J.12 – Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.pdf

GENDER EQUALITY AND

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

2020 POLICY

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

INTRODUCTION 3

VISION, OBJECTIVES, & DEFINITIONS 9

OPERATIONAL PRINCIPLES 13

GLOBAL SNAPSHOTS 21

AGENCY REQUIREMENTS 45

CONCLUSION 49

ENDNOTES 50

CONTENTS

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our vision is of a prosperous and peaceful world in which women, girls, men, and boys enjoy equal economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights and are equally empowered to secure better lives for themselves, their families, their communities, and their countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) achieves greater and more sustainable development outcomes by integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout our work.

At USAID, we are committed to empowering women and girls across the globe to advance communities in our partner countries on the Journey to Self-Reliance because we know no country can succeed if it excludes the talents and voices of its female population. Ensuring women and girls can reach their full potential in society is critical not only to attain gender equality and women’s empowerment, but also to meet sustainable development outcomes.

Under this Policy, and consistent with Public Law 115-428, the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act (WEEE Act) of 2018, USAID’s investments in supporting gender equality and women’s empowerment aim to achieve the following five strategic objectives, which reflect the spectrum of activities we undertake across all sectors and fields to advance this Policy’s vision and increase self-reliance:

• Reduce disparities between women and men in access to, control over, and benefit from economic, social, political, educational, and cultural resources, as well as wealth, opportunities, and services;

• Strive to eliminate gender-based violence (GBV), which affects women’s abilities to thrive and succeed,1 and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and communities, so all people can live healthy and productive lives;

• Increase the capability of women and girls to exercise their basic and legal rights fully, determine their life outcomes, assume leadership roles, and influence decision-making in households, communities, and societies;

• Support strategies and activities that secure private-property rights and land tenure for women; and,

• Improve the access of women and girls to education, including opportunities for higher education and workforce development.

The goal of this Policy is to improve the lives of people around the world by advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls to participate fully in, and equally benefit from, the development of their societies on the same basis as men.

This Policy supersedes and replaces the 2012 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy in its entirety.

Eight principles underpin our commitment to equality between men and women and the empowerment, protection, and participation of all women, girls, men, and boys in their societies:

1 Integrate equality between women and men and women’s empowerment into all of USAID’s work;

2 Engage men and boys;

3 Address the unique challenges of crises and conflict;

4 Build partnerships across a wide range of stakeholders;

5 Drive decision-making and investments by using evidence and data;

6 Hold ourselves accountable;

7 Do no harm; and, 8 Pursue an inclusive approach.

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The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) believes that gender equality and women’s empowerment are fundamental for the realization of unalienable human rights2— that is, rights inherent in all persons and that are universal and non-transferable—and key to effective and sustainable development outcomes. For societies to thrive, women and girls must have equal and safe access to resources, such as education, health care, capital, technology, water and sanitation services, land, markets, and justice. They also must have equal rights and opportunities as business owners, citizens, peacebuilders, and leaders.

Equality among women, girls, men, and boys improves the overall quality of life for all people across their lifespans.

INVESTING IN GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S

EMPOWERMENT CAN UNLOCK HUMAN POTENTIAL

ON A TRANSFORMATIONAL SCALE

Societies with greater equality between women and men experience faster economic growth; increased agricultural productivity, resilience, and water security; and, improved food security and nutrition. Empowering women to participate in and lead public and private institutions makes these institutions more representative and effective.

Increasing women’s and girls’ education and access to resources improves the health and education of the next generation. Additionally, women play critical roles as effective advocates for peace, community leaders, and champions of civil and human rights. We know that nations, communities, and families are more secure and prosperous when women can participate equally in all aspects of life and when they have the ability and agency to achieve equal outcomes to those of men. For example, when women meaningfully participate at the negotiating table, peace agreements are more likely to succeed and result in lasting stability.3

Similarly, USAID has also shown the importance of engaging men and boys not only for their own well-being and to become better family and community members, but also as allies and positive agents of change for women and girls to improve development outcomes.

GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

ARE FOUNDATIONAL DRIVERS OF SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-RELIANCE

USAID is committed to supporting communities in our partner countries along their Journeys to Self-Reliance, with the engagement of governments, civil society, faith-based organizations, and the private sector. Self-reliance is a country’s capacity to plan, finance, and implement solutions to its own development challenges, and includes a commitment to see these solutions through effectively, inclusively, and with accountability. To be effective, individuals within societies must have equal access to opportunities, resources, benefits, and legal protections. This, in turn, empowers and enables them to help shape their lives and contribute positively to their families, communities, and countries. Simply put, societies that demonstrate a commitment to enabling, empowering, and taking advantage of the full participation and skills of women are more likely to achieve self-reliance by strengthening local institutions; improving human and institutional capacity;

fostering sustainable economic growth; and, moving toward inclusive, citizen-responsive, and democratic governance.

For example, women-led businesses can significantly outperform their peers: female entrepreneurs in some studies grew their revenues 1.5 times faster and created jobs twice as fast as male entrepreneurs.4

INTRODUCTION

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT SUPPORTS AMERICAN

VALUES AND FOREIGN-POLICY PRIORITIES

The President’s 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS)5 states the United States, “will support efforts to advance women’s equality, protect the rights of women and girls, and promote women and youth empowerment programs.” The NSS clearly identifies women’s equality and empowerment worldwide as both American values and foreign-policy priorities, by noting that, “governments that fail to treat women equally do not allow their societies to reach their potential.”6 Further, the Joint Strategic Plan (JSP) of the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and USAID for Fiscal Years (FY) 2018-20227 recognizes, “societies that empower women to participate fully in civic and economic life are more prosperous and peaceful.”

The JSP also endorses the transformative effects of women’s economic empowerment for families and communities and commits to supporting women’s economic empowerment as a driver of development, including by championing girls’ education and striving to eliminate gender-based violence, which affects women’s ability to thrive and succeed. Through this Policy, USAID supports the JSP, which directs USAID and the DOS to strengthen democratic, transparent, representative, and citizen-responsive governance, and to include women in political and economic processes.

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U https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1870/JSP_FY_2018_-_2022_FINAL.pdf

Country Roadmaps and Self-Reliance Indicators The Country Roadmap is the analytic tool developed by USAID to visualize where each country is in its Journey to Self-Reliance, both as an individual country and relative to the rest of the world. The Roadmap uses 17 publicly available, third-party indicators that measure a country in terms of its commitment and capacity. “Commitment” is the degree to which a country’s laws, policies, actions, and informal governance mechanisms—such as culture and norms—support progress toward self-reliance. “Capacity” measures how far a country has come in its journey across the dimensions of political, social, and economic development, including the ability to work across these sectors. The indicators include the Economic Gender Gap, which is one of two metrics used to measure a country’s commitment to inclusive development. The Index includes five components:

1. Wage equality between women and men for similar work;

2. The ratio of estimated female-to-male earned income;

3. The difference between female and male rates of participation in the labor force;

4. The ratio of women to men among legislators, senior officials, and managers; and,

5. The ratio of women to men among professional and technical workers.

To complement the 17 primary self-reliance indicators, the Agency curated a compendium of roughly 300 secondary metrics that include a range of gender-specific indicators of self-reliance. Prioritizing gender-specific metrics helps USAID better assess how the efforts of governments, civil society, and the private sector are supporting our partner countries’ progress toward self-reliance.

The Roadmaps inform the development of USAID’s country strategies and budgetary allocations, our engagement in dialogues on development policy, and our decisions concerning when to consider countries for possible strategic transition.

To help us understand where a country is along its Journey to Self-Reliance, what its most pressing needs may be, but also what are areas of relative strength that we can help build on, USAID has identified a set of Self-Reliance Metrics to measure capacity and commitment.91

Our Country Roadmaps display each country’s overall capacity and commitment, as well as sub-dimensions of each relative to other low- and middle-income countries, based on national performance on 17 third-party, publicly available indicators. On the

“commitment” side, we measure open and accountable government, inclusive development, and economic policy choices. On the

“capacity” side, we assess capacity across government, civil society, the citizenry, and the economy.

The Roadmaps provide a starting point for deeper analysis, a framework for making choices about our use of resources, a common language for USAID to use across Missions, and a basis for dialogue with local partners.

The sample, above, is USAID’s Fiscal Year 2019 Roadmap. USAID will update the data for each Country Roadmap annually and may refine the design and adjust features over time. For more on USAID’s Country Roadmaps, see: selfreliance.usaid.gov.

