devinitorg/iati-policy-markers huggingface dataset:
AfCFTA: Empowering women in the AfCFTA - Phase 2 (SheTrades) Given the AfCFTA's potential to foster regional value chains and its ambition to encompass goods, services, intellectual property, competition and investment, it is critical that women are well-positioned to seize opportunities in regional trade;The project, SheTrades: Empowering Women in the African Continental Free Trade Area; Phase II contributes to ITC One Trade Africa strategy on African regional integration. It aims to empower women entrepreneurs to benefit from trade opportunities created by the AfCFTA. The project will help design a more inclusive AfCFTA by providing women's business associations with capacity-building, networking platforms and support for effective policy advocacy on AfCFTA Phase II issues; leveraging the private sector to foster women's economic empowerment through the AfCFTA; working with ECOWAS to strengthen the ecosystem for women; and promoting public private sector dialogues on women and trade across selected countries.
AfCFTA Export Training Programme for African SMEs This project document proposes the establishment and piloting of a blended, non-accredited, vocational and practical training programme concentrated around the fundamentals of exporting and the opportunities resulting from the AfCFTA. This curriculum will be developed by the SME Trade Academy in collaboration with the Afreximbank. Local partners, such as trade training institutions will provide support in implementation of the pilot programme in three countries, namely Nigeria, Rwanda and Cote d'Ivoire.The pilot will involve building local partners capacity to market the training and conduct sessions on a continuous basis, localizing the offering for each national context. An expansion phase has been added to the project involving a further 12 countries. The online training will be opened to all African countries. A second expansion phase has been added to the project involving the delivery of national workshops for 4 additional countries following a new agreement signed with the ITFC.
Renforcement du Management opérationnel des OPC dans 20 Pays moins avancés Le Centre du commerce international (ITC) et Business France se sont associés pour une durée de deux ans (2018-2019) afin de développer et mettre en œuvre, avec l’appui financier de l’Agence française de développement (AFD), un projet de renforcement du management opérationnel des programmes de soutien à l’exportation (MOPSE) au bénéfice de 21 organismes de promotion du commerce (OPC) d’Afrique sub-saharienne. 

L’objectif de ce projet conjoint est d’améliorer l’efficacité des programmes de soutien à l’exportation conduits par les OPC en renforçant leurs capacités de management stratégique et opérationnel, de la définition des objectifs stratégiques au suivi, développement de leurs portefeuilles de services et l’évaluation ainsi qu’à la restitution des résultats de leurs interventions, en passant par l’élaboration des indicateurs de performance et l’exécution de leurs plans d’action. Ce projet a été élaboré en trois phases :  

Phase I : Appel à candidatures et sélection des 21 OPC. Pour maximiser le succès du programme, les agences/pays participant ont été sélectionnées sur la base de leur capacité à faire évoluer leurs modes managériaux, et surtout de l’engagement de leurs directions à suivre l’ensemble du programme, mettre en œuvre ses recommandations, et évaluer les résultats in fine

Phase II :  Formation initiale des Directeurs généraux et cadres dirigeants des OPC sélectionnés et élaboration d’un plan d’action « management opérationnel » pour chaque OPC. 

Phase III :   Formation et tutorat pour la mise en œuvre et le suivi des Plans d’actions de leadership (PAL) et de promotion des exportations (PAPE) avec l’appui technique de l’ITC et Business France.

