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Trade openness has translated into more jobs and stronger connections to markets for many women, BUT

Trade and gender: What do we know, and need to do ? Jeni Klugman Director Gender and Development, World Bank Washington International Trade Association Reagan Center, Washington DC March 15, 2012 . Key messages.

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Trade openness has translated into more jobs and stronger connections to markets for many women, BUT

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  1. Trade and gender:What do we know, and need to do ?JeniKlugmanDirectorGender and Development, World BankWashington International Trade AssociationReagan Center, Washington DCMarch 15, 2012

  2. Key messages • Trade openness has translated into more jobs and stronger connections to markets for many women, BUT • Globalization alone cannot make the gender gap disappear: gaps persist, and impose growing costs in an increasingly integrated world • Complementary policies and actions are key to ensure that globalization works as a positive force for gender equality

  3. Trade openness has translated into more jobs and stronger connections to markets for many women Increases in international trade correlated with more jobs for women, but not men • Between 1983–2008 • global trade grew 85 percent faster than GDP • annual exports from developing countries grew 14 percent annually • Merchandise trade in developing countries rose from 31 to 57 percent of GDP •  This underlines the importance of trade for growth and job creation World Bank, WDR 2012 Reis J. and T. Farole (2010) “Exports and the Competitiveness Agenda: Policies to Support the Private Sector”, in The Day After Tomorrow, Canuto O. and M. Giugale, World Bank

  4. Trade can provide greater opportunities for women… • Increased job opportunities for women: especially in manufacturing and service exports, changing the gender distribution of employment across sectors: • South Korea - the share of women employed in manufacturing grew from 6 percent in 1970 to around 30 percent in early 1990s • Delhi and Mumbai -- call centers employ more than 1 million people, most women 2. With corresponding increases in choice and agency: • Bangladesh women working in the garment export sectors report greater self-esteem and decision-making capacity 3. But not always wages • Mexico -- 1990–95 -- higher export orientation associated with narrowing gender wage gap • South Korea -- even in the presence of high women's labour demand, the female-male wage gap has narrowed only marginally Source: World Bank, WDR 2012

  5. But not always • Women may not work in the export sectors and feminization of employment through exports appears to be less common in agricultural • Guatemala, Central Highlands -- women hold only 3 percent of contracts for snow peas and broccoli (two of the most important export crops in the area) • Senegal – only 1/59 bean farmers for export are women • Greater flexibility may lead to higher turnover and job instability or to informal arrangements • Turkey -- women disproportionately benefited from net job creation in the export sectors, but their female employment was more volatile than men’s • India -- decline in women’s share of industrial employment (from 21 percent (1990) to 17.5 percent (1995) despite high export growth – due to increase in subcontracting to home-based workers, and small manufacturers working on a piece-rate basis not formally recorded • Old patterns of employment segregation by gender can emerge in new industries and occupations, as (exporting) firms move up the value chain • Chinese Taipei-- as industries upgrade, rising skill composition led to wage gains for men but reduced women’s wages in both absolute and relative terms Source: World Bank, WDR 2012

  6. Cross-border trade • Often women are involved in informal trade (legal trade but unregulated): • Difficult to establish but estimated 70% of informal cross-border trade in southern Africa is by women • A survey conducted 4 key border crossings in the Great Lakes region shows that the majority of traders (85%) are young women. Source: Higgins, K. “Trade facilitation and gender”, forthcoming Brenton et al (2011) “Risky Business: Poor Women Cross-Border Traders in the Great Lakes Region of Africa “, World Bank Africa Trade Policy Note n 11

  7. When old gaps meet new trends, women are left behind • Gender education gaps can limit women’s access to new opportunities • Due to less education, among adult women female producers constrained in accessing international markets than male producers – Samoa, Mozambique and other Sub- Saharan countries. • Care responsibilities can prevent women from seizing new export agricultural and wage opportunities if no other household members can take on their duties • Cut flower industry in Ecuador, export processing zones in Guatemala, nontraditional and high-value exports in Kenya, and rural- urban linkages in Malaysia …. all point to the importance of other female members in the household to enable individual women’s participation in new opportunities created by trade • Women’s weaker property rights in land and limited access to productive inputs also constrain their capacity to benefit from trade openness. • Meru, Kenya - more than 90 percent of export contracts were issued to male household members. Source: World Bank, WDR 2012