Accountable solutions

Inclusive solutions

Effective solutions

MEASURES OF

COMMITMENT TO:

Government institutions

Civil society institutions

Economic institutions

MEASURES OF THE

CAPACITY OF:

The population

Metrics of progress at the national level along the

Journey to Self-Reliance

Public-sector, civil-society, and private-sector commitment to enact solutions effectively, inclusively, and with accountability

Human and instutional capacity across government, civil society, the economy, and the wider population to plan, finance, and implement solutions to local development challenges

ECONOMIC POLICY

INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

OPEN AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

CAPACITY OF THE ECONOMY

LOW- & MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRY SNAPSHOT

CAPACITY COMMITMENT

GOVERNMENT CAPACITY

CIVIL SOCIETY CAPACITY

CITIZEN CAPACITY

LEGEND

[Country]’s Score Other Middle- and Low-

Income Countries’ Scores

Average Score for Middle- and Low- Income Countries 0-1

Score

1.0 is Most Advanced Globally

[COUNTRY]

JOURNEY TO SELF-RELIANCE:

COUNTRY ROADMAP

All source data is for latest year available, typically 2017 or 2016, and is derived from third-party institutions. All indicators are weighted equally in the calculation of the overall Commitment and Capacity scores.

For more information on definitions and sources, please visit selfreliance.usaid.gov.

Least Advanced Globally

Most Advanced Globally

Least Advanced Globally Most Advanced Globally

FIG. 5 USAID’S COUNTRY ROADMAPS

USAID’S VISION

To help us understand where a country is along its Journey to Self-Reliance, what its most pressing needs may be, but also what are areas of relative strength that we can help build on, USAID has identified a set of Self-Reliance Metrics to measure capacity and commitment.91

Our Country Roadmaps display each country’s overall capacity and commitment, as well as sub-dimensions of each relative to other low- and middle-income countries, based on national performance on 17 third-party, publicly available indicators. On the

“commitment” side, we measure open and accountable government, inclusive development, and economic policy choices. On the

“capacity” side, we assess capacity across government, civil society, the citizenry, and the economy.

The Roadmaps provide a starting point for deeper analysis, a framework for making choices about our use of resources, a common language for USAID to use across Missions, and a basis for dialogue with local partners.

The sample, above, is USAID’s Fiscal Year 2019 Roadmap. USAID will update the data for each Country Roadmap annually and may refine the design and adjust features over time. For more on USAID’s Country Roadmaps, see: selfreliance.usaid.gov.

Accountable solutions

Inclusive solutions

Effective solutions

MEASURES OF

COMMITMENT TO:

Government institutions

Civil society institutions

Economic institutions

MEASURES OF THE

CAPACITY OF:

The population

Metrics of progress at the national level along the

Journey to Self-Reliance

Public-sector, civil-society, and private-sector commitment to enact solutions effectively, inclusively, and with accountability

Human and instutional capacity across government, civil society, the economy, and the wider population to plan, finance, and implement solutions to local development challenges

ECONOMIC POLICY

INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

OPEN AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

CAPACITY OF THE ECONOMY

LOW- & MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRY SNAPSHOT

CAPACITY COMMITMENT

GOVERNMENT CAPACITY

CIVIL SOCIETY CAPACITY

CITIZEN CAPACITY

LEGEND

[Country]’s Score Other Middle- and Low-

Income Countries’ Scores

Average Score for Middle- and Low- Income Countries 0-1

Score

1.0 is Most Advanced Globally

[COUNTRY]

JOURNEY TO SELF-RELIANCE:

COUNTRY ROADMAP

All source data is for latest year available, typically 2017 or 2016, and is derived from third-party institutions. All indicators are weighted equally in the calculation of the overall Commitment and Capacity scores.

For more information on definitions and sources, please visit selfreliance.usaid.gov.

