Women in Cross Border Trade LIBERIA - UN Women

Women in Cross Border Trade
LIBERIA
A Consolidated Report on Liberia’s First Annual
Women in Cross Border Trade Conference and
the establishment of the Women in Cross
Border Trade Association of Liberia
Hosted: May 26 – 29 th, 2010

Background to the Women in Cross Border Trade Conference
The Women in Cross Border Trade Conference was hosted by the Ministry of Gender
and Development, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the United Nations
Development Fund for Women as one component targeted at the economic
empowerment of women under the UN / Government of Liberia Joint Programme for
Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment.
The Conference brought together 70 women involved in cross border trading from eight
of Liberia’s fifteen counties. The delegates for the Conference were selected in border
regions and major trading centers by a team of the Ministry of Gender and
Development decentralized staff, the elected officials of the National Rural Women’s
Structure, Immigration Officials, and Marketing Superintendents. Delegates must have
been considered reputable traders by other women in their area and have been
involved in trading across West African borders for more than one year. Not more than
two traders in any given commodity area were allowed to represent one county.
The delegates came together in Monrovia for a four‐day conference with sessions led by
representatives of various Government Agencies, Regional Trade bodies, financial
institutions, local civil society organizations and international partners.
Objectives of the First Annual Women in Cross Border Trade Conference
‐ To provide information to women in cross border trade on border controls,
regulations, practices and regional trade agreements;
‐ To provide information to women in cross border trade on their rights, including
prevention and response to SGBV and SEA;
‐ To document women’s experience in cross border trade in Liberia so that
Government and partners are better able to design programs and policies to
address their unique challenges and concerns;
‐ To identify the unique challenges to Government and to women in cross border
trade with regards to regional trade;
‐ To address some of these challenges through the establishment of an Association,
increased communication and sensitization, distribution of information, and
development of an action plan for future activities;
‐ To establish an Association for Women in Cross Border Trade (AWICBT) with elected
leadership.
Top Challenges Expressed by Women in Cross Border Trade
During the Conference the Cross Border Trade Delegates joined other representatives
on panels covering a range of topics from border procedures, sexual and gender‐based
violence, financial services and access to credit, and regional trade bodies. During these

panels, as well as during small group work, the women in cross border trade delegates
consistently highlighted the following challenges:
Laissez Passez and Immigration Officials
‐ Laissez Passez travel documents, although issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and valid for 90 days, are not reliable immigration documents for the traders and
are often rejected by neighboring counties, especially Guinea and Ivory Coast.
Many women complain that Immigration Officials from these countries will tear the
paper document and demand money. Liberian Immigration Officials are also known
to take them away upon re‐entry into Liberia, forcing the women to purchase new
documents even though they are still valid.
‐ Women are accustomed to paying small fees and bribes at every Immigration gate
in order to pass across the border.
‐ Many of the women complained that even the ECOWAS passport is not respected
by Immigration Officials and they can even be charged more money when carrying
the ECOWAS passport.
Customs and Duties
‐ Women are forced to pay the customs duty at multiple stations, despite having
receipt for the original payment. In addition, the amount they pay is not always
what is put on the receipts.
‐ Women in informal trade are unlikely to have receipts for their products and/or the
necessary documents to claim origin of goods in order to benefit from the duty‐free
trading within ECOWAS or the Mano River Union.
‐ After discussions with the representative of the Mano River Union (MRU) to Liberia,
it was clarified that without an Association for representation, individual traders
could not benefit from the MRU duty‐free trade benefits; once they registered
under an Association, the body could apply to MRU representatives for appropriate
documentation for duty‐free importing.
Transportation Expenses and Losses
‐ Women, particularly those trading cosmetics and hair products, complained that
they must rely on the informal transport industry, often experiencing damage to
goods or even losing goods entirely without compensation.
‐ Many of the women have no means of retribution with transport drivers who lose
or damage goods.
‐ Transportation costs, as a whole, are quite high.
‐ Transportation is very difficult, with bad road conditions, dangerous vehicles, and
frequent breakdowns.
Lack of Access to Adequate Finance
‐ Most women are only able to access finance at an informal level, either through
“sell‐pay” arrangements with merchants or through informal lending groups (susus).
This limits their ability to utilize credit for business expansion and trade
opportunities.
‐ Women at the Conference joked about micro credit as being “micro worry”, due to
the pressure of micro finance institutions, inconvenient loan cycles and high interest
rates.