  8. Why do these inequalities matter? • Is the right thing to do… • ... is the smart thing to do

  9. Inequality has a cost: economic 20% in Kenya and 21% in Benin 9-12% in Zambia and 8-24% in Morocco … equalizing access to inputs such as land and fertilizers would increase output by ….eliminating employment segregation would increase labor productivity by as much as

  10. …and cannot be assumed away … these problems do not go away with growth … and costs will grow bigger in a globalized world

  11. Policy implications • Closing gender gaps in endowments, agency, and access to economic opportunities can allow countries to reap greater benefits from globalization • Trade related interventions that consider the effects for men and women can avoid negative repercussions for women and larger multipliers effects on the economy •  The World Bank is working to ensure that women and men can equally benefit from trade related projects : • Guidance and analysis • Specific interventions to strengthen women’s ability to benefit from trade related interventions

  12. Guidance note: Trade facilitation and gender Guiding project teams in the integration of gender into trade facilitation projects How trade facilitation projects can integrate gender considerations: • Diagnostics: understand the gender dynamics of the economy • Stakeholder engagement: capture the perspectives of a range of women • Design and implementation: gender‐focused inputs, outputs and outcomes • M&E: gender‐related outputs and outcomes and investments in building capacity to track outcomes in a disaggregated way Source: Kate Higgins, “Trade facilitation and gender”, forthcoming

  13. Value chain analysis: Afghanistan • Women and export value chains Objective: understand constraints and opportunities for women and men in moving up the agricultural value chain by producing such crops as grapes/raisins, almonds, and saffron. Findings: • Women in rural areas generally engaged in harvesting and basic post-harvest processing in home orchards or compounds. Men primarily engaged in production and provide market linkages by travelling to the local market to buy input supplies or sell produce. • Social and cultural traditions constrain accessing market information.  Opportunities for women producers through • mobilization of groups, • development of extension services, • training on harvesting and post-harvest handling, • use of information technology in extension and marketing outreach.

  14. Good practices intrade related interventions Integrating gender into export competitiveness interventions • Uganda- cotton pilot project: • Significant export crop, characterized by smallholder production. • Large productivity gap between male and female cotton growers due to limited access to information •  “Social networking intervention”: Female households participated in information sessions, and each woman was paired with a person in her village area with whom she was encouraged to develop an agricultural link • Mali -- agricultural competitiveness project: • Analysis shows that women are largely involved along the value chain of certain products such as mango and onions • Targeted interventions along the value chains of both traditional (such as cotton) and nontraditional agricultural products with high value added – (such as horticultural products, mangoes, frenchbeans). • -> Launched in 2005, significant results, including a 72% increase in mango exports and a 71% increase in shallot and onion exports.

  15. Great Lakes Region • ….Addressing the challenges faced by female cross-border traders at customs Context: • Cross-border traders play a vital role in bringing goods to consumers that would otherwise be unavailable and providing them at lower prices. • Majority of traders are young women (85% female and average age is 32) and experienced, with 44% trading for more than 5 years Constraints • Serious risks and losses with each border crossing, including threats and sexual harassment, bribes, fine, confiscation of goods, verbal abuse and insult • Vast majority (95%) of traders wish to invest and grow their business but constrained by the current border environment and lack of access to finance Recommendations (being picked up by ongoing WB operation) • Need for increased professionalism of officials and greater gender awareness • Improved facilities at the border crossings used by informal traders to minimize the risks to safety and security • Develop a strategy for integrating traders into the formal economy. Source: Brenton et al (2011) “Risky Business: Poor Women Cross-Border Traders in the Great Lakes Region of Africa “, World Bank Africa Trade Policy Note n 11

  16. Guidance note: Trade facilitation and gender Guiding project teams in the integration of gender into custom border projects…. Source: Kate Higgins, “Trade facilitation and gender”

  17. Conclusions Globalization can create new opportunities but inequality persists Gender gaps mean disparities in benefits, especially in wages and working conditions, persist.  Need to integrate these concerns into dialogue about policies and programs about trade and development

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