Namibia: SADC FTA - Women to Benefit Or Lose Out?
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New Era (Windhoek)
22 August 2008
Posted to the web 22 August 2008
Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek
Namibian women entreprenuers have been urged to produce goods that are of good quality if they are to enjoy the benefits expected from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area (FTA).
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Sirkka Ausiku told New Era that the SADC FTA will expand Namibian women entreprenuers' trading zones and in the process economically empower them.
The SADC FTA means that producers and consumers would no longer pay import tariffs on about 85 percent of all trade in regional goods within the initial 12 countries.
The other two member states, Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo would join at a later stage.
SADC leaders reached a milestone in efforts to consolidate regional economic integration when they launched the region's FTA at the recently ended summit in South Africa.
Although the signing of the FTA by member states entails that players will have access to a bigger market, Ausiku said Government should adopt policies and enact laws that will ensure equal access, benefit and opportunities for women and men in trade and entreprenuership.
"We will encourage our women to exploit the opportunity to network with other women in SADC and find markets for their products," said Ausiku.
While trade particularly entreprenuership depicts the face of a woman, the majority remain poor.
Geared to bringing a wealth of opportunities for the region, it cannot be guaranteed that the most vulnerable, particularly women, will benefit from the FTA.
Women to date have no access to finance, training, and productive resources that are key for any business to thrive.
Women activists argue that if they are to benefit from increased opportunities through the production and marketing of goods and provision of services, they need capital and advanced technical skills.
Unfortunately, throughout the region including Namibia, most of the countries continue to have policies and practices that make access to finance and control of productive resources a challenge for women.
Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Namibia Country Facilitator Sarry Xoagus-Eises says for women to fully participate in the FTA, they need to have access to financing, training and mentorship - key areas that have been inaccessible to them for years.
The Gender Protocol, equally signed at the summit last weekend, commits member states to review all policies and laws determining access to, control of, and benefit from, productive resources by women in order to ensure that women have equal access and rights to credit, capital, mortgages, security and training, as well as modern, appropriate and affordable technology and support services.
And once the FTA Protocol is ratified, Xoagus-Eises added, the vulnerability of women will have to be re-looked at by Government. And relevant policies will also have to be put in place to assist women in climbing the ladder of economic emancipation.
She indicated that the protocol seems to be insensitive to women and thus wonders if a woman's voice was included in the draft of the protocol.
The signing of the two protocols is part of the SADC leaders' efforts to bring economic integration in the region.
Relevant Links
The region further plans a customs union in 2010, a common market in 2015, a monetary union in 2016, and a single currency in 2018.
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