Increasing capacity among policy makers to ensure they apply a 'gender lens' at all levels of trade policy formulation, implementation and negotiation was one of the key recommendations which emerged from an event organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Increasing the involvement of women in the formulation of trade policies and in global negotiations at all levels, providing incentives at a national policy level for poor women to access global markets, and adopting a gender sensitive trade-related regulatory framework both at regional and international level were other proposals which came from presentations and discussions.

The event - 'Trade and Gender: Perspectives for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Alleviation' - took place on 22 April 2008 in Accra, Ghana.

Held at the twelfth UNCTAD conference, the event was introduced by UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, and Chaired by Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith.

Dr Panitchpakdi spoke of the need for economic growth to be more inclusive and both the challenges and opportunities facing women in the labour market. He also highlighted the continued inequities within labour laws such as the differences between male and female wages, and how the consequences of economic downturns - such as a food crisis - are borne mostly by women in societies.

Other panellists included Ms Rachel Mayanja, UN Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advcancment of Women who gave the Opening Statement; Shri Gopal Pillai, Permanent Secretary, Commerce Ministry, India; Anh-Nga Tran-Nguyen, Director, Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency, UNCTAD; and Savior Mwambwa, National Coordinator of the Civil Society Trade Network, Zambia.

In her opening statement, Ms Mayanja said that urgent attention is needed to accelerate progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women. She emphasised that resources must be allocated for activities targeting the elimination of persistent obstacles to achieving these two goals.

Shri Gopal Pillai identified several ways forward at a national level such as framing national policies so that all departments must adopt gender sensitive approaches, increasing women's representation in national business delegations to eliminate the "invisibility" of women's core contributions to the economy, and improving access to credit and capital for women entrepreneurs.

The Commonwealth Secretariat's Gender Section is working on a major capacity building project in gender and trade.

The project involves working on trade policy formulation, implementation and negotiations with key people across government, senior policy makers and political figures and also women's organisations and civil society organisations at national and local levels.