Negotiation of AfCFTA's Agreement Protocol on women and youth in trade is successfully concluded and with gender considerations appropriately taken into account, gender is mainstreaming in other Phase II protocols, and implementation is underway.
Enhanced inclusive AfCFTA Agreement negotiation and implementation, and reduced trade-related gender discrimination and gender-based barriers to AfCFTA implementation at continental level. Work Location

Accra, Ghana

Expected duration

The duration of the contract shall be for a period of 6 months (renewable, subject to successful performance). Duties and Responsibilities

The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), through the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD), is a specialized unit within the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its mission is to act as the leading Africa-based Centre of excellence and a continental hub for providing and coordinating technical support for the development of trade policies in Africa. ATPC works with stakeholders at all levels to enhance the implementation of sound national, regional and international trade strategies, policies and programs. The Centre also conducts research to generate and disseminate knowledge on trade and provides policy advice, training and capacity building based on the needs identified by its partners.
One of the key focus areas of ATPC’s work is to assist the African Union (AU) and its member States with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) negotiation and implementation processes. Officially starting operation in August 2020 in Accra, Ghana, the AfCFTA Secretariat has been mandated to coordinate implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement, while also ensuring close collaboration with all key stakeholders namely the State Parties, the Secretariats of RECs, the business community and strategic partners. Trading under the AfCFTA Agreement commenced on 1 January 2021 and the AfCFTA Secretariat needs technical assistance to be able to effectively support implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement.
African women play a significant role in trade and will be essential to the continent’s success in exploiting its trade potential under the AfCFTA. The AfCFTA Agreement underscores the imperative for gender equality in order to create an inclusive trade environment within the continent. This is reflected in Article 3(e) of the AfCFTA Agreement which posits that one of the objectives of the Agreement is to promote and attain sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality and structural transformation of the State Parties. Further to this, the AU Assembly, vide Decision Assembly/AU/Dec. 831(XXXV) taken at its 35th Ordinary Session held in February 2022 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, decided to include the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade in the scope of the AfCFTA Agreement, to be negotiated in 2022.
In order to ensure the Agreement delivers its expected outcomes and that benefits of the Agreement are widely felt, the AfCFTA Secretariat with the support of ECA intends to ensure it is inclusively designed and implemented by implementing the dual approach of mainstreaming gender in trade issues and at the same time advancing priority actions for women in trade through the Women and Youth in Trade Protocol.
ECA’s African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) has an existing program of work addressing barriers to women’s participation in the AfCFTA and ensuring inclusive implementation of the Agreement through knowledge generation, knowledge translation and transfer, and stakeholder engagement. During the program’s steering committee recently held in Accra and co-chaired by the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, ECA was requested to provide support to the AfCFTA Secretariat in three key areas based on the Secretariat’s priority needs and ECA’s strengths: gender considerations, digital trade, and statistics.
At the request of the AfCFTA Secretariat for ECA expertise and support, ECA through ATPC proposes to recruit a gender and trade expert to be based at the AfCFTA Secretariat to support the Secretariat’s leadership on advancing the Women and Youth in Trade Protocol and to facilitate gender mainstreaming in the Secretariat’s work in inclusive AfCFTA design and implementation.
Objective of the Assignment:
The main objective of this assignment is to provide support to the AfCFTA Secretariat in promoting women’s economic empowerment, gender equality, and increased inclusive intra-African trade through inclusive AfCFTA negotiations, knowledge generation and translation, capacity building, and related activities.
Duties and responsibilities:
The gender and trade expert will work under the overall guidance and joint supervision of the ATPC Coordinator and the Director for Institutional Matters and Programmes Coordination at the AfCFTA Secretariat. More specifically, the consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Director for Institutional Matters and Programmes Coordination at the AfCFTA Secretariat, who will send to the ATPC Coordinator monthly performance evaluation reports on the expert. ECA will complete the monthly performance evaluation forms for each expert based on the monthly reports from the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The consultant shall perform the following key tasks:
• Provide support to the negotiation process for the Women and Youth in Trade Protocol, including following trade negotiation processes, attending and reporting on negotiation meetings, following up with State Parties, managing relevant documents, and arranging necessary meetings of State Parties and stakeholders
• Draft reports on AfCFTA negotiations supporting interaction with State Parties
• Support gender mainstreaming in AfCFTA issues and address requests from various colleagues on the gender dimension of various trade concepts and on women in trade
• Produce papers for various audiences, including drafting documents and briefs for a policy audience, and support relevant research
• Support stakeholder engagement and capacity building, including the development of training materials and manuals
• Support knowledge management and consolidation of information and evidence shared by various partners
• Provide general support including contact management
• Participate in country missions as required
• Any other related duties as required Qualifications/special skills

Academic Qualifications: Master’s degree in Economics, International Trade, International Relations, International Law, Gender Studies, and/or related areas is required.
Experience: Have a minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience. Experience in writing for a policy audience and engagement with public and private sector stakeholders in gender, trade, and sustainable development in the African context is required. Understanding of Africa's regional integration agenda and inclusive AfCFTA implementation issues is required. Experience with continental, regional, and/or national policy making on relevant trade and/or inclusion issues is desirable. Knowledge of trade negotiations is an asset. Ability to proactively address challenges is valuable.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in English is required; Knowledge of any of the other AU languages is desirable.