STRENGTHENING THE ECONOMIC POWER OF WOMEN IN THE INFORMAL CROSS BORDER TRADE SECTOR WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION.

This advocacy paper presents evidence based recommendations by civil society organisations, private sector and cross border traders in East African community and Great Lakes region on improving the working environment of small scale cross borders traders, taking into consideration gender aspects and regional integration opportunities.

The paper aims at advocating for more dedicated efforts by governments of the region to facilitate small scale informal cross border traders especially women who import/export goods of commercial nature originating from East Africa states, and address a number of challenges including limited access to finance, inactive joint border committees, limited information on taxes and tax exemption, Inconsistent and non-harmonised national paws and policies with regional instruments including simplified trade regimes , mistreatment and harassment of women cross border traders, Limited access to information and clarity on policies and updated guidelines and lack of proper coordination of existing efforts among different stakeholders among others.