Least Advanced Globally

Most Advanced Globally

Least Advanced Globally Most Advanced Globally

FIG. 5 USAID’S COUNTRY ROADMAPS

USAID’S VISION

https://selfreliance.usaid.gov/ https://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2020/the-global-gender-gap-index-2020/ https://selfreliance.usaid.gov/docs/Self-Reliance_Metrics_Overview.pdf https://selfreliance.usaid.gov/docs/Self-Reliance_Metrics_Overview.pdf https://idea.usaid.gov/compendium

USAID IS BUILDING ON ITS CONSIDERABLE

EXPERIENCE ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY

AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

This Policy builds on decades of foundational work, field experience, and global research, and recognizes key legislative and policy advancements. Thus, this Policy reflects best-in-class approaches and the most recent and relevant evidence and will direct USAID’s priorities and work in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment across our Missions and Operating Units (OUs).

USAID works to improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the distinct needs of women, girls, men, and boys, adapted for their individual circumstances in our development and humanitarian work. We also recognize the large body of evidence that reveals persistent gender gaps between men and women across sectors and the resulting high costs of inequality between women and men for families, communities, and societies. USAID-funded programs aim to ensure that individuals, communities, institutions, and governments recognize and support the unique expertise, initiatives, leadership, and contributions of women and girls across their lifespans, and contribute to their economic, social, and political empowerment. This Policy requires that USAID programming accounts for the differential needs, capabilities, and priorities of women and girls, and establishes metrics that measure effective programmatic impact.

This Policy supersedes and replaces the 2012 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy in its entirety.

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Recent Key Policy and Strategy Priorities Recent U.S. Government policies and initiatives address aspects of gender equality and women’s empowerment that reinforce the foreign-policy priorities articulated in the NSS and the JSP, including the following:

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

• The U.S. Strategy To Support Women and Girls at Risk From Violent Extremism and Conflict aims to limit the destabilizing effects of violent extremism, including the risks it poses to women and girls, by supporting women and girls as actors in countering terrorist ideology and propaganda to prevent radicalization and recruitment in their families, communities, countries, and online.

• The U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS Strategy) responds to the Women, Peace, and Security Act, and is the U.S. Government’s approach to promote women’s meaningful participation in preventing and resolving conflict; countering violent extremism and terrorism and building post-conflict peace and stability; increasing women’s physical safety and access to humanitarian assistance in areas that experience conflict or disaster; and, working with partner governments to adopt policies and capacities that support these objectives.

• The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, established by National Security Presidential Memorandum-16 (NSPM-16), is the first whole-of-Government effort to advance global women’s economic empowerment. The NSPM-16 also established the W-GDP Fund, managed by USAID, which was established to source and scale the most innovative programs and partnerships with the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as faith-based and local groups, to advance the three pillars of W-GDP: women prospering in the workforce, women succeeding as entrepreneurs, and women enabled in the economy.

• The Presidential Memorandum on Addressing Legal and Society Barriers to Women’s Global Development and Prosperity directed Federal Departments and Agencies to prioritize action, identify and reduce the binding constraints to women’s full and free participation in the global economy by addressing W-GDP’s five foundational legal barriers: women’s abilities to access institutions, build credit, own and manage property, travel freely, and work in the same jobs and sectors as men. The W-GDP Index, a report by the White House Council of Economic Advisors, estimates that addressing these five foundational legal barriers could increase annual global GDP by $7.7 trillion.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3247/text https://www.state.gov/u-s-strategy-to-support-women-and-girls-at-risk-from-violent-extremism-and-conflict/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/WPS_Strategy_10_October2019.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wgdp/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-addressing-legal-societal-barriers-womens-global-development-prosperity/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-addressing-legal-societal-barriers-womens-global-development-prosperity/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-addressing-legal-societal-barriers-womens-global-development-prosperity/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-addressing-legal-societal-barriers-womens-global-development-prosperity/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-W-GDP-Index-Empowering-Women%E2%80%99s-Economic-Activity-through-Addressing-Legal-Barriers.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-W-GDP-Index-Empowering-Women%E2%80%99s-Economic-Activity-through-Addressing-Legal-Barriers.pdf ot o:

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VISION

USAID’s vision is of a prosperous and peaceful world in which women, girls, men, and boys enjoy equal economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights and are equally empowered to secure better lives for themselves, their families, their communities, and their countries. USAID achieves greater and more sustainable development outcomes by integrating equality between women and men and women’s empowerment throughout our work.

