Attachment J.6 - USAID 2023_Gender Policy_508.pdf

2023 GENDER EQUALITY AND

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT POLICY

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INTRODUCTION 5

VISION 11

GUIDING PRINCIPLES 13

OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES 17

POLICY INTO PRACTICE 23

WHY GENDER MATTERS TO USAID PROGRAMS 29

CONCLUSION 71

ENDNOTES 72

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) affirms that gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment are fundamental for the realization of human rights and key to effective and sustainable development outcomes. For societies to thrive, women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals must have the agency, social support, and structures to make their own choices and live free from violence and abuse. They must have equal rights and opportunities, as well as equal and safe access to and control over resources.

Achieving gender equality in society will improve the overall quality of life for all people throughout their lives.

This policy provides the vision for USAID’s work to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment around the world—establishing our strategic objectives and driving investments across our operations and programs in order to achieve these aims.

DELIBERATE ACTION IS REQUIRED TO

ADVANCE GENDER EQUALITY.

The promotion of gender equality is more urgent now than ever, yet progress has stalled as countries face compounding shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and conflict. Global threats to democracy contribute to backsliding on gender equality as anti-democratic nationalist and authoritarian movements foment anti-gender sentiment to mobilize public support. By some estimates, it will take more than 130 years to eliminate the prevailing gender gaps.

The lesson for USAID is clear: progress toward gender equality is not inevitable. Yet the counterpoint is equally true: progress can be accelerated when gender equality is a priority. USAID is committed to being a leading investor, partner, and advocate for the achievement of gender equality.

GENDER EQUALITY IS A HUMAN RIGHT.

USAID prioritizes the advancement of gender equality because it is a fundamental right and foundational to a just society. Gender equality is more than parity in numbers and laws on the books. It is the equal ability to attain and benefit from human rights, freedoms, socially valued goods, opportunities, and resources by all individuals independent of their sex and gender identity. It means that women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals can meaningfully contribute and belong to their societies with dignity.

Gender equality has been a tenet of international human rights law since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, with its recognition that all people are born free with equal dignity and rights, without distinctions of any kind. Over 75 years, the right to gender equality has been recognized through additional international legal instruments.

INVESTING IN GENDER EQUALITY

AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT CAN

UNLOCK HUMAN POTENTIAL ON A

TRANSFORMATIONAL SCALE AND DRIVE

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

Societies with greater gender equality experience faster and more inclusive economic growth, increased agricultural productivity and water security, more sustainable and effective use of natural resources, and improved health and food security. Realizing these opportunities hinges on addressing the inequitable gender norms, discrimination, and barriers to empowerment and agency that are root causes of gender inequality. These dynamics affect everyone in society, but with differential impacts on women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals as well as within segments of each of those populations.

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Gender refers to a socially constructed set of rules, responsibilities, entitlements, and behaviors associated with being a man, a woman, or a gender-diverse individual, and the relationships between and among people according to these constructs. These social definitions and their consequences differ among and within cultures, change over time, and intersect with other factors (e.g., age, class, disability, ethnicity, race, religion, citizenship, and sexual orientation). Though these concepts are linked, the term gender is not interchangeable with the terms women, sex, gender identity, or gender expression.i

USAID affirms that the empowerment of women is central to the realization of gender equality. Here and throughout this policy, this includes women and girls in all their diversity—including those of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, plus (LGBTQI+) community, as well as women and girls of every age, caste, disability, race or ethnic origin, religion, or belief. Women and girls across the globe are disproportionately affected by restrictive gender norms and other structural barriers.

i Other key gender terms can be found in ADS 205.

And yet, nations, communities, and families are more secure and prosperous when all women can participate equally in all aspects of life and with the ability and agency to achieve their full potential. The full participation and leadership of women and girls in families, communities, economies, and civic and political domains results in processes and institutions that are more resilient and effective. Moreover, increasing women’s and girls’ education, access to resources, and freedom from violence enables them to meet their own aspirations and improves the health, well-being, and economic potential of the next generation.

USAID affirms that men and boys benefit from gender equality and are crucial to engage as stakeholders, partners, and potential positive agents of change for gender equality. Here and throughout this policy, this includes men and boys in all their diversity—including those of the LGBTQI+ community as well as men and boys of every age, caste, disability, race or ethnic origin, religion, or belief. It is most evident that rigid gender norms negatively affect women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals. But these norms can also negatively affect men and boys, potentially leading to harmful behavior— including greater likelihood of engaging in violence— poor health outcomes, lower enrollment in higher education, and other gender-based disparities. Adopting gender-equitable norms and behaviors enables men and boys not only to reach their own full potential, but also to contribute to the rights, well-being, and positive development of their partners, families, communities, and societies at large.

