An inception workshop on “Mainstreaming Gender into Trade Policy” will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 21 to 22 April 2009. The main objective of the workshop is to strengthen the capacity of African countries and African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to formulate more gender responsive trade policies. By increasing the capacities of African countries to mainstream gender analysis into trade policy, they will be in a better position to exploit the potential opportunities for both African men and women within the international trading system, and derive the benefits from unlocking the potential derived particularly from women as both producers and cross border traders in Africa. They will also be more successful in ensuring coherence between trade policy and the empowerment of African women, part of the national development policies of all African countries.