L’ambition du projet MOPSE est de se concentrer sur un aspect particulier de l’efficacité des programmes de soutien à l’exportation, le management opérationnel, en le traitant par une approche multilatérale. L’originalité de ce projet réside aussi dans son mode d’exécution, faisant une place importante à l’approche peer-to-peer : d’une part entre OPC africaines participantes, au travail des ateliers menés en commun, d’autre part par le choix d’associer à ITC et Business France, pour la réalisation du programme de formation et de tutorat.
Fiji: UK Trade Partnership Programme The UK Trade Partnerships Programme is designed to ensure countries maximize benefits of Economic Partnership Agreements especially trade with the UK under EU EPAs or UK specific EPAs. The programme will increase awareness on EPA preferences by increasing availability and uptake of trade intelligence and build capacity of targeted firms/products to export to UK/EU market in selected pilot countries. The Programme will also allow DFID and ITC to learn lessons to inform future UK programming in export and import promotion. ITC will measure impact in two ways: (1) increased trade between EPA partner countries and the UK and EU markets and (2) increased jobs supported through that trade. In Fiji, UKTP supports the ginger sector.
Senegal: Export development of IT and IT-enabled services (NTF IV) The purpose of the Netherlands Trust Fund Programme IV (NTF IV) in Senegal is to support the internationalisation of the local IT/ITES SMEs and startups through: strategic, inter-ministerial coordination, an IT and ITES export-development strategy, and positioning of Senegal on the global IT and ITES market; the strengthening of OPTIC, the sector association, as a provider of export advisory and training benefiting its current and future members; the capacity building of companies in export marketing planning and sales; mobilizing the Senegalese network of foreign trade representatives (FTR) to promote IT and ITES trade opportunities to complement the work done in the area of investment promotion; and the development of new markets jointly with Senegal’s main TPO, ASEPEX, and OPTIC, using an approach already applied under NTF III in Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda.
The Gambia: Improving skills and employment opportunities for youth and women The project funded by German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) focuses on enhanced financial and business development capacities of Gambian MSMEs, improved and formalized apprenticeships for the Gambian youth, and cash-for-work opportunities. Through the provision of small grants and complementary coaching services, the project provides business development support to entrepreneurs. It further fosters technical and vocational training through the implementation of formalized apprenticeship programmes in high growth sectors such as construction, agro-processing, the creative industries, and garment making. Simultaneously, the project supports master craftsperson to meet improved training standards. To support the recovery from the pandemic, the project additionally implements short-term skills programmes in construction and refurbishment projects which generate income for the trainees.
Alliance for Product Quality in Africa The German government initiative &nbsp;&quot;Alliance for Product Quality in Africa&quot;, is a multi-stakeholder initiative, consisting of public and private actors who implement selected projects with the goal to improve product quality in key economic sectors of eight African countries. ITC is contracted by GIZ to &nbsp;implement four project activities related to quality management and food safety in five countries (C&ocirc;te d&apos;Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda and Tunisia). The four project activities are being implemented to support selected African small and medium sized companies in the targeted focus sectors to meet quality requirements of buyers in Germany and Europe. The ITC contribution relates to the implementation and certification of quality management (ISO 9001) and food safety systems (HACCP), the assessment of persisting SPS and TBT related obstacles for export, the development of national quality and food safety experts as well as the sensitization and training of quality manager in SMEs. The sectors targeted are predominantly agro-food, natural cosmetics and textiles/clothing.&nbsp;
Myanmar: Upgrading horticulture supply and sustainable tourism to develop business linkages This project aims at improving the economic situation in the Inle Lake (Shan State, Myanmar) area through the upgrade of the horticulture supply capacity and the development of sustainable tourism. Funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) trust fund, it is implemented by a cluster of 4 UN agencies gathered in the UN Trade Cluster, through the establishment of value chains leading to income generation and employment creation. Within this framework, ITC assists the Inle Lake area in gaining in its position as a touristic destination. Through the design and application of a new branding strategy, the enhancement and promotion of products and services of the Inle Lake inbound tour operators, and the alignment of tourism goods and services to the industry requirements (especially in quality and food safety), the tourism sector will reach a new market positioning in sustainable and inclusive tourism, resulting in an increase and stabilization of business opportunities for tourism actors.
Uganda: Youth Startup Academy in Africa The Youth Startup Academy Uganda project, financed by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), aims to incubate 1,000 young entrepreneurs by 2024. To fulfil this goal, the project will adapt and implement the Korean Youth Startup Academy programme, the most successful Korean startup incubation and acceleration programme. The project will partner with an existing incubation hub in Kampala, and set-up YSA in the hub by upgrading infrastructure and technical portfolio to support entrepreneurs. Throughout the project term, the project will run 4 intakes of entrepreneurs, and will provide training, mentoring and consulting services. For the implementation, the project will partner with the Government of Uganda (i.e. Ministry of ICT, Ministry of Trade, and the National Information Techonology Authority of Uganda), the Korean Government (Ministry of SME and Startups, KOSME) and various agents in the Korean startup ecosystem.