‐ Despite positive interactions with Micro Finance Institutions and banks at the
Conference, women expressed great concern at the fact that many branches were
only located in the capital of Monrovia, or county seats that are far distances from
where they trade.
‐ Women consistently stressed the need for access to credit at lower, more
manageable, interest rates with longer payment cycles for turning around the
capital.
Sexual Exploitation and Gender Based Violence
‐ Women traders faced various forms of SGBV, ranging from sexual harassment to
rape, at border crossings / check points within Liberia and in neighboring countries.
‐ Women highlighted unwanted touches of sensitive body parts by customs and
immigration officers. In addition, officers often forced unnecessary delays and
arbitrary arrest/detention at border points and/or the seizure of goods so as to
detain traders for the night in order to make sexual advances.
‐ Women felt there were few options for reporting or challenging cases of SGBV at
the border, and were not aware of the appropriate authorities to go to, particularly
when the perpetrators were members of the security forces themselves.
Top Opportunities Identified during the Conference
Formation of an Association – duty‐free imports
‐ By forming a legal association, women in cross border trade could apply to the MRU
for duty‐free importing from other MRU countries; this process was discussed and
clarified with the Liberian Representative to the MRU.
‐ The Association would also create a body under which to lobby for trade
agreements that better accommodate the practices of informal traders, including
difficulties in attaining official receipts, proving origin of content, and transporting in
bulk.
Formation of decentralized structures – Group travel, transport and storage
‐ The establishment of decentralized structures within the Association (at the county
level and perhaps by commodity area) would permit women to collaborate and
travel together, both improving upon their safety and presenting better
opportunities for bulk transport.
‐ Women were highly encouraged by the prospect of renting / purchasing transport
vehicles and/or warehouse spaces for decentralized structures. By charging fees for
use by Association members, this could cover costs while also better insuring the
appropriate and reliable transport and security of their products.
Development of financial services specifically for cross border traders
‐ Although wary of typical micro credit loan products, women in cross border trade
are strong businesswomen who represent viable credit opportunities for banks and
financial institutions. The loan products for cross border traders need to offer a
large enough amount of capital to make the business profitable for traders.
‐ The women are also quite familiar and comfortable with informal credit circles
(susus) and the development of an Association‐led credit union could be a strong

option for county (decentralized) structures of the Association to save and lend to
other members.
Collaboration with Government Customs and Immigration Offices
‐ The presence of the Commissioner of Customs and the Deputy Commissioner of
Immigration gave the delegates confidence towards the will of Government to build
a more accountable and dependable force of border officials.
‐ Initial discussions were held towards the formation of a partnership between the
Association and the Bureau of Immigrations and Bureau of Customs. This
partnership would include sensitization exercises for both traders and officials to be
aware of appropriate regulations, procedures and the rights of traders, as well as to
set up a system for whistle blowing.
Priority Actions and Way Forward for Women in Cross Border
Trade Association of Liberia
1. Publish the Women in Cross Border Trade Association Resolution in national
newspapers.
2. Conduct sensitization of women cross border traders at the county level, followed by
county elections to establish decentralized structures for the Association.
3. Officially register the Association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of
Labor.
4. Establish bank account(s) for the Association.
5. Meeting of Association leadership to review outcomes of the Conference and finalize
policy priorities for discussion with Government of Liberia Officials.
6. Participation of WICBTA members in security trainings for border officials in the various
counties on SEA and SBGV.
7. Organizational Development training for the leaders of the National Association and
decentralized structures to ensure management and leadership skills, as well as to
strengthen institutional capacity.
8. Application to the Mano River Union for certificates for duty‐free import of products (by
commodity area).
9. Establish new credit opportunities for members, either through partnerships with banks
or financial institutions, or through appropriate training and the establishment of
decentralized Association Savings and Loan schemes.
10. Establish basic literacy + business skills trainings for women involved in cross border
trader, cognizant of their travel schedules and the need for flexible class schedules
(intensive while they are in Liberia).
11. Prepare business and sustainability plans for Association‐managed warehouses and
transportation at various border crossings.

Resolution Adopted by the newly‐established Women in Cross
Border Trade Association of Liberia
We, the Women in Cross Border Trade Association of Liberia:
Urge the Government of Liberia and the security agencies to take stronger actions to
stop the corrupt practices of customs, immigration and other border officers and to
put an end to the sexual violence and exploitation at our borders;
Call on the Mano River Union, ECOWAS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make sure
that the rights of Liberian women are protected in other West African countries;
Further call on the Mano River Union, ECOWAS and Liberian Customs to simplify their
policies and to work with women involved in informal trading of goods, recognizing
that we do not always receive official receipts for our goods, so that we, the
informal traders, can also benefit from duty‐free trading within the region;
Stress the urgent need for more storage facilities to ease the safety hazards and
burdens of cross border trading;
Urge the banks and financial institutions to consider the needs and constraints of cross
border traders and to develop appropriate loan and banking products with more
time to pay loans at lower interest rates;
Call on women involved in cross border trade to respect the laws, always carry their
correct documents, refuse to pay bribes, and report corrupt practices;
And advocate for the expansion of the Association of Women in Cross Border Trade in
order to serve as a representative body that will inform women traders of their
rights and work to protect them.
Signed by the founding seventy members of the Women in Cross Border Trade Association of Liberia and
its elected leadership on the 29 th of May, 2010.