International Trade: Putting Gender into the Process: Initiatives and Lessons Learned

The author of this paper considers various strategies to integrate gender concerns into Canada's trade policy. She assesses the accessibility and accountability of different mechanisms that allow for public consultations with respect to trade policy and also reviews past strategies of womens organizations to advance gender concerns during previous trade negotiations. The author discusses the gender mainstreaming approach of the Asia-Pacific Economic Council, the only trade agreement to explicitly address gender concerns at the official level. The author concludes with a summary of lessons learned from these different approaches and provides several recommendations for future strategies. [Descriptors: Economic Globalization, Canada]