MENATEX Regional: Regional component of the Textiles and Clothing Programme for the MENA region The overall MENATEX programme consists of 5 sub-projects. It supports four countries in the Middle East and North African region (MENA region), namely Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia as well as contains a regional component, which is covered under this project. The programme intends to increase the countries’ export competitiveness in the T&C sector as well as develop linkages among the four countries. The regional component, which is covered by this project, consist of three elements, which will reinforce the activities and envisaged achievements at the country level: - Increase regional trade of T&C products, including for intermediate products to foster the development of a regional supply chain - Facilitate collaboration, and exchange of experiences and best practices in addressing gender and youth aspects. - Support the joint participation in regional trade fairs.
Tanzania: Developing the Beekeeping Value Chain Under the 11th EDF National Indicative Programme for Tanzania (2014-2020), Sustainable Agriculture is a focal sector with the specific objective to &lsquo;enhance management of natural resources, including forests, and ecosystem services for sustainable agriculture development and climate change adaptation&rsquo;.&nbsp;Tanzania is the second largest honey producer in Africa after Ethiopia and the largest African supplier to the EU (Germany, England, Belgium and Netherlands). It produces 34,000 tons per year, and nearly 9,200 tons of beeswax. The sector generates high-quality honey worth &euro;7.96 million and beeswax worth &euro;1.59 million annually, of which products worth &euro;1.69 million from honey and beeswax are exported, primarily to regional markets for local consumption or re-export.&nbsp;ITC in collaboration with the Belgian development agency (ENABEL) will empower the private sector actors working in this sector (including women and youth when appropriate) and will contribute to inclusive economic growth in Tanzania (particularly in the less advanced regions of the country) by increased export competitiveness and increased regional market integration of the honey value chain.The project aims to promote sustainable agriculture by improving the beekeeping value chain through enhanced quality production, value addition of bee products and enhanced trade and access to local, regional and international markets.ITC will focus on improving the links between production and marketing, while focusing on groups living in vulnerable situations, providing them with employment opportunities to participate in the value chain. The project will support enabling working environment for private sector involved in the bee product processing and trade.
Supporting Indian trade and investment for Africa (SITA) Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa (SITA) is a South-South Trade and Investment Cooperation Programme. It is the United Kingdom’s (FCDO) first Aid-for-Trade initiative in Triangular Cooperation. Implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC), SITA has facilitated USD 60 million of additional trade and USD 111 million of investment between SMEs in India and five East African countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. SITA delivers durable impact by developing productive and technical capacities, generating jobs, enabling technology and knowledge transfer, and creating networks between business support institutions. The programme focuses on empowering women and youth in sectors as diverse as high-value agriculture and light manufacturing, while environmental compliance and climate-smart practices underpin SITA’s economic outcomes.
Egypt: Improving the international competitiveness of the textile and clothing sector (GTEX/MENATEX) The envisaged impact of the programme is to increase employment and income along the Textile and Clothing (T&C) value chain in Egypt. To achieve this long-term objective, the programme foresees to accomplish, by its completion, two major outcomes. One is related to the institutional infrastructure around the T&C sector, including policy aspects, where required, and is formulated as “Enhanced TISI performance and regional collaboration in the T&C sector”. Under this outcome enhanced regional collaboration and trade in T&C is also envisaged. The second outcome targets the enterprise level which is formulated as “Improved competitiveness of SMEs in the T&C sector”.
SME Competitiveness Survey and Outlook The purpose of the ITC SME Competitiveness Survey (SMECS) is to increase awareness on issues related to SME Competitiveness through three key channels: collecting firm level information on SME competitiveness in partnership with trade and investment supporting institutions (TISIs) ; disseminating knowledge and evidence on SME competitiveness through the ITC SME Competitiveness Outlook (SMECO) and; enabling ITC Managers of projects that aim at enhancing SME competitiveness to conduct harmonized needs and impact assessments. Specifically, the overall outcome of the project will be achieved by building capacity of TISIs to collect SME Competitiveness data and assess them; by producing quantitative and qualitative analysis on SME Competitiveness and widely disseminating this information through ITC SME Competitiveness Outlook; and finally, by providing guidance to ITC Project Managers on the use of SMECS for project needs and impact assessment and to support the tailoring of SMECS to specific project requirements.
Uganda: Strengthening Agribusiness Resilience and Competitiveness (STAR) The project, financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, will improve the livelihoods of rural communities (particularly women) in Northern and North-Eastern Uganda from 2022 to 2026. The project will increase the competitiveness and resilience to natural disasters of 10,000 farming/ agro-pastoral households and 60 SMEs and cooperatives in the cassava, shea, and oilseed value chains. ITC will implement the project in collaboration with a Korean NGO (World Vision, as per request of KOICA), and will coordinate closely with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Ministry of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees and Ministry of Water and Environment.
Arab States: Development of SME exports through virtual market places The project “Developing SMEs exports through Virtual Market Places” is an innovative project, which aims at unlocking the untapped economic growth potential of SMEs in the MENA region in order to generate employment and more inclusive social and economic development. The project has been prepared in the context of the Deauville Partnership and administrated by the World Bank with the technical support of ITC.