OBJECTIVES

While USAID works to reach all people within our partner countries, women and girls are often the most vulnerable, marginalized, and/or excluded from society.8 Under this Policy, and consistent with the WEEE Act (Public Law 115-428), USAID’s investments in supporting equality between women and men and women’s empowerment aim to achieve the following five strategic objectives, which reflect the spectrum of activities USAID undertakes across all sectors and fields to advance this Policy’s vision and increase self-reliance:

• Reduce disparities between women and men in access to, control over, and benefit from economic, social, political, educational, and cultural resources, as well as wealth, opportunities, and services;

• Strive to eliminate GBV, which affects women’s abilities to thrive and succeed,9 and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and communities, so all people can live healthy and productive lives;

• Increase the capability of women and girls to exercise their basic and legal rights fully, determine their life outcomes, assume leadership roles, and influence decision-making in households, communities, and societies;

• Support strategies and activities that secure private-property rights and land tenure for women; and,

• Improve the access of women and girls to education, including opportunities for higher education and workforce development.

USAID deliberately sets these objectives at a general level to allow for adaptation in varying country contexts. During strategic planning and the design of projects and activities at the global, country, regional, or sub- national levels, and based on a gender analysis, USAID’s OUs should adapt and associate targets and indicators for tracking and measuring progress. In fulfilling the above five objectives, USAID should engage men and boys as champions and allies to achieve this Policy’s vision.

VISION, OBJECTIVES, & DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

To achieve USAID’s vision and objectives, this Policy uses the following definitions:

GENDER ANALYSIS: (1) Means a socio-economic analysis of available or gathered quantitative and qualitative information to identify, understand, and explain gaps between men and women, which typically involves examining—

(A) differences in the status of women and men and their differential access to, and control over, assets, resources, education, opportunities, and services; (B) the influence of gender roles, structural barriers, and norms on the division of time between paid employment, unpaid work (including subsistence production and care for family members), and volunteer activities; (C) the influence of gender roles, structural barriers, and norms on leadership roles and decision-making; constraints, opportunities, and entry points for narrowing gender gaps and empowering women; and, (D) potential differential impacts of development policies and programs on men and women, including unintended or negative consequences; and, (2) includes conclusions and recommendations to enable development policies and programs to narrow gender gaps and improve the lives of women and girls.10

GENDER EQUALITY: The state in which women, girls, men, and boys have equal access to opportunities, resources, benefits, and legal protections, and which recognizes their equal, inherent human dignity, worth, and unalienable rights.

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT: The state in which women have the ability to act freely in society, exercise their rights equally to that of men, and fulfill their potential as equal members of society, such as to determine their life outcomes, assume leadership roles, and influence decision-making in households, communities, and societies.

GENDER INTEGRATION: The process of identifying, and addressing inequalities between women and men during the creation of USAID’s strategies, the design of all our projects and activities, and their implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

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INTEGRATE GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S

EMPOWERMENT INTO ALL OF USAID’S WORK

Achieving the objectives of this Policy requires integrated, effective approaches and intentional actions to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout USAID’s Program Cycle, and across sectors, which include the development of Agency policies and strategies, the creation and iteration of Regional and Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCS) or Strategic Frameworks, the design and implementation of projects and activities that engage a wide range of stakeholders, and in monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

New Agency or Bureau-level initiatives developed outside of the Program Cycle should also include strategies designed to address the specific needs of women and girls and/or to close targeted gaps. The roles and power relations between women and men can affect the design, management, implementation, and evaluation of projects and activities; it is essential that project managers address these issues continuously and iteratively and make improvements through collaboration with beneficiaries and stakeholders.

Integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment into USAID’s strategic planning and design processes for projects and activities can help improve sustainable development outcomes, regardless of the type of award used. However, integration alone does not ensure that Agency activities address the most critical gender disparities or direct resources where they are most needed to empower women. Therefore, as needed, OUs should develop specific Development Objectives (DOs) in their CDCS or Strategic Frameworks on gender equality and women’s empowerment. In addition, all USAID’s OUs may invest in stand-alone projects and/or activities identified as strategically important to strengthening local institutions; building national commitment and capacity;

and, assisting governments, the private sector, civil society, and faith-based organizations to strengthen the enabling environment for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

