devinitorg/iati-policy-markers huggingface dataset:
Mano River: Value Chain Development for Cocoa  (NTF IV) The Netherlands Trust Fund IV (NTF IV) funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nertherlands began in October 2017 and is projected to end in June 2021. The purpose of NTF IV is to increase the competitiveness of producers and exporters in selected sectors within priority developing countries. SMEs that are more competitive contribute in turn to achieving SDG targets. Part of NTF IV, this project aims to address economic and development challenges faced by Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea by rebuilding and reinforcing the productive and trade capacities across the cocoa and cocoa derivatives value chain. It will enable smallholder producers to improve post-harvest efficiency, connect better to markets, add value to increase their competitiveness and comply with standards. Following a step-by-step approach, interventions first focused on Sierra Leone, building on and consolidating activities started under a bridge project launched in Q2 2017 leading to the present NTF IV Mano River Cocoa project. The project will apply lessons learned and expertise gained in Sierra Leone in two other members of MRU, namely Liberia and Guinea.
Philippines: Trade-Related Assistance (Arise + Philippines) ARISE Plus Philippines is a 4-year project, funded by the European Union (EU). The project started on 1 March 2021. It aims to foster inclusive economic growth in the Philippines through improved international trade performance and competitiveness as well as economic integration. The project is aligned and contributes to the Philippines Development Plan 2017-22, the Philippines Export Development Plan 2018-22, the Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy, and the Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) Development Plan 2017-22, all feeding into the 25 Year AmBisyon Natin 2040, the country’s long term development plan. ARISE Plus Philippines will focus as a priority on enabling the Philippines to take advantage of EU market access and of the trade privileges granted under the Generalized System of Preference (GSP+) as well as support the overall EU-Philippines trade relationship and trade-related policies. The project aims to facilitate the identification and leveraging of export priorities, support the set-up of a National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) as well as internationally aligned quality management and control systems for exported food products, and strengthen institutional and private sector capacities on trade facilitation for the implementation of national legislation and international trade commitments. It supports greater economic integration between the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, in line with the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025. It also contributes to the effective participation in the multilateral trading system through better understanding and leveraging of existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). These priority areas of support were identified with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Philippine stakeholders to improve the competitiveness of trade-oriented sectors and maximize their export potential. They are also relevant to support the Philippines in managing the economic and trade impact of COVID-19. Ultimate project beneficiaries include Philippine MSMEs, which will benefit from improved business environment, policies and processes to increase their competitiveness. The project aims to positively impact export-oriented sectors and contribute to addressing disadvantages faced more intensely by women and youth-owned businesses.
Ghana: Building Alliances for Action in Cocoa from bean to bar (NTF V) In September 2021, The Government of the Netherlands and the International Trade Centre (ITC) signed a four-year partnership agreement aimed at enhancing the trade competitiveness in selected African countries, through the strengthening of digital and agribusiness services and especially the connection between the two.As part of the Netherlands Trust Fund (NTF) V Programme, in Ghana, ITC will implement a value chain development project with the objective of improving the competitiveness and livelihood of farmers and agribusiness MSMEs in the cocoa and associated crops sector with a crosscutting focus on digitalization.Through the project, ITC aims to promote more efficient and sustainable agribusiness and support services that will lead to increased trade, better incomes and livelihoods opportunities especially for the smallholder cocoa farmers.&nbsp;The project will explore digital solutions and related services to overcome the negative effects of agribusiness value chains disruption brought by Covid-19, globally as well as locally, such as lack of agricultural inputs, increase in price of raw material, decrease in international demand (during the lockdown period) and the consequent need of finding alternative markets.&nbsp;The main objectives of the action in Ghana are to:&bull; Identify market opportunities and new buyers in the domestic, regional and international market &nbsp;for the cocoa sector and associated crops&bull;Strengthen Public-Private alliances along the Global Value Chain (GVC) to support the development of more solid ecosystems including through digital applications. Build capacities of support institutions and stakeholders along the cocoa value chain (producers, MSMEs, Social Enterprises (SE)) for more competitive and resilient commercialization and production, with a focus on digital and other support services (market access and market intelligence tools, product development/innovation, compliance with quality standards, sustainability principles, access to finance)&bull;Facilitate linkages for SMEs, SEs and Producers Associations with international, regional and domestic partners, business and investment opportunitiesThe agribusiness component of NTF V in Ghana will be delivered through the ITC Alliances for Action (A4A) approach that seeks to build resilience and growth for farmers and small and medium enterprises through more mindful and responsible trade, production and consumption systems. A4A works as a network that promotes responsible partnerships for development and better trade, and leverages investments and technical support to achieve measurable impact for smallholder farmers and MSMEs. In the framework of NTF V, A4A will look beyond sustainable production to work on the enabling environment and target all steps of the value chain from bean to bar. Digital applications will be used to increase the overall competitiveness of the agribusiness value chain as well to scale up results and reach more partners and beneficiaries.