Research conducted recently shows that i) improving export capacity skills in export-ready SMEs, and ii) actively promoting their products and services through global Virtual Market Places (VMPs) such as e.g. Alibaba.com would significantly increase SMEs’ revenues, leading to more job creation, market diversification and increased integration in the global economy. 
The development objective of this three years project is to create jobs for youth and women by increasing SMEs’ exports through VMPs and support institutional reforms to create an enabling environment for e-commerce. I

The project focuses on building the capacity of 600 selected SMEs in Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia (200 companies in each country) to enable them benefit from new business opportunities using new information and communication technologies. 
The project partners are: the Ministry of Trade of Jordan, the Ministry of Trade of Morocco, the Ministry of Trade of Tunisia. The project will closely collaborate with trade support institutions (TSIs) in each partner country to build their capacity to provide quality services and trade intelligence to promote e-commerce to support export diversification efforts. It is expected that the TSIs will have a strong multiplier effect, and will continue to strengthen the capacity and skills of SMEs to increase their exports by using VMPs.
Sierra Leone: West Africa Competitiveness Programme The project aims to enhance the competitiveness of the cocoa, palm oil and cassava sectors in Sierra Leone in order to boost the country&apos;s connection to regional and global value chains, create more jobs and strengthen its resilience against economic chocs. A&nbsp;market driven and flexible approach will be embedded in the project interventions such that other value chains can benefit from the project activities and outputs. This approach is consistent with the multi-sectoral investment programme led by the Government focusing, amongst others, on private sector development to drive socio-economic transformation in the aftermath of Ebola and falling iron prices. The Ministries in charge of Trade, Industry and Agriculture, our main partners, are&nbsp;working to increase the competitiveness of 1 000 SMEs to add value and find new markets for farm products, to ensure diversification of economic activities and avoid falling in the trap of an exclusively mineral based economy. Ensuring equal access of female and male entrepreneurs to the benefits of this national policy will be key for its success.
Sri Lanka: Trade related assistance The EU - Sri Lanka Trade-Related Assistance Project aims to increase the trade competitiveness of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in regional and European Union (EU) markets. The 4 year EU-funded project, worth EUR 8 million, contributes to inclusive trade led growth and regional integration. It supports SME export competitiveness and value addition in sectors with high potential for economic growth and development. The project helps Sri Lanka integrate the policies and regulatory reforms of the World Trade Organization (WTO), allowing SMEs to make the most of the potential opportunities resulting from the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus. It also enables greater regional integration within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The project addresses compliance standards and efficiencies in cross border procedures, which are key constraints to market access, especially for SMEs. Specific attention is given to enhancing value chains in the spice, food and Information Technology/Business Process Outsourcing (IT/BPO) sectors. The project provides trade capacity building and technical assistance, with a strong focus on training and skills development. Women are heavily involved in trade and are therefore a target group when it comes to capacity building of SMEs and exporters.
The Gambia: Addressing the drivers and causes of vulnerability in migration among border communities along the Trans-Gambia transport corridor The Trans-Gambia transport corridor has seen a significant increase in trade and migration with the 2019 opening of the Senegambia Bridge, which crosses the Gambia River. The project aims to allow border communities to reap the benefits of the transport corridor without being at risk of harm by addressing the challenges along the corridor related to irregular migration, organized crime and the specific vulnerabilities faced by female migrants and traders.The project, a pilot initiative, targets two districts (Jarra West and Upper Baddibou) to mitigate migration challenges and improve the cross-border environment for women and youth in four components:&nbsp;Enhancing border posts to pre-empt situations of vulnerability;&nbsp;Strengthening capacity of border authorities;&nbsp;Increasing awareness among women and youth of their rights;Strengthening skills and opportunities for women and youth.
The Gambia: Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Women and Youth The &ldquo;Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Women and Youth in The Gambia&rdquo; Programme funded by the 11th European Development Fund is implemented by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in collaboration with the International Trade Center (ITC). The project has an overarching focus on promoting a green economy such as renewable energy, sustainable construction and eco-tourism. ITC&rsquo;s support focuses on improving the relevance, effectiveness, and accessibility of vocational and technical training as well as other market-led skills training to improve employability and job creation. The project improves strategic direction and coordination at national and regional level for a market-oriented TVET system, strengthens the capacity of training providers and effectiveness of their services, and supports the roll-out of training opportunities through and in formal skills training and apprenticeship programmes.&nbsp;
El Amatillo-Honduras: Creating Resilience and Employment for Communities in Remote Environments (CRECER) The project seeks to generate economic opportunities and promote productive and decent work mainly for informal and unemployed workers and people involved in menial economic activities located at the border area of El Amatillo. 

To achieve its objective, the project will identify business activities and occupations for the selected beneficiary group(s), develop a comprehensive skills development training program, prepare the beneficiaries to successfully run their joint operated business and enhance the image and visibility of the border area to attract new businesses.

By doing so, the project expects to reduce the level of dependency of border communities on income derived from informal activities at the border and their propensity to migrate.