Dhaka: Policymakers in developing countries will soon be able to analyse the likely impacts of trade policies on women and other groups within society, said an UNCTAD official announcing new funding from Sweden for its trade and gender programme.

The new programme, worth SEK 13,50,000 [$ 150 000], will help governments to assess whether a specific trade reform will impact women positively or negatively, for example by expanding or contracting sectors where women work, said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The policymakers will then be better positioned to implement complementary policies that minimise any negative shocks, or even to re-design or delay the new policies, according to a message received in Dhaka from Geneva on Wednesday.

The policymakers have often been able to predict the outcomes of any given trade policy on individual industries or on the national economy as a whole, but they have been less well equipped to judge who the winners and losers will be, UNCTAD’s Deputy Secretary-General, Joakim Reiter was quoted as saying.

Reiter said developing countries, for the first time ever, will be able to assess the impacts of any trade deal on their women before the deal enters into force. ‘The same methodology UNCTAD is developing could apply to assess trade impacts on other segments of the population.’

As the importance of gender equality is better understood not just for social cohesion, but also for economic growth, more and more countries are seeking to boost gender equality, including by empowering women to earn.

Sustainable Development Goal 5 is gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.

‘We’ve seen a large amount of demand for such a programme, and we’re delighted to be able to support this in collaboration with UNCTAD,’ said Oscar Stenström, Sweden’s State Secretary to the Minister for EU Affairs and Trade.

UNCTAD (trade and gender) supports developing countries with both policy analysis and technical assistance so that trade supports inclusive development, including by benefitting women, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.