USAID affirms that the promotion of the rights of gender-diverse individuals—those with a gender identity beyond the binary categories of man or woman— is integral to the advancement of gender equality.

People who do not fit within the gender binary may be perceived to be breaking gender norms and, as a result, become targets of gender-based discrimination, exclusion, and violence. Societies that promote human rights protection for all citizens, including gender-diverse individuals, not only enjoy greater levels of gender equality but are also more democratic and resilient.

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https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-200/205

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Box 1. A Brief History of USAID’s Work on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

USAID has a 50-year history of addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment. The passage of the 1973 Percy Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act was an early milestone, recognizing the key role that women play in advancing development. A year later, USAID established the Women in Development (WID) Office. Early guidance came from a 1982 Women in Development Policy Paper, followed by a 1996 Gender Plan of Action that included requirements for gender integration in policy, personnel, procurement, performance monitoring, and evaluation. USAID’s Automated Directives System (ADS), which describes mandatory Agency procedures, mentioned gender by the early 2000s and established a more comprehensive approach to gender integration in its 2009 revision (ADS 201). Other changes to Agency systems and activities included the following: gender analysis added as one of two analysis requirements; introduction of gender key issues as new budget attributions, along with a set of standard gender indicators; expansion of the gender architecture and leadership in the Agency; and renaming of the WID Office to the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev).

In 2012, USAID leadership recognized that the Agency needed a coherent, relevant, and up-to-date policy on gender equality; the Agency launched the first version of the Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy that year and released a second iteration in 2020. Building on the existing evidence base and best practices of USAID and other donors, both versions provided an overarching framework for gender integration throughout all aspects of the Agency’s work, including a series of new mandatory requirements that remain in force today. In 2013, USAID issued the first-ever standalone ADS chapter dedicated to gender equality (ADS 205), detailing the Agency’s understanding of gender analysis and step-by-step instructions on its application in country strategies, project and activity designs, solicitations, and monitoring and evaluation.

From 2012 onward, USAID and the U.S. government have issued a series of policy and strategy documents that address specific aspects of women’s empowerment and gender equality (see Box 2). The passage of the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act (WEEE Act) in 2018 was a watershed moment for gender equality work at USAID, transforming good practice into law by requiring that gender analyses inform USAID strategies, projects, and activities and that gender equality be integrated across the USAID Program Cycle. Since then, Congress and USAID have moved to further enable gender equality work, including through the expansion of Agency gender training opportunities, the establishment of dedicated women’s economic security funding in 2018, the first-ever USAID global conference on gender equality in 2019, and the 2023 launch of a new website—GenderLinks—that will bring together USAID’s diverse assets and guidance on gender equality across sectors.

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USAID IS BUILDING ON ITS LONGSTANDING

COMMITMENT TO ADVANCING GENDER

EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT.

As a brief history of USAID’s commitment to gender equality makes clear (see Box I), the 2023 USAID Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy (“Gender Policy”) builds on decades of foundational work, on-the-ground experience, strong evidence from global research, and key legislative and policy advancements. The Gender Policy reflects promising approaches, the most recent and relevant evidence, and organizational learning to direct USAID’s priorities and work in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment across our Missions and Operating Units (OUs).

Effectively deploying USAID’s resources and relationships in support of this policy requires a commitment to listening, reflecting, and learning and an embrace of complexity and systems thinking. The policy also requires a commitment from all USAID staff and partners to ensure that programming addresses the distinct needs of women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals so that all can contribute to the sustainable development of their communities and countries. USAID must be as humble as we are determined, so that we can continue iterating and adapting to achieve the greatest impact for those most affected by gender-based inequalities and ensure we do no harm.

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Box 2. Key Policy and Strategy Priorities U.S. government law, policies, and strategies address aspects of gender equality and women’s empowerment that provide a foundation for the concepts and approaches outlined in this document. These include the following:

LAWS

• The Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act (WEEE Act of 2018) calls for the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout USAID’s Program Cycle and promotes women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in developing countries.

• The Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (WPS Act) promotes the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention, management, and resolution and post-conflict relief and recovery efforts.

STRATEGIES AND POLICIES

• The U.S. Global Women’s Economic Security Strategy (2022) provides high-level guidance on four key lines of effort: promoting economic competitiveness and reducing wage gaps through well-paying, high-quality jobs; advancing care infrastructure and valuing domestic work; promoting entrepreneurship and financial and digital inclusion, including through trade and investment; and dismantling systemic barriers to women’s equitable participation in the economy.