OPERATIONAL PRINCIPLES

Eight principles underpin our commitment to equality between men and women and the empowerment, protection, and participation of all women, girls, men, and boys in their societies:

1 Integrate equality between women and men and women’s empowerment into all of USAID’s work;

2 Engage men and boys;

3 Address the unique challenges of crises and conflict;

4 Build partnerships across a wide range of stakeholders;

5 Drive decision-making and investments by using evidence and data;

6 Hold ourselves accountable;

7 Do no harm; and, 8 Pursue an inclusive approach.

ENGAGE MEN AND BOYS

Transforming the ways in which we engage men and boys to recognize and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment is essential to achieving development objectives and long-lasting social change. All men can play a critical role in challenging inequitable norms and power dynamics, given their positions in households, communities, institutions, and in their relationships with peers and others. Men and boys would benefit from positive models that emphasize their important roles and responsibilities in helping to strengthen their families and communities.

Men and boys face different challenges and vulnerabilities imposed on them by harmful definitions of masculinity and societal expectations that limit male roles. For example, society has defined expected roles or negative stereotypes for women and men, which can restrict how each earns income and cares for family members. In addition, men and boys often are not taught the importance of shared responsibility in the home, or the productive value of domestic work. As a result, they might not value such work, and it can fall disproportionately on women and girls. Further, societal expectations and risk-taking behavior as a way of demonstrating masculinity can inhibit men from seeking health or other care in a timely manner and can lead them to participate in practices that do harm to themselves and their families.

USAID supports efforts to engage men and boys as positive agents of change within their communities, and as champions and allies for equality and empowerment for women and girls throughout their lives. Our programs aim to enlist the support of men and boys for the empowerment of women and girls across their lifespans, and also to encourage them to challenge the harmful cultural and social definitions that can limit their ability, as well as that of women and girls, to achieve their full potential. All societies benefit from the elimination of inequality and harmful gender norms.

ADDRESS THE UNIQUE CHALLENGES

OF CRISIS AND CONFLICT

Women are uniquely positioned to play powerful, effective roles as peace-makers in societies that are conflict-affected or transitioning out of crisis; in high-crime and violent situations;

and, in fragile states. Increasing the legal capacity and social ability of women to participate meaningfully in peace and political processes often results in more effective and enduring outcomes. Furthermore, by facilitating women’s participation in decision-making; promoting women’s roles in the prevention of, and recovery from, conflict; and, strengthening effort to prevent gender-based violence and provide survivors with timely and appropriate support, USAID can help ensure that investments in relief and recovery are effective and responsive to the different needs and priorities of women and men, and also support safe and equitable access to assistance for women and girls.

Consistent with the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Act of 2017 and the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, the USAID WPS Implementation Plan and the U.S. Strategy To Support Women and Girls at Risk From Violent Extremism and Conflict outline specific actions the Agency is taking to advance women’s meaningful participation in preventing and resolving conflict, countering violent extremism and terrorism, and building post-conflict peace and stability.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1141/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1141/text https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/WPS_Strategy_10_October2019.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/2020-USAID-Women-Peace-and-Security-Implentation-Plan.pdf https://www.state.gov/u-s-strategy-to-support-women-and-girls-at-risk-from-violent-extremism-and-conflict/ https://www.state.gov/u-s-strategy-to-support-women-and-girls-at-risk-from-violent-extremism-and-conflict/ https://www.state.gov/u-s-strategy-to-support-women-and-girls-at-risk-from-violent-extremism-and-conflict/ ot o:

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BUILD PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS A

WIDE RANGE OF STAKEHOLDERS

USAID is committed to fostering more flexible, adaptive, and creative approaches to engaging new and potential partners, including the private sector and faith-based organizations, because we recognize that no one organization or sector alone can solve gender disparities. To discover new and sustained approaches in achieving the vision of this Policy, USAID will continue our efforts to work with a diverse array of individuals and organizations around the world, including the following:

Educational Institutions: USAID will look for ways to harness the creativity and pioneering work of U.S. and international universities more effectively to contribute toward improving gender equality and empowering women across all the sectors where we work.

