Telling the trade stories of least developed countries

Building evidence does not only happen through research and analysis; it also comes from sharing experiences. For example, EIF support has been directed to sectors in which women are predominantly engaged, so female-owned businesses can expand and access new regional and global markets. Responses to the M&E exercise indicate a wide recognition that these efforts result in strengthening women’s economic and financial independence.

Women are 14 times more likely to die from a climate disaster than men. Despite being face-to-face with the problem, women are often not part of the solution.

Small businesses are receiving support to access much-needed finance

Support efforts include new tools, from the tangible to the abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the trade ecosystem for women in the developing world  

More training, more links to buyers of rural arts means more income for women

Originally published by Thompson Reuters Foundation News on 22 December 2020

Public-private partnership to boost incomes in shea.

In Bangladesh, COVID-19 is impacting the female labour force more

Breaking ground with new ideas and new partnerships in two African countries

In trade for development, more female trainers could make a big difference

Artisan handbag maker taking her enterprise forward, and receiving new financing

Women workers in global value chains have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Recently launched ecommerce training program and portal will help hundreds of women entrepreneurs in South Asian LDCs become part of regional and global supply chains.

Women’s specific needs and potential as leaders and agents of change must be considered for COVID-19 mitigation and recovery measures.

New tool offers actions to tackle the barriers to trade that women face

Originally published by Devex on 10 March 2020

Shea is critical to the income of rural communities, and a new effort across four shea-producing countries in West Africa is looking to boost those incomes

How to ensure the women who collect shea benefit from being part of the global marketplace

Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 24 April 2020

Taking traditional African prints and making them modern, a female entrepreneur is aiming to go global – armed with the right business tools

Poverty, inequality and exclusion are key factors contributing to the devastating effects of COVID-19 on all African countries.

The Trade Experettes founder discusses the blossoming global network of female experts from ‘all walks of trade’

Opportunities and challenges abound for Zambia entrepreneurs eyeing new markets

In Zambia, a sweet idea spurs entrepreneurship

Then Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade, Ann Linde (now Minister for Foreign Affairs) discusses supporting developing country exports and the need to close the gender gap

On the sidelines of the Aid for Trade Global Review 2019, The Gambia’s Vice President discusses the potential of women in trade

Empowerment and markets are on this Ugandan woman’s agenda

Originally published by World Economic Forum Agenda on 24 June 2019

Aid for trade can support women’s economic empowerment, which is key to sustainable development.

Businesswomen creating a united front in Rwanda and the DRC

TOKYO – 23 MARCH 2019 – Across the world’s 47 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), women continue to face constraints that limit their participation in trade.

EIF has been working with hundreds of entrepreneurs for the past few years, to help them build and implement strategies for brand promotion, participate in regional and international trade fairs, improve in processing capabilities and value addition as well as provide support to cooperatives

Following a recent visit to Rwanda with EIF, Netherlands Ambassador to the WTO and LDC Sub-Committee Chair Monique van Daalen discusses seeing the country’s cross border trade efforts in person, as well as the country’s policy in action

Launch of country’s SheTrades initiative to focus on agriculture and textile industries

In Comoros, an essential oils doyenne has plans for her country’s unique yields

We need to be in the driver's seat of economic growth because it's important for us and for the next generation, and is the right pathway to trade with other countries. It's my duty to start doing some of the homework to facilitate trade

In this issue: "Samoa's coconuts go global," "Taking female-led businesses from local to global," and "Women at the helm of Senegal's mango industry"

On 5 April the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) opened its doors to welcome over 500 participants, including government officials, private sector, civil society and academia, to brainstorm on what needs to be done to empower 4.6 billion women and youth worldwide.

Women entrepreneurs are helping to restore island nation’s economy after the ravages of Cyclone Pam

Originally published in International Trade Forum

EIF Coordinators Hang Tran and Simon Hess interview Wanjira Mathai of wPOWER partnership on women's entrepreneurship in renewables

Aminata Dominique Diouf was seven years old when her father bought a small farm 15 minutes from the Senegal-Gambia border.

Meet a young woman from Cambodia who received silk production training through an EIF project

Chandra and her 25 colleagues from her women's association take a break from the day's farming business to hold a meeting on their ginger business prospects and the stiff market competition they face with India's value-added ginger.

New UNCTAD-EIF study of the fisheries sector in The Gambia shows trade policies have to be inclusive if they are to reduce poverty