• The third iteration of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally (2022) commits to strengthening the work of the U.S. government to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) through foreign policy and development efforts, including by highlighting evidence-based approaches and prioritizing equity and inclusivity.

• The U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality (2021) is the first-ever U.S. national strategy to provide a roadmap to close pernicious gender gaps both domestically and globally and advance a world with equal opportunity for all people, especially those who belong to underserved and historically marginalized communities that have long been denied full opportunities.

• The U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (2019) responds to the WPS Act, outlining the U.S.

government’s approach to advancing women’s meaningful participation in preventing and resolving conflict, countering violent extremism and terrorism, building post-conflict peace and stability, increasing women’s physical safety and access to humanitarian assistance in areas experiencing conflict or disaster, and working with partner governments to adopt policies and build capacities that support these objectives. These goals are further advanced by the U.S. Strategy to Support Women and Girls at Risk from Violent Extremism and Conflict.

• The U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls (2016) brings together four U.S. government agencies, including USAID, to tackle barriers that keep adolescent girls from achieving their full potential.

• The USAID Vision for Action: Promoting and Supporting the Inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Individuals (2014) (currently being updated as a policy) reflects USAID’s commitment to protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ individuals in all programming and provides guidance to the Agency to that end.

• Ending Child Marriage and Meeting the Needs of Married Children: The USAID Vision for Action (2012) reaffirms USAID’s commitment to ending child marriage and provides guidance to USAID staff on how best to prevent child marriage and address the needs of the more than 50 million children who are already married.

https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ428/PLAW-115publ428.pdf https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ68/PLAW-115publ68.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/U.S.-Strategy-on-Global-Womens-Economic-Security.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GBV-Global-Strategy-Report_v6-Accessible-1292022.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GBV-Global-Strategy-Report_v6-Accessible-1292022.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/National-Strategy-on-Gender-Equity-and-Equality.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/WPS_Strategy_10_October2019.pdf https://www.state.gov/u-s-global-strategy-to-empower-adolescent-girls/ https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/LGBT_Vision.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/LGBT_Vision.pdf https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1870/USAID%20Ending%20Child%20Marriage%202012.pdf

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VISION

USAID’s vision is of a prosperous and peaceful world in which women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals, throughout their lives, enjoy equal rights; have the agency to secure better lives for themselves, their families, their communities, and their countries; have equitable access to high-quality education and health care, as well as justice and economic opportunity; accumulate and control their own assets and resources; exercise their own voices; and live free from restrictive gender norms, beliefs, and practices including intimidation, harassment, discrimination, and violence. In this world, power differentials have been transformed to advance the well-being of individuals in all their intersecting identities.

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GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Seven principles guide the Agency’s work to advance gender equality and the empowerment, protection, and participation of all women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals in their societies.

INTEGRATED

All USAID programming has the potential to advance gender equality and/or leverage the benefits of greater equity to drive sector-specific impact. To do so requires integrated, evidence-based approaches and intentional actions to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls throughout USAID’s Program Cycle and in every sector. This includes considerations of gender equality in the development and revision of Agency policies and strategies; the design and implementation of projects and activities that engage a wide range of stakeholders; and in the monitoring, evaluation, and learning stemming from all of the above.

INTERSECTIONAL

Many aspects of a person’s identity affect how they experience the world. Women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals are shaped by their sex and gender identity as well as a range of other characteristics including age, marital status, class, ethnicity, race, disability status, geographic location, and sexual orientation. This is particularly relevant for individuals who experience overlapping marginalized identities, and therefore experience overlapping inequalities. For example, GBV disproportionately affects women and girls worldwide, with even higher rates documented among specific groups, such as lesbian or transgender women and women and girls with disabilities. Similarly, Indigenous women and women from racial and ethnic minorities often experience higher maternal mortality rates than women on average.

INTEGRATED

INTERSECTIONAL

TRANSFORMATIVE

LOCALLY LED ACCOUNTABLE

COLLABORATIVE DO NO HARM

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Incorporating an intersectional gender lens improves our programming by identifying—and strategically addressing—the ways in which gender and other inequalities can limit certain people’s access to, participation in, and benefit from development interventions. This lens can also help USAID better address the context-specific root causes of such inequalities.

TRANSFORMATIVE

For all people to have the opportunity to realize their full potential, the norms, behaviors, relations, structures, and systems that sustain and perpetuate gender inequality must be transformed. USAID will engage key actors to address prevailing power dynamics and enhance gender equality. USAID programming will contribute to this goal with a holistic and multilevel approach that critically examines gender roles, norms, power dynamics, and inequalities; strengthens norms, laws, policies, and other systems that support gender equality; and manages the risks associated with shifting power dynamics.