Local, Faith-Based, and Transformative Partnerships:

Working with local individuals and organizations, including faith-based; civil society; women’s organizations; and youth and disability organizations, USAID is building long-term capacity on the ground in our partner countries. This includes engaging with our partners and beneficiaries much earlier in our planning process as co-designers, co-implementers, and

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U co-owners of their own development objectives. The New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) will allow USAID to work with a more diverse range of partners and provide entry points for organizations to work with us. The principles behind NPI appear in the Agency’s Acquisition and Assistance Strategy. By engaging local champions and organizations, we can capitalize on, and leverage, their passion, experience, and achievements, while building their capacities as advocates, leaders, and voices for change. In particular, USAID is committed to identifying and removing barriers to including community and faith-based organizations in our programming and partnerships.

Multilateral Institutions, Donors, and International Organizations: Fundamental to USAID’s value proposition is our ability to convene and leverage assets, resources, and relationships. Solving complex challenges to achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is a joint, ongoing, and collaborative effort that involves members of the wider development community.

Private Sector: Private enterprise is one of the most powerful forces for lifting lives, strengthening communities, and helping advance our partner countries on their Journeys to Self-Reliance, and plays a critical role both in solving global development problems and in creating sustainable solutions. USAID works with private-sector partners to address challenges that require resources and innovation beyond governments. Involvement of the private sector is fundamental to eliminating discriminatory practices, addressing restrictive norms, expanding employment opportunities for women, and ending the need for foreign assistance. Our efforts focus on tapping into opportunities to identify and work with private-sector actors to deploy innovative solutions, as outlined in the USAID Private-Sector Engagement Policy.

U.S. Government and Partner Governments: USAID aims to increase collaboration and coordination with other U.S. Government Departments and Agencies by aligning and combining defense, diplomatic, and development investments and efforts. Our ongoing collaborations with partner governments also foster and sustain progress made in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.

https://www.usaid.gov/npi https://www.usaid.gov/npi https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/how-to-work-with-usaid/acquisition-and-assistance-strategy https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/private-sector-engagement/policy https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/private-sector-engagement/policy

DRIVE DECISION-MAKING AND INVESTMENTS

BY USING EVIDENCE AND DATA

USAID is committed to a data-driven and evidence-based approach to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment in our programming. Data, including sex-disaggregated data, play a critical role as a diagnostic tool in our ability to understand development impact, adapt our strategies and programs, and communicate results. Conducting a gender analysis, and using its findings, will help inform the design of our programs at the earliest stages. As technical experts and thought leaders, we work to ensure our investments build on evidence, data, and continuous learning across the Agency.

USAID continues to learn and lead actively from successes and challenges, as we distill, iterate, showcase, and circulate the broader development research, data, and best practices on gender integration and gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout the Agency. Learning and leading involves using standard Foreign Assistance indicators to report whether USAID’s programming has achieved the intended results. Along the way, we also implement rigorous monitoring and evaluation and adaptive evidence-based approaches to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in different contexts. In addition to allowing us to monitor the results of our programs, quantitative and qualitative data should also be used to help USAID identify where gender gaps are greatest, and to target and modify the design of our projects and activities appropriately. Ultimately, data gathered over time drive the learning that allows the Agency to adapt and pursue course corrections as needed, consistent with the Agency’s Collaboration, Learning, and Adapting approach.

HOLD OURSELVES ACCOUNTABLE

Promoting equality between women and men and women’s empowerment is a shared Agency responsibility and depends on the contributions and collective commitment of all of our staff. Gender Advisors and designated Points of Contacts (PoCs) work throughout the Agency to champion and advance gender equality and women’s empowerment programming in our Bureaus, Missions, and OUs. Senior officials, Mission Directors, Bureau leaders, and others are accountable for implementing this Policy across their portfolios, as well as for defining specific goals within the Agency’s strategies and programming that align with the objectives of this Policy.

https://usaidlearninglab.org/qrg/understanding-cla-0

DO NO HARM

USAID’s Policy Framework emphasizes the principle, “Do no harm,” which means the Agency strives to mitigate any potential unintended consequences of our assistance that could inadvertently harm the people and communities we seek to support and empower. Closing gender gaps and supporting women’s empowerment involve challenging entrenched roles, norms, and practices. When confronted with changes to the status quo, some can react in unexpectedly harmful ways.

