As the global economic crisis continues to unfold, it is having severe effects on international trade. UNCTAD estimates that merchandise exports from developing countries could decline by 15.5% this year. At the regional level, we expect export growth to shrink by 16.8% in Asia, 12.5% in Africa, and 10% in Latin America, writes Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

This will certainly have a significant impact on employment as well. Some 51 million people are projected to lose their jobs this year, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) - and 22 million of them will be women. The sectors that were initially hit the hardest by the crisis -such as finance, insurance, real estate, construction and manufacturing- were largely dominated by male workers. But the crisis is now spreading to service-oriented sectors, which in many countries are dominated by females.

The theory behind trade liberalization is that those workers displaced from import-competing sectors can be re-employed in expanding export sectors or take advantage of other new opportunities. In practice, however, those who are unable to adapt can end up worse off than before. Unfortunately, adaptation often raises particular problems for women because of their relative disadvantages in terms of education, command over resources, and access to credit, new technologies, training, and marketing networks. This problem is often more relevant in developing countries, where the differences between the genders may be greater and where the lack of efficient government institutions, safety nets and compensatory policies can make adjustments more difficult.