LOCALLY LED

USAID prioritizes locally led efforts to dismantle systemic inequalities and power imbalances in the contexts in which we work. This commitment aligns with USAID’s broader effort to redefine its relationships with local communities and institutions by prioritizing investing in and elevating local capacity and leadership to advance development solutions.

Across our global development and humanitarian work, USAID will emphasize direct engagement with, funding of, and support for local organizations, particularly those led by women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals and those dedicated to promoting gender equality.

USAID also supports governments at all levels, along with local private-sector and other local and Indigenous organizations that are working to dismantle gender barriers, catalyze sustained systems change, and advance development outcomes. Locally led development efforts will include attention to addressing power dynamics within and between local actors and networks that may perpetuate gender-based inequalities.

Box 3. Driving Decision-Making and Results Using Evidence and Data USAID is committed to data-driven and evidence-based approaches to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. Gender analyses include qualitative and quantitative data on the drivers of gender inequality and recommendations for the design of context-specific programs to address, target, and eventually close the identified gender gaps. Data and analysis disaggregated by sex—the designation of a person as male, female, or intersex based on a cluster of anatomical and physiological traits known as sex characteristics—and/or gender identity—a person’s deeply held sense of self and what they call themselves, including woman, man, or gender diverse—provide a starting point for understanding the populations in the countries in which we work.

Additional data, such as that based on other identity factors (e.g., ethnicity; sexual orientation; caste; disability status; age; etc.), socioeconomic status, and geography, as well as data grounded in local, Indigenous, and traditional knowledge, play a critical role in designing and implementing gender-sensitive and transformative programs.

Qualitative data, including but not limited to key informant interviews and focus groups, are also crucial to sustaining results, adapting effective approaches, and communicating the effectiveness of our work. Standard foreign assistance indicators and gender-sensitive quantitative and qualitative indicators enable the Agency to implement rigorous monitoring, including performance and impact evaluations to assess whether USAID’s programming is achieving intended results and closing gender gaps.

USAID integrates ethical standards across data collection and use, particularly for those who might be targeted because of their identity.

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Box 4. Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

As outlined in the Agency’s Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Policy, Sexual Misconduct Policy (AAPSM), and Child Safeguarding Standards, USAID works to ensure partners and program participants have safe access to USAID-funded services and activities and that allegations of sexual misconduct, including harassment, exploitation, or abuse of any kind among staff or implementing partners, are reported and addressed as appropriate. USAID also recognizes that when allegations of sexual exploitation or abuse arise, responses must be survivor-centered, trauma-informed, and restorative, and that insights from incidents will be used to improve safety for participants and their communities. Sexual misconduct of any kind strikes at the very heart and credibility of development and humanitarian assistance.

COLLABORATIVE

USAID is committed to fostering more flexible, adaptive, and creative approaches to engaging new and diverse partners to advance gender equality. This includes, but is not limited to, organizations and movements focused on gender equality, governments at all levels, private-sector actors, civil-society organizations, locally led networks and collectives, academia, local researchers, and faith-based organizations. We recognize that no single organization or sector can dismantle gender inequalities.

These partners should include those that represent and comprise marginalized, vulnerable, and underrepresented populations, including women’s and girls’ rights and LGBTQI+ human rights organizations. To support these partnerships and robust programming, we will work collaboratively across sectors.

ACCOUNTABLE

All USAID staff—from the USAID Administrator, senior officials, Mission Directors, and Bureau leaders, to program, technical, human resource, financial management, and acquisition and assistance staff—are responsible for advancing the Gender Policy’s objectives and applying its guiding principles through their roles.

OUs are supported by USAID’s technical leads on gender equality, who provide expertise and guidance to facilitate efforts to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. The roles and responsibilities for USAID’s OUs in implementing this policy appear in

ADS 205.

DO NO HARM

Closing gender gaps and supporting women’s empowerment involves challenging entrenched roles, norms, and practices. When confronted with changes to the status quo, some can react in harmful ways. USAID addresses this risk by striving to mitigate any potential unintended consequences of our assistance that could inadvertently harm the people and communities we seek to support and empower. For example, USAID consults key local stakeholders about the potential for harm and works with communities to design projects and activities that reinforce the value of gender equality and women’s empowerment. In addition, the Agency monitors for and addresses unintended consequences throughout our development and humanitarian assistance programs, supporting the goal that sector interventions do not inadvertently exacerbate, deepen, or further entrench gender gaps and inequalities, including GBV or other human rights violations.

https://www.usaid.gov/policy/psea https://www.usaid.gov/PreventingSexualMisconduct https://www.usaid.gov/PreventingSexualMisconduct https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PBAAC747.pdf

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OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

Under the Gender Policy and consistent with the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 (WEEE Act), USAID investments in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment aim to achieve four strategic objectives. USAID will advance these objectives through investments across all sectors in which USAID works, as outlined in the Why Gender Matters to USAID Programs section. The outcomes associated with each objective are not exhaustive, but are illustrative of the changes USAID expects to achieve as a result of this Policy.

