Source: OECD-DAC Creditor Reporting System: aid activity (accessed 25 January 2019)
Note: The data refer to Official Development Assistance and Other Official Flows; only Development Assistance Committee members for reasons of data availability.
When looking at the proportion of gender-marked assistance in total aid for trade commitments to different sectors in LDCs, agriculture was also the highest in 2016-17 at 71%; followed by trade policies at 48%. However, the share of gender-responsive aid in the infrastructure sectors was only 33% in transport, 20% in energy and 5% in communications.
In terms of recipient countries, the majority of LDCs with the highest share of gender-responsive aid for trade in 2016-17 were located in Africa – varying greatly from 88% in Yemen down to 41% in Rwanda. Given that 60% of total aid for trade directed at LDCs is not gender-responsive, there is considerable scope for improvement.
LDCs with the highest share of gender-responsive aid for trade, 2016-17
Countries | Share of gender-responsive aid for trade (%) |
1) Yemen | 88 |
2) Eritrea | 70 |
3) Haiti | 60 |
4) Solomon Islands | 60 |
5) Tuvalu | 55 |
6) Somalia | 55 |
7) South Sudan | 52 |
8) Sao Tome and Principe | 49 |
9) Nepal | 48 |
10) Rwanda | 41 |
Source: OECD-DAC Creditor Reporting System: aid activity (accessed 25 January 2019)
Good practices in promoting women’s economic empowerment in LDCs
There are numerous examples where donors incorporate gender perspectives in aid for trade. Many projects entail the training of women, either as government officials in policymaking or as project beneficiaries in enhancing income-generating activities. There are often targets or quotas to ensure that a sufficient proportion of trainees or employees from the domestic labour force are women. Other forms of support involve studies and the development of project design that seek to incorporate gender perspectives in particular areas of intervention or activity.
Canada, for example, is supporting Burkina Faso in rural electrification, particularly through the promotion of solar energy, as well as associated business development for women. The installation of photovoltaic panels will be used to increase the production, processing and storage of onion, chicken and fish, which are important economic activities in the region. The project is expected to benefit 40,000 people, especially women through the involvement of women’s groups.
Another example includes World Bank assistance to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to facilitate trade by helping simplify business regulations and improve firm-level competitiveness. Specifically, the project supported the provision of free advisory services to businesses, including women-led enterprises, and the introduction of computers in provincial offices to allow for easier submission of documentation and registration. The results are to be measured by the increase in operating licenses in sectors of interest to women and the decrease in the number of procedures for businesses that were started by women.
An additional case worth highlighting is a joint project by USAID and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Afghanistan focussed specifically on women working in the poultry value chain. The project aims to increase their income through intensive technical training on poultry rearing and vaccinations, as well as sustainable inputs such as feed and drugs, and the establishment of a marketing network of women to link village poultry producers to urban markets. After two years, the project had trained over 21,000 women in poultry management and organised 850 producer groups, with an evaluated increase in household income for over 15,000 female producers.
Looking ahead
While there are many positive examples of interventions like those described above, donors often still lack monitoring and evaluation systems with adequate indicators to assess impact. Such results-based monitoring systems would help obtain insights on what works – and what does not – for long-term sustainable outcomes regarding women’s economic empowerment. Donors would also benefit from a broader communication of impacts and results to help replicate good practices and improve programming with the objective of strengthening the gender dimension of aid for trade.
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* Marianne Musumeci is Research Advisor and Policy Officer at the OECD. Kaori Miyamoto is Senior Policy Analyst at the OECD.
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This policy series has been funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The views expressed in this publication are the author’s alone and are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government.
