Declaration On Women Globalisation and Fair Trade

We the members of CAFRA gathered at our 5th Triennial General Assembly in Paramaribo Suriname wish to register our concern with the current process of trade liberalization and the impact it is having on our societies.

We believe that currently this process lacks transparency, is undemocratic and most of all creates an artificial division between social development concerns and trade.

In particular we are concerned that these international trade processes do not explicitly take into consideration issues of gender and the differential impact that trade rules have on different sections of the population.

Further, CAFRA believes that these international trade processes must be reformulated and restructured to ensure sustainable development, poverty reduction and equity in and among countries.

We the members of CAFRA therefore call for:

• Institutionalized entry points for the participation of civil society at the national, regional and international level. In particular recognizing that women are specially disadvantaged in the process, resources must be allocated to facilitate the participation of women and women’s organizations.

• The dissemination of all positions taken by our national leaders as well as final positions adopted in the negotiations of these trade agreements

• Resources to be made available at the national level to facilitate public education and mobilization

• Governments to honour all the UN commitments made and ensure their inclusion in the trade agreements, specifically in relation to promoting women’s leadership and women’s participation in decision-making.

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) to increase Special and Differential concessions to smaller economies

• Provide resources for the training of negotiators and civil society activist

• National governments to support the development of alternative development strategies

As CAFRA we commit ourselves to:

• Struggling against trade rules designed to have a negative impact on the vulnerable sectors within our societies

• To provide grassroots education and awareness raising

• To encourage the development of a fair trade initiative principally of women in the region

• Bridling alliances with other like organizations

• Contributing to furthering research on the impact of trade policies

CAFRA also endorses the work and positions of the Caribbean Policy Development Center (CPDC) , the Caribbean Reference Group on External Affairs (CRG) and the Caribbean Gender and Trade Network (CGTN) on the impact of trade liberalization in the region.

Each participant was given a copy of the Economic Resource Kit on Trade Liberalisation produced by the Caribbean Policy Development Centre, as part of its work within the Caribbean Reference Group on Trade, to be used as a tool for mobilizing and training around the issues.

A highlight of the Conference was the launching of the Caribbean Chapter of the South - South Rural Women’s Network. Each CAFRA Member country named an individual or organisational focus point for the Network. The background to this intiative is as follows:

Formation of a South-South Rural Women’s Network with a Steering Committee comprising:

• Chief Bisi Ogunleye African Region (Coordinator)
  
• Pam Rajput Asia Region
  
• Nelcia Robinson Caribbean Region
  
• Dora Avila Betancourt Latin American Region
  
• Rosa Lizarde Liaison
  

With the following goals:

• Representatives of the Network plan to participate in the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002

• The Rural Women’s Network will develop project proposals in each region to seek donor funds to support representation in Johannesburg

• A steering committee made up of one woman from each region in the Network will guide the process

• In Johannesburg each region will bring samples of their products for sale

• The Rural Women’s Network will promote the concept of a Rural Women’s Development Bank. Women from each region ewill contribute $1 each and ask the World Bank to match the funds ten times as the intial capital for the Bank.

• The Network will work out the mechanisms for each region during the workshops in Johannesburg wiht the objective of ownership and partnership.

The Women’s Bank in Venezuela, COWAN in Nigeria and SEWA in India will be sked to give technical assistance.