USAID’S STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES TO ADVANCE GENDER EQUALITY AND

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

1. REDUCE GENDER DISPARITIES

2. STRIVE TO ELIMINATE GBV AND MITIGATE ITS HARMFUL EFFECTS

3. INCREASE WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ AGENCY

4. ADVANCE STRUCTURAL CHANGES AND EQUITABLE GENDER NORMS

OBJECTIVE 1: REDUCE GENDER DISPARITIES

IN WHO ACCESSES, CONTROLS, AND

BENEFITS FROM ECONOMIC, SOCIAL,

POLITICAL, LEGAL, EDUCATIONAL, HEALTH,

AND CULTURAL RESOURCES, AS WELL AS

WEALTH, OPPORTUNITIES, AND SERVICES.

All people must have the opportunity to realize their full potential. But the status quo has not worked for all those who experience gender-based discrimination—especially those who also face additional and compounding forms of inequality—curtailing their full opportunity to participate in economic, social, civic, and political life and creating structural barriers to equality. In addition to the millions of women and girls worldwide who are denied access and opportunity, the lack of progress toward parity compromises future societies, economies, and communities. Deliberate action to close gender gaps is therefore both a moral and strategic imperative of development assistance.

Illustrative outcomes:

• Improved access of women and girls to all levels of education.

• Increased women’s land rights and resource tenure.

• Increased women’s agricultural productivity.

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Box 5. Women’s Empowerment

Women’s empowerment is when women and girls act freely, claim and exercise their rights, and fulfill their potential as full and equal members of society. All individuals have power within themselves; however, cultures, societies, and institutions create conditions that facilitate or undermine the possibilities for empowerment.

Women’s empowerment is also a process by which the state of empowerment is achieved.

USAID recognizes that its role in women’s empowerment is to support those addressing the environmental and systemic factors that enable or impede people’s abilities to exercise their inherent power and agency. This kind of structural change requires engagement with an ecosystem of local actors, including individual women and girls themselves. The Agency is not suggesting that it, or any other entity, can “bestow” empowerment upon others.

USAID continues to reference women’s empowerment explicitly because women (and girls, who are implicitly included in this phrase) are most widely and disproportionately affected by gender-based inequalities. The deliberate focus on inclusivity within this policy recognizes that all people have a stake in the realization of gender equality and that women and girls are not the only group affected by gender-based discrimination. The widening of the aperture of the Agency’s programming does not, however, obviate the continued need to focus on women and girls in USAID’s work.

Women and girls are by no means a homogenous group. As noted elsewhere in the policy, women and girls with disabilities, transgender women, Indigenous women, and other historically marginalized women, for example, experience multiple and intersecting forms of systemic discrimination. Approaches to women’s empowerment must therefore be nuanced enough to recognize and address the ways in which gender and other identity factors disproportionately affect specific groups of women and girls.

• Expanded access to affordable and high-quality childcare services.

• Expanded participation by women in the labor force, including through entrepreneurship and well-paying, high-quality jobs.

• Improved access, quality, and use of health care for all individuals across the life course—including gender-diverse and LGBTQI+ individuals—with a particular focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

OBJECTIVE 2: STRIVE TO ELIMINATE GBV

AND MITIGATE ITS HARMFUL EFFECTS ON

INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES, SO ALL

PEOPLE CAN LIVE FREE FROM VIOLENCE.

GBV is a manifestation of structural gender inequalities, patriarchy, and power imbalances that imposes direct and indirect costs on individuals, communities, public health, and human and global security. As a systemic and global issue, GBV takes place in all settings, from workplaces to the home to digital spaces—no country or level of society is excluded. Some individuals face intersecting forms of discrimination and oppression that place them at greater risk of GBV, including Indigenous peoples, LGBTQI+ individuals, persons with disabilities, informal sector workers, migrants and displaced peoples, and other historically marginalized populations. Addressing these risks and taking action to transform the gendered power dynamics that are the root cause of GBV are critical for achieving core development and security objectives and, fundamentally, a matter of basic human rights.

