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

Human Rights Watch.  1996.   "Mexico No Guarantees: Sex Discrimination in Mexico's Maquiladora Sector." Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project 8 (6). Washington, DC.

Inter-American Development Bank. 2004. Hemispheric Database: Free Trade Area of the Americas.  Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank.  http://198.186.239.122/Default.htm .

International Labour Organization. 2002. ILO compendium of official statistics on employment in the informal sector. STAT Working Paper No. 1 - 2002. International Labour Organization: Geneva.

���. 2003. Fundamental Principles and Rights a t Work: A Labour Law Study - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.  Geneva: International Labour Organization.

���. 2003b. More and Better Jobs for Women in Mexico April 2000-September 2003. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

���. 2004. LABORSTAT. International Labour Organization Online Statistical Database. www.ilo.org.

Joekes, S. 1995. Trade Related Employment for Women in Industry and Services in Developing Countries. Occasional Paper 5. Geneva: UNRISD.

���. 1999, 'A Gender-analytical Perspective on Trade and Sustainable Development', paper presented in support of the themes discussed at the Pre-UNCTADX Expert Workshop on Trade, Sustainable Development and Gender, 12 - 13 July, Geneva, Switzerland.

Kumar, S. 2001. �El impacto de la apertura comercial en las mujeres del sector agr�cola�. Cuadernos Feministas, No 14.

Leiva, S. 2000. �Part-time Work in Chile: Is it Precarious Employment? Reflections from a Gender Perspective�. Serie Mujer y Desarrollo 26. Santiago: ECLAC.

Mayoux, L. 1995. From Vicious to Virtuous Circles?: Gender and Micro-Enterprise Development. Occasional Paper 3. Geneva: UNRISD

Newman, C.  2001.  Gender, Time Use, and Change: Impacts of Agricultural Export Employment in Ecuador. Policy Research Report on Gender and Development, World Bank, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network, Washington, DC.

Ordo�ez, Martha. 2001. �El turismo en la econom�a ecuatoriana: la situaci�n laboral desde una perspectiva de g�nero�. Women and Development,  Series No 33. Santiago: ECLAC, 2001.

Organization of American States. 2003.  Promotion of Women�s Human Rights and Gender Equity and  Equality (AG/RES. 1941 (XXXIII-O/03)).  Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States.

 ���. 2004. Promoting Gender Equity and Equality. Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States. http://www.oas.org/key_issues/eng/GAgender.htm, accessed May 31, 2004.

Oxfam International.  2001.  �Harnessing Trade for Development.�   Oxfam Briefing Paper No. 1    http://www.oxfam.org/what_does/advocacy/papers.htm.

Paul-Majumder, P. & A. Begum. 2000. The Gender Imbalances in the Export Oriented Garment Industry in Bangladesh. Policy Research Report. Working Paper series n.12. Washington: World Bank.

PLANISTAT- Luxembourg. 2002. Sustainable Impact Assessment (SIA) of the trade aspects of negotiations for an Association Agreement between the European Communities and Chile (Specific agreement No 1) Final Report (revised).

PricewaterhouseCoopers. 2004. Sustainability Impact Assessment of the EU-ACP Partnership Agreements: Regional SIA Caribbean ACP Countries. Paris: PwC and European Commission.

Razavi, S. 1995.   "WTO, Women and the Environment: An Ecological and Gender Analysis of �Free Trade.�"  In E. Haxton and C. Olsson, eds., Women in Development - Trade Aspects on Women in the Development Process.

Razavi, S. and C.Miller. 1995. From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse. United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. Occasional Paper no..1 Geneva: UNRISD.

Reeves, H. and S. Baden. 2000. Gender and Development: Concepts and Definitions. BRIDGE Report no. 55. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.

Saito, K.A.  2000.  "Haiti: The Gender Dimensions of a Rural Sector Strategy."  Issues Paper, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Singh, A & Zammit, J. A. 2000. �International Capital Flows: Identifying the Gender Dimension�. World Development. 28 (7).

Summit of the Americas. 2005.  Declaration of Mar del Plata: Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance.  Mar del Plata, Argentina, November 5.

UNCTAD-IDB Partnership for Central America and Panama. 2003.  Entrepreneurship, Employment, Export (EMPRETEC).  EMPRETEC Website http://www.empretec.net.

United Nations. 2005. UN Millenium Development Goals. New York:  United Nations.http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

United Nations Development Program 2003. Human Development Indicators http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2003/

United Nations Industrial Development Organization. 2003. Local Flavour, Document #4087. UNIDO website, http://www.unido.org/doc/4087.

 ���. 2005. Brazil: Assistance to Modernize Textile and Apparel Industry. UNIDO website, http://www.unido.org/doc/3616.

United Nations Statistical  Department. Online Databases. http://unstats.un.org   

United States Trade Representative. 2006. Free Trade with Colombia: Summary of the Agreement. Washington, D.C.: United States Trade Representative.

White, M. and A. Spieldoch. 2003. Analysis of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Text from a Gender Perspective. Washington: EDGE/Center of Concern 

Williams, M.  2001. �The TRIPS and Public Health Debate: An Overview.�  International Gender and  Trade Network.

Wirth, L. 2001. Breaking through the Glass Ceiling. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Wood, A.  1991. �North-South Trade and Female Labor in Manufacturing: An Asymmetry.� Journal of Development Studies 27 (2).

���. 2001. Engendering Development: Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice.  World Bank Policy Research Report.  Washington, DC: Oxford University Press.

���. 2003. World Development Indicators CD-ROM

���. 2004. The Impact of International Trade on Gender Equality, PREM Note 86.

World Trade Organization. 2005. Doha Work Programme: Ministerial Declaration (WT/MIN(05)/DEC). Geneva:   World Trade Organization.
 

Appendix I. Provisions in Trade Agreements with References to Gender