Introduction
| Objectives | Funding
Introduction
The International Trade Centre’s (ITC)
Women and Trade Programme seeks to increase the participation of women
entrepreneurs and producers in global value chains and to ensure that they
enjoy greater economic benefits from participation in international trade.
Women own close to 10 million of the world’s small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs). SMEs account for almost 80% of jobs around the world, therefore
increasing their competitiveness boosts the likelihood of job creation.
The Women and Trade Programme works with buyers and governments to increase
the procurement of goods and services from women entrepreneurs. The programme
builds the capacity of trade support institutions to improve their product and
service offerings to women entrepreneurs, and it enhances the competitiveness
of women entrepreneurs in developing countries, enabling them to tap market
opportunities. So far more than 100 trade support institutions have worked with
ITC under the Women and Trade Programme.
Currently, strong emphasis is
being placed on strengthening collaboration between buyers and women
entrepreneurs. The goal is to establish long-term partnerships that underscore
equal standing between buyers and suppliers. This is not only an investment in
inclusive growth; it is a just and business-savvy investment. Investing in
women entrepreneurs supports inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
Objectives
The purpose of the Women and Trade Programme is to increase the economic
benefits business women in developing countries derive from their participation
in international trade with a focus on five objectives:
- Increase
the demand for goods and services supplied by women entrepreneurs;
- Build women entrepreneurs' capacity in partnership with TSIs;
- Build the capacity of TSIs to better service women clients;
- Increase policy makers' awareness of the potential represented by women
entrepreneurs and raise awareness of related barriers hampering women
entrepreneurs' participation in international trade, and;
- Work with
colleagues at ITC to implement ITC's Gender Mainstreaming Policy to ensure the
full range of ITC's services benefit women as well as men.
Funding
The Programme is
funded by United Kingdom Aid through the Department for International
Development (DFID), the Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade as well as with funds provided by the government of Norway and others
through ITC's Global Trust Fund.
The Women and Trade Programme was
established in 2010 and Phase I ran from 2010 - 2013. Phase II of the Programme
will run from 2014 - 2016.