Illustrative outcomes:

• Strengthened community-based and survivor-led organizations addressing GBV.

• Enhanced social safety-net systems to prevent and address GBV.

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• Expanded efforts to address GBV affecting marginalized groups, including child, early, or forced marriage and unions; female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); conflict-related GBV; transphobic and homophobic violence; and technology-facilitated GBV.

• Strengthened GBV prevention and response programming in USAID’s humanitarian response.

OBJECTIVE 3: INCREASE THE CAPABILITY

OF WOMEN AND GIRLS TO FULLY EXERCISE

THEIR RIGHTS, DETERMINE THEIR LIFE

OUTCOMES, ASSUME LEADERSHIP ROLES,

AND INFLUENCE DECISION-MAKING

IN HOUSEHOLDS, COMMUNITIES,

AND SOCIETIES.

Gender inequality skews decision-making within households, communities, and national governing systems in a way that reduces the voices of women and girls and perpetuates the status quo. Women are dramatically underrepresented in critical fora, from elected office to peace processes, international climate negotiations, and global economic convenings. Women’s movements, which often are rooted at the community level, are severely underfunded. Yet the evidence is unequivocal that women’s participation and leadership in civil, political, and economic spheres supports greater gender equality and political and economic security for societies more broadly. Supporting the agency of women and girls is necessary to advance gender equality and achieve core development objectives.

Illustrative outcomes:

• Expanded pipeline of civic-minded and/or politically interested women and girls.

• Increased meaningful participation and active leadership of women and girls in climate action.

• Shifted funding, influence, and decision-making power to girls and women within humanitarian response systems.

• Increased young people’s rights, agency, and competencies to improve health for themselves and their communities.

Box 6. Boys, Men, and Masculinities

Gender constructs shape the lives of men and boys across their life courses. This includes power relations and societal expectations of what it means to be a man or boy in a particular society, community, and family. Some of these expectations can encourage the development of positive attributes; however, they can also negatively affect men and their families and communities. Harmful norms around masculinity create vulnerabilities for men and boys that limit their well-being as well as drive behaviors that harm women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals, including GBV and limitations on education and economic opportunities.

Men and boys who do not adhere to masculine gender stereotypes within their local contexts may face substantial risk of stigmatization, harassment, abuse, and GBV. Age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, race, and sexual orientation also influence how gender norms govern behaviors and influence the level of agency men and boys have to address such risks. These expectations may also hinder overall development related to health, education, and experience of violence for men and boys.

On the other hand, positive representations of masculine behaviors can both decrease the likelihood that men engage in risky behaviors and perpetration of violence as well as encourage better relationships and improved outcomes for themselves, their partners, their children, and their communities. USAID will address the unique needs of men and boys, and encourage positive forms of masculinity, while partnering with them to address the disproportionate impacts of gender inequality on women and girls and LGBTQI+ individuals.

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OBJECTIVE 4: ADVANCE STRUCTURAL

CHANGES THAT ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES

OF GENDER INEQUALITY AND PROMOTE

EQUITABLE GENDER NORMS.

Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment requires reforming political, social, and legal systems that perpetuate entrenched inequalities. Such systemic change helps to address the root causes of gender inequality, together with approaches to shift inequitable and harmful norms that serve as a fundamental barrier to the full realization of human rights. Structural changes are critical to scale and sustain advances toward gender equality and social justice and secure the resultant returns on development investments.

Illustrative outcomes:

• Supported youth and their influencers to challenge inequitable gender roles and norms.

• Strengthened laws, policies, and regulatory frameworks in support of gender equality.

• Supported communities to adopt norms recognizing the value of girls.

• Improved safe environments for women and girls to participate freely in politics and public life, including in conflict and crisis contexts, peace processes, and democratic transitions.

USAID will target these objectives and outcomes across countries and regions and across sectors. The Why Gender Matters to USAID Programs section provides an overview of promising approaches across sectors to advance gender equality, in line with USAID’s vision and objectives. USAID will develop an implementation plan for this policy that will prioritize actions to advance the objectives and further articulate prioritized global outcomes.

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Box 7. LGBTQI+ Individuals and Gender Equality

Regressive gender norms, gender inequalities, and associated power differentials constrain the lives of LGBTQI+ individuals. Discrimination, stigma, criminalization, and violence negatively affect millions of LGBTQI+ individuals around the world and contribute to poverty and social instability. They are often excluded from social benefits systems; lack protections in anti-discrimination legislation; and are not afforded legal recognition of their relationships and families. These factors limit their rights and access to essential services such as education, employment, and health care and prevent their meaningful inclusion in broader development efforts. Moreover, coalitions of anti-democratic, anti-rights actors have sought to further marginalize LGBTQI+ individuals by pursuing campaigns that spread misinformation.