Trade Training Hub (TTH) The Diploma in International Trade is&nbsp;&nbsp;a new offering for the SME Trade Academy. The project was initiated in 2020 to build capacity of professionals and SMEs in International Trade, by providing high quality, internationally accredited certification through the Institute of Exports and International Trade (IOE&amp;IT).&nbsp;The project has three prong collaboration between ITC, IOE&amp;IT and the local TSI.&nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;ITC will provide the online platform for each TSI, convert IOE&amp;IT content and Assessments to suitable online learning format and methodology.&middot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;IoE will provide the SME Trade Academy with learning resources, assessors and certification&nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The TSI&rsquo;s will be responsible for its marketing, invoicing, collection, assessment management and learner support.The pilot targeted three countries Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.The Diploma in International Trade was launched in Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA).The project expanded in 2021 to Nigeria in partnership with Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), while GEPA successfully marketed and launched a second cohort of the programme. The Diploma is fee-based, and Ghana&rsquo;s second paid cohort is proof that there is a demand in the market for this type of certification.In 2022, the pilot was launched in Kenya in partnership with the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA) with 29 participants.&nbsp;In 2023 the project will:&nbsp;&bull; Expand its reach to five English-speaking countries in Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia) thus increasing the reach of the project to eight countries &bull; Provide a new product offering the Certificate in International Trade &bull; Register 60 participants from 8 countries on the Certificate in International Trade.
Ukraine: Linking SMEs in the fruit and vegetables industry to global and domestic value chains The project will help Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the fruits and vegetables sector integrate into domestic and global value chains and access new markets by assisting SMEs to produce goods in accordance with market requirements, improving the capacities of business support organizations (BSOs) to provide quality business support services to SMEs, and linking SMEs to target markets, with a focus on the EU.
Refugee Employment and Skills Initiative: Building Solutions for Somali Refugees in a Fragile Protracted Displacement Scenario (RESI Dadaab II) RESI deploys innovative ways to address self-reliance and economic resilience in protracted humanitarian situations. The RESI Dadaab project provides support to entrepreneurship and business development for income generation to address the rapid phasing out of humanitarian assistance in the Dadaab camps, supporting Somali refugees to be able to maintain their well-being in the immediate future, including by supporting returnees in Somalia.
Côte D’Ivoire: UK Trade Partnerships 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 FCDO and ITC to learn lessons to inform future UK programming in export and import promotion. ITC will deliver the Programme in two phases: an inception phase of six months to tighten project design and an implementation phase of 28 months. 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. The programme will measure a variety of outcome level results, especially more competitive firms, relevant trade support institutions. Côte d'Ivoire as an ODA eligible EPA Country will also benefit from assistance in trade intelligence. In Côte d'Ivoire, the programme is conducting more targeted export promotion support by focusing on the key sectors of cashew and tropical fruits (pineapple and mango).
Business, trade and market intelligence: Global Trade Helpdesk The Global Trade Helpdesk (GTH) is a multi-agency initiative, which aims at improving the quality, transparency and accessibility&nbsp;of trade-related information. It integrates existing information on trade regulations, procedures and opportunities into a unique web portal for micro-, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) to make better informed trade decisions. The overall objective is to simplify market research&nbsp;and reduce trade cost hence maximizing the benefits of trade, in particular for MSMEs in developing countries by supporting them to make better informed trade decisions through the availability of the GTH platform. Geared to meet the specific needs of small business users&apos;, the platform is supported by an active network of partners across eleven international agencies, and regularly hosts events and capacity building activities for BSOs and MSMEs on how to leverage global trade opportunities using the GTH platform. The GTH platform has been recognized in 2023 by the G20 Ministers responsible for Trade and Investment as a central platform to support the accessibility of trade-related information and spur the integration of MSMEs in world trade.
CARIFORUM: UK Trade Partnerships Programme ITC through the UK Trade Partnerships Programme is leveraging existing trade partnerships across the region to grow exports in the specialty foods sector and creative industries.
