Main findings and policy recommendations

This module has applied the concepts covered in Volume 1 of UNCTAD’s teaching manual on gender and trade (UNCTAD, 2014a) to examine the trade and gender nexus in Central American countries – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. The region has gone through important changes in both political and economic terms since the 1990s. The Guatemala Peace Accords adopted in 1996 brought a durable process of peace following the armed conflicts of the previous era. The structural adjustment process, which was focused on macroeconomic balance, privatization and global economic integration, was the economic leg of this transformation process. The General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration that was signed in 1960 formed the basis of regional integration in Central America, and the SICA extended this cooperation further among its members.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Gender Equality

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Reduced Inequalities