LGBTQI+ individuals, particularly gender-diverse, transgender, and intersex individuals, must contend with expectations that they comply with gender binary roles, and they are subject to negative repercussions if they do not. Similarly, the presumption that everyone is heterosexual legitimizes social and legal institutions that devalue, marginalize, and discriminate against people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Rigid norms may create negative restrictions on LBTQI+ women’s mobility and participation in public life. In addition, intersex individuals—an umbrella term for people whose sex characteristics at birth do not all correspond to a single sex—are also negatively affected by misunderstandings and pathologization of their bodies, resulting in medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex infants and children. This often results in long-lasting trauma, medical complications, and mistrust of medical services.

The intersection of additional marginalized identities (e.g., ethnicity or disability status) may compound the negative experiences of LGBTQI+ individuals. As USAID seeks to advance gender equality for all people, it is imperative to ensure that Agency programming recognizes and addresses the ways in which gender-based discrimination affects the LGBTQI+ community in all its diversity.

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POLICY INTO PRACTICE

Delivering on the Gender Policy’s ambitious vision, principles, and objectives is a shared Agency responsibility that depends on the contributions and collective commitment of the entire workforce and proactive Agency leadership. To advance gender equality and make our development interventions more effective, USAID must strengthen the Agency’s systems, tools, and resources and consistently leverage these assets. This section outlines how USAID will do so, through its operations, programs, and assessments, building on the foundation established at the Agency over time.

Most of the requirements below have been in place from previous iterations of the Gender Policy and/or are Congressionally mandated through the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment (WEEE) Act of 2018. The WEEE Act requires that: (1) strategies, projects, and activities of the Agency are shaped by a gender analysis; (2) standard indicators are used to assess such strategies, projects, and activities, if applicable; and (3) gender equality and female empowerment are integrated throughout the Agency’s program cycle and related processes for purposes of strategic planning, project design and implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. The requirements outlined below support USAID’s implementation of the WEEE Act.

A concerted effort has been made to streamline all requirements and recommendations. Any new requirements were added after a rigorous process weighing the value of the requirement to deliver better programming outcomes against additional reporting or other bureaucratic burdens.

O pe ra tio na l

Pr og ra m m at ic

Conduct a context-specific gender analysis and incorporate findings into the design and implementation of all strategies, projects and activities.

Attribute funding in each fiscal year to all applicable Gender Key Issues.

Collect sex-disaggregated data and report on all applicable gender-related standard indicators.

Adopt or revise a Mission Order or Bureau Standard Operating Procedure on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.

The Agency workforce (including all hiring and contracting mechanisms) must complete the updated Gender 101 training course.

Hire, contract, or appoint a Gender Advisor.

POLICY INTO PRACTICE: REQUIREMENTS HIGHLIGHTS

24 USAID Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy

MISSION ORDER AND BUREAU STANDARD

OPERATING PROCEDURES ON GENDER

EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT.

Requirements

Missions, Regional Missions, and Country Offices: Missions, Regional Missions, and Country Offices must adopt or update a Mission Order (MO) on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment within one year of the release of this policy and every five years thereafter.ii

Washington Bureaus: Washington Bureaus must develop or update Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) within one year of the release of this policy and every five years thereafter, addressing the same components covered by MOs.iii

USAID MUST BUILD WORKFORCE CAPACITY

ON GENDER EQUALITY.

Requirements

Gender Advisors: All Bureaus, Missions, Regional Missions, and Country Offices must hire, contract, or appoint a Gender Advisor with a minimum allocation of their overall time (i.e., level of effort [LOE]) dedicated to work on gender equality and women’s empowerment, including GBV, tiered by the annual program budget of the Bureau, Mission, or Regional Mission.iv Gender Advisors must have the necessary technical skills, competencies, and experience, with responsibilities explicitly included in their job descriptions. To alleviate the administrative burden of every Mission determining the roles, responsibilities, and qualifications of Gender Advisors, HCTM has pre-classified Standard Position Descriptions for Mission Gender Advisors, which are available on ProgramNet and on HCTMs SPD page with a guidance document. OUs will have three years from the date the policy is released to meet the minimum LOE requirements for Gender Advisors.