Global: Networking and knowledge management for the textile and clothing sector (GTEX) This project forms part of the Global Textiles and Clothing (GTEX) Programme of ITC. It is essentially a global component on Knowledge Management and Policy Dialogue, which complements and fosters GTEX country level interventions, as well as facilitate peer learning and networking at a regional and a global scale. It comprises of two outputs. Firstly, the global component will contribute to creating knowledge with a view to influence behaviour at TISI and enterprise level. Secondly, it will ensure strategic linkages with suitable global T&C networks and a peer review mechanism, in the form of T&C Expert Forum, will be established.
State of Palestine: Enhancing self-employment of refugees and youth in Gaza through digital channels The Gazan population continues to suffer from longstanding Israeli occupation and poor socioeconomic conditions. In the past decade, the Gaza Strip experienced three wars; these left many people internally displaced. Moreover, like elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a negative shock to Palestinian socioeconomic development, putting at risk public welfare, employment and livelihoods, leading to more poverty, no food security and social cohesion. Living conditions were already difficult in Gaza, with every second person there living below the poverty line before the Covid-19 crisis.Through its theory of change, this project helps unlock the potential of refugees, youth, local communities and SMEs in the Gaza Strip to improve their livelihoods and economic conditions. In doing so, the project contributes to social stability and provides support in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. It does so by supporting employment and enhancing the employability of women and youth, including refugees and internally displaced people. The project focuses on freelancing skills and self-employment, as investing in this sector is an effective way to boost the Gazan economy, considering the complicated political context and the de facto lack of Gazan control over the borders and the implications of the pandemic.
UEMOA: Projet d'Appui à la Compétitivité du Commerce et à l'Intégration Régional (PACCIR) The project contributed to the creation of an effective common market and a progressive integration of the West African region in the world economy. 

The project action was structured around three working levels. At the Macroeconomic level, the actions targeted the improvement of the business environment, by creating a mechanism to highlight any obstacles to trade in the UEMOA region, training on trade surveillance reporting, supporting the launch of a regional committee of exchange facilitation, and putting in place a legal framework for the dematerialisation of the origin certificate in UEMOA region. 

At the institutional level, the strengthening of the institutional capacities included the creation of a new organism of trade promotion of the UEMOA states, along with the launching of export promotion agencies for MSMEs in Togo and Guinea-Bissau, and the organisation of a packaging forum between UEMOA countries.   

Lastly, at the microeconomic level, the actions included supporting regional channels to better integrate local value chains to the global economies, with the creation of a regional basket of food crops through market analysis. The reinforcement of the academic links with the private sector and the trade chambers of member states, along with a business platform for west African entrepreneurs. 

Overall, the three million USD project produced 53 organised workshops in the three working levels, reaching 1406 people, 165 institutions and 320 enterprises in the region. Three online platforms were created and operationalised during the course of the project, as well as two regional networks. Finally, ITC intervention generated about 700,000USD in commercial transactions in the two years project duration.
République Centrafricaine: Programme d’appui à la promotion de l’entreprenariat en milieu urbain et rural (PAPEUR) La Composante 1 du PAPEUR, à mettre en œuvre par l’ITC, va apporter une assistance technique tout au long de la chaine de valeur agricole des filières prioritaires sélectionnées — de la production à la commercialisation en passant par la transformation locale là où il le faut —, afin d’améliorer la productivité et la compétitivité de tous les acteurs économiques concernés. Une telle assistance technique stratégiquement définie aura des effets rapides sur l’emploi et contribuera à résorber le chômage alarmant des jeunes et à assurer aussi la réinsertion durable des ex-combattants. Cette assistance aura ainsi un impact immédiat tangible sur la pauvreté dans les zones d’intervention concernées tout en contribuant en même temps à assurer l’autosuffisance alimentaire du pays. Et les effets rapides en termes de revenus et d’emplois sont attendus dès la fin de la première année de mise en œuvre.
Non-tariff measures programme (W1) This project supports ITC's oning work under its non-tariff measures (NTMs) programme, which aims at creating the evidence base that decision makers need to effectively reduce trade cost related to NTMs and create a business environment conducive to inclusive trade. The programme ensures that the concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) about regulatory and procedural trade obstacles are brought to the attention of policymakers and other stakeholders, enabling them to take concrete actions to address these. The work also contributes to increasing the transparency of NTMs and related procedures, and provides thought leadership through research and analysis, informing national, regional and multilateral trade policy making.
