Resource information
The Lao Government has also made
important commitments to gender equality in both its
national socio-economic development planning and in a number
of international agreements. Through mapping the gender
dimensions of trade in Lao PDR, this report aims to draw out
key inter-linkages between a more open trade policy and
gender. Recent export performance in Lao has been strong and
mostly driven by hydro-electricity and minerals, which
constituted more than half of all exports in 2010 and are
predicted to grow even more in the next few years. To better
understand the interaction between gender and trade policy,
this paper presents a gender mapping exercise for export
development in Lao PDR and in this regard presents simple
recommendations on how to undertake this type of exercise.
The paper is split in two parts: the first sketches out a
simple methodological framework that can be used by
researchers to do an initial mapping of the
inter-relationships between export promotion/trade policy
and gender. The second part of the paper is aimed primarily
at policy makers. It uses the framework to provide a
diagnostic which examines: 1) sectors in Lao with potential
for export expansion that could benefit women; 2)
gender-based constraints in these sectors which limit their
expansion through trade; and 3) potential impacts for women,
both positive and negative, from an increase in Lao's
natural resource exports.