Training: The Agency workforce, including all hiring and contracting mechanisms, must complete the updated Gender 101, an introductory online course on gender equality and women’s empowerment, within one year of the release of this policy, and new hires within a year of start date.

ii To facilitate a streamlined process, a simple template for MOs can be found on ProgramNet.

iii To facilitate a streamlined process, a simple template for SOPs can be found on ProgramNet.

iv LOE tiers by program budget are available in ADS 205. Country and Independent Offices are exempt from the minimum LOE requirement.

v A detailed description of a gender analysis is available in ADS 205.

vi Per ADS 540, responsible USAID staff must post final gender analyses to the Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) website.

All Gender Advisors and POCs are required to take a minimum of two additional gender courses beyond Gender 101 over a five-year time period starting either from the release of this policy or the date they were hired.

Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices are required to incorporate specific content on gender equality, women’s empowerment, GBV, and intersectionality into broader technical or sectoral training they manage.

Recommendations

Additional Staff and Coordination: Offices or teams within OUs are strongly encouraged to appoint one or more staff members to serve as a gender advisor or point of contact to support the integration of gender considerations across different sectors; OUs are encouraged to have a Gender Working Group.

Training: The Agency strongly encourages everyone in our workforce to take a USAID-facilitated course on gender integration. Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices are strongly encouraged to establish and provide opportunities for gender training for all their workforce.

USAID MUST CONSISTENTLY IDENTIFY AND

ADDRESS GENDER INEQUALITIES.

Requirements

Conduct gender analysis:v USAID must conduct a context-specific gender analysis prior to or during the design of all country strategies, projects, and activities, to determine and identify steps to address gender inequalities and thereby improve the lives of women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals. The analysis may be conducted by the USAID workforce or contractors, who can draw on recent data and findings from credible sources when producing the analysis.vi Additional guidance is available in ADS 205 to support streamlined analysis.

Incorporate gender analysis f indings in USAID processes and documents: Technical teams and program offices in all OUs must reflect the findings of these gender analyses in key processes and documents or their successors across the different levels of program strategy, planning, and design with which they are involved.

https://pages.usaid.gov/HCTM/spd#gender https://pages.usaid.gov/HCTM/spd#gender https://programnet.usaid.gov/development-policy-and-practice/gender https://programnet.usaid.gov/development-policy-and-practice/gender https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-200/205 https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-200/205 https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-500/540

USAID Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy 25

These include: Regional or Country Development Cooperation Strategies (R/CDCS),vii Project Development Documents (PDD), Activity Approval Memoranda (AAMs), and solicitations (including Broad Agency Announcements). Additional guidance is available in ADS 205 to support effectively and efficiently incorporating findings of gender analyses in key documents.

For solicitations, activity design teams must include a statement that clearly indicates how the solicitation incorporates the results of the gender analysis across its many components. If this statement is not in the request for a new acquisition or assistance action, the designated Contracting Officer or Agreement Officer is required to notify the planner that they are unable to take further action until the required documentation is received.

Recommendations

Incorporate gender analysis f indings in other agreements:

Technical teams and program offices in all OUs are also strongly encouraged to reflect relevant findings from gender analyses in any Public International Organization agreements, Development Credit Authorities, Memoranda of Understanding, and Government-to- Government agreements in which they are involved.

USAID MUST DEMONSTRATE HOW IT IS

INVESTING IN GENDER EQUALITY.

Requirements

Attributions: All OUs must attribute funding in each fiscal year to all applicable Gender Key Issues, including the four Gender Linked Key Issues (Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE)-Primary, GE/WE-Secondary, GBV, and GBV-Child, Early, or Forced Marriage), the two data-only Sub-Key Issues designed to gather attributions to women’s economic empowerment, and/or the Women, Peace, and Security Independent Key Issue.

Recommendations

Attributions: All OUs are also strongly encouraged to attribute funding to other Key Issues that may capture additional aspects of gender work, including the LGBTQI+ Key Issue.

vii The gender analysis requirement for RDCSs is consistent with ADS 201maz.

Implementing Partner Action Plans: Activity design teams should strongly encourage implementing partners to submit a Gender Plan of Action, outlining how they are integrating attention to gender equality into the work plan and performance monitoring plan on the basis of the gender analysis.

USAID MUST TRACK GENDER

EQUALITY RESULTS.

Requirements

Track progress annually: All USAID OUs must work with implementing partners to collect data and report on all applicable standard indicators that cover gender equality, women’s empowerment, GBV, women’s economic empowerment, and women, peace and security in the annual Performance Plan and Report (PPR).

In addition, all USAID people-level standard and custom performance indicators must be sex-disaggregated, in line with current policy. Recognizing that sex disaggregation does not capture the range of gender identities, USAID will explore disaggregation of data that more accurately track who is being reached and who benefits from USAID programming.

Assessment of Policy implementation: Per ADS 200.3.8, approximately every five years after…