The workshop was organized jointly by UNCTAD and the Government of South Africa for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) policy-makers dealing with development strategies, as part of the preparatory process for the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCIII), to be hosted by the European Union, in Brussels, from 14-20 May 2001.

The primary objective of the workshop was to highlight the links between gender, poverty reduction and development and the necessity to mainstream gender in LDCs' national policies and programmes. Obstacles, capacity limitations and opportunities were discussed. The debates led to the adoption of a declaration and the formulation of policy and capacity building recommendations in order for the LDCs to be empowered to mainstream gender, specifically focusing on poverty reduction using entry points such as national budgets and building capacity for evidence based-policy making through engendering national statistics.

A record of this workshop including contributions made by participants through speeches, background and cases studies, in form of a review report will be launched at a Panel meeting on Gender Equality in LDCs on 15 May at the LDC-III Conference in Brussels. Any suggestions and remarks on the review report could be sent to gender@unctad.org, which will be much appreciated. The final report will be published during fall 2001.

The outcome of this workshop is expected to constitute a major input into the LDC III in ensuring that gender equity becomes a major force in the LDCs development in the next decade.

Keynote Speakers and participants
The workshop was chaired by Mrs. L. Hendricks, Deputy Minister of Trade, South Africa. The keynote speakers included the first lady of South Africa, Ministers from LDCs, high-level Representatives of major development partners, NGOs, Academia and private sector.