Project profile — Making Trade Work for Women in Eastern Africa

• South of Sahara, regional (100.00%)

• Government And Civil Society, General: Ending violence against women and girls (15180) (45.00%)
• Trade Policy And Regulations And Trade-Related Adjustment: Trade facilitation (33120) (55.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Trade development (principal objective)

This project aims to promote the economic empowerment of women traders in Eastern Africa, and works to reduce sexual and gender-based violence towards them. The project is focused on addressing the constraints which limit the participation of East African women traders in economic activities and cross-border trade. Project activities include: (1) establishment of cooperatives and market access platforms for women traders; (2) simplifying, translating and disseminating documentation on trading requirements for small scale traders (most of whom are women); (3) sensitizing border officials on gender; (4) adopting gender-sensitive cross border trade charters; (5) establishing safe working spaces for women; (6) developing and operationalizing a reporting mechanism on violence against women; (7) providing technical support to women traders in the areas of advocacy, dialogue and strengthening membership services; (8) collecting sex-disaggregated data and conducting evidence-based research on issues affecting women traders; and (9) lobbying with public agencies.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) 30% reduction in incidences of violence against women traders at select border posts in Eastern Africa; (2) 15% increase in trade values for women-traded goods and increased access to markets and trade-related services for at least 150,000 women traders; and (3) improved policy, regulatory and institutional environments to support women in trade.

Results achieved as of March 2025 include: (1) developed a women in trade empowerment index; (2) established 15 resource centres for accessing trade information and reporting gender-based violence cases (target of 15); (3) facilitated trading of 10,880 metric tonnes of grain, valued at US$4,196,528 (target of 5,000 metric tonnes); (4) facilitated adopting 8 new regulations supporting women in trade (target of 6); (5) linked 231,241 traders to new markets and trading opportunities (target of 150,000 traders); (6) supported 22,953 women cross-border traders from associations, clusters, or cooperatives to transition to formal trade (target of 20,000 traders); (7) supported women traders associations’ to adopt 17 new recommendations and proposals (target of 10); (8) supported implementing 18 gender-responsive reforms (target of 10); (9) facilitated 22,887 traders to access information through resource centers (target of 15,000); (10) facilitated 95,146 traders to access information through the iSOKO digital platform set up in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda (target of 50,000 traders); and (11) contributed to reducing incidences of violence and harassment against targeted women traders by 34% (target of 30% reduction).

• Proactive disclosure
• Related activities:
• Making Trade Work for Women in Eastern Africa - Covid-19 Crisis Pool
• Making Trade Work for Women in Eastern Africa - Monitoring and Evaluation