Ethiopia: Building Alliances for Action in Coffee from seed to cup (NTF V) In September 2021, The Government of the Netherlands and the International Trade Centre (ITC) signed a four-year partnership agreement aimed at enhancing trade competitiveness in selected African countries, through the strengthening of digital and agribusiness services and especially the connection between the two.As part of this Programme, in Ethiopia, ITC will implement a value chain development project with the objective of improving the competitiveness of livelihood farmers and agribusiness MSMEs in the coffee sector with a focus on digitalization. Through the project, ITC aims to promote more efficient and sustainable agribusiness and support services that will lead to increased trade, better incomes and livelihoods opportunities, especially for the smallholder coffee farmers.The agribusiness component of NTF V in Ethiopia will build on previous work by the ITC Alliances for Action (A4A) team that&nbsp;focused on the generation of sustainable sourcing partnerships in coffee. The focus was upon building alliance platforms for enhanced market linkages and sales, whilst building capacity of MSMEs and producer cooperatives.&nbsp;A4A works as a network that promotes responsible partnerships for development and better trade and leverages investments and technical support to achieve measurable impact for smallholder farmers and MSMEs. In the framework of NTF V, A4A will look beyond sustainable production to work on an enabling environment and target all steps of the value chain from seed to cup. Digital applications will be used to increase the overall competitiveness of the agribusiness value chain as well as to scale-up results and reach more partners and beneficiaries.&nbsp;
Central Asia: UK Trade Partnerships Programme Working with small and medium sized enterprises and business support organizations, ITC through the UK Trade Partnerships Programme in Central Asia aims to increase the volume and value of exports to the UK and EU and to support local industries to grow employment opportunities
Enhancing Transparency and Traceability of Sustainable Textile Value Chains Clothing is one of the largest industries in the world economy employing 60 to 75 million people worldwide. The negative social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry have been well documented, demonstrating that these impacts mostly occur within the upstream portion of the value chain. Improving traceability is a priority in order to determine how and where parts and components in production processes have been sourced and what are the environmental, social and health risks in the value chain. The action will support enhanced transparency and traceability in garment value chains, through the development of an IT   platform that offers customized and open self-assessment and data sharing solutions for value chain stakeholders. Alongside the implementation of this platform, ITC will deliver a training and continuous improvement programme and, in collaboration with private sector partners, implement in a subset of textile and garment oriented countries.
SheTrades: Accelerator Programme for women entrepreneurs in the Apparel, Accessories and Home Décor sector This project is targeting women-led businesses (WLBs) in the Apparel, Accessories and Home Décor sector from Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Senegal, and South Africa. It aims to support income generation and job creation for women-led businesses and their communities by: Creating a more supportive ecosystem of partners and institutions to help the growth of women’s economic empowerment initiatives and activities; Increasing the competitiveness of women-led businesses in the sector; Creating new market linkage and trade opportunities for women owned businesses in the sector.
Uganda: Business acceleration for young entrepreneurs in the film sector ‘Opportunities Are Here’ (OAH) This new "Opportunities are Here" project will provide young talents in front of and behind the camera with tailored mentoring, networking opportunities and media exposure, and generate new trade capacity and export opportunities in the film sector in Uganda. The project is an incubator of talents, making training on the film industry available, and giving beneficiaries the opportunity to acquire competencies and gain competitive advantage in the marketplace, to identify business opportunities and to market and export their creative talent locally, regionally and internationally.
Guinée: Programme d'appui à l'integration socio-economique des jeunes (INTEGRA) Le programme INTEGRA est une initiative conjointe du uvernement guinéen et de l’Union européenne dans le contexte du Fonds fiduciaire de la Valette qui vise à réduire les migrations irrégulières de jeunes vers l’Europe. A ce titre, INTEGRA contribuera à la prévention et à la limitation de la migration irrégulière en soutenant le développement économique de la Guinée pour favoriser l'insertion socio-professionnelle des jeunes guinéens et la réintégration des migrants de retour.
Kyrgyzstan: Improving the international competitiveness of the textile and clothing sector (GTEX) The project for Kyrgyzstan is developed within the framework of the Global Textiles and Clothing (GTEX) programme, implmented by ITC and funded by the vernment of Switzerland. The GTEX programme is to increase export competitiveness in the Textile and Clothing sector in five selected countries. These are Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia.The project in Kyrgyztsan builds upon the achievements of the previous technical assistance projects delivered by ITC in cooperation with SECO in the textile and clothing sector and aims to create knowledge and capacities at institutional level to serve enterprises and meet their demand for services. The project will continue to support selected SMEs by connecting them to markets and value chains.