USAID works to consult key stakeholders on the potential for harm, and engages with communities as we design projects and activities that reinforce the value of gender equality and women’s empowerment, and we monitor for unintended consequences throughout our development and humanitarian-assistance interventions.

Additionally, as outlined in the USAID Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Policy, the Agency also works to ensure its beneficiaries have safe access to USAID-funded services and activities. USAID has a zero-tolerance stance on the sexual exploitation or abuse of beneficiaries, as sexual misconduct of any kind strikes at the very heart and credibility of development and humanitarian assistance. In pursuing any allegations, we must respect and observe due process in evaluating any allegation of sexual misconduct, exploitation, or abuse by beneficiaries.

PURSUE AN INCLUSIVE APPROACH

As articulated in the Additional Help Document on Inclusive Development for ADS Chapter 201, an inclusive development approach ensures that all people are included and can participate fully in, and benefit from, development efforts.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that an inclusive development approach leads to better development outcomes.11

Additionally, understanding how different individual characteristics and vulnerabilities overlap is important for recognizing the full picture of a person’s needs. For example, the risks faced by an older man with a disability are distinct from those of an adolescent girl with a disability who is also part of an ethnic minority. Addressing these overlapping needs and vulnerabilities are essential to designing, targeting, and implementing USAID’s programming appropriately.

Therefore, USAID promotes a non-discriminatory, inclusive, and integrated development approach that ensures that all people, including those who face discrimination and thus might have limited access to a country’s benefits, legal protections, or social participation, are fully included and can actively participate in, and benefit from, development processes and activities. Consistent with this approach, USAID advances gender equality and women’s empowerment to address different sets of development challenges appropriately and effectively at the country, project, or activity level in the process of designing and implementing our investments.

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Education

Gender-Based Violence

Economic Growth

Global Health

Humanitarian Assistance

Land & Property Rights

The Management of Natural Resources

Digital Access & Technology

Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene

Democracy, Human Rights, & Governance

Energy & Infrastructure

Agriculture & Food Security

Conflict & Insecurity

On the path to achieving equality between women and men and empowering women and girls globally, every sector has a key role to play. While many countries have made progress in reducing gender disparities and advancing the status of women and girls, significant gaps remain. USAID must adopt a more strategic approach across our portfolios that leads to self-reliance, and ensures that our programs and activities are relevant and effective.

Ensuring women and girls can reach their full potential in society is critical not only to attain gender equality and women’s empowerment, but also to meet a wide range of development goals. For example, women might not be able to gain access to capital and resources, receive high-quality health care, control their own economic assets, run for political office, and enjoy their unalienable rights. Women also might be expected to carry out often-undervalued caretaking responsibilities on a disproportionate basis, which could limit their ability to thrive further. With technology, innovation, and close collaboration among diverse partners, the world is poised now more than ever to work across multiple sectors and turn commitments to achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment into action.

The following illustrative global snapshots examine gaps and opportunities across 13 sectors:

GLOBAL SNAPSHOTS

AGRICULTURE &

FOOD SECURITY

When women are empowered in the agriculture sector, their success leads to more inclusive growth, better nutrition and health, and less hunger—all of which build resilience and self-reliance. Despite their roles as the backbone of agriculture/agricultural production in many countries, women remain limited in their access to critical resources and services such as land (see “Land and Property Rights” section), labor, agricultural inputs, training, and extension, which can contribute to a gender gap in agricultural productivity. For example, while lack of access to credit is one of the most pressing constraints for both women and men in agriculture, women are more negatively affected.12 Therefore, it is critical for agricultural programming to engage women in their multiple roles often informal or less visible, as farmers, paid or unpaid agricultural laborers, agricultural and food-processors, traders, livestock keepers, entrepreneurs, and employees, and agriculture/ agricultural production.

As women’s incomes rise and as women have greater control over expenditures, child nutrition improves through better diets and health care13 and stunting declines. In addition, engaging men—who often decide on or influence family food consumption—in child care and health care can improve the well-being and nutrition of both women and children.14 Finally, interventions in agriculture are more likely to improve nutrition when they target women and promote women’s empowerment, for example, through increasing control over income or improving women’s knowledge and skills.15

USAID has a 65-year-long leadership history in providing emergency food assistance and setting priorities for livelihood programs. The Agency is a key contributor to Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s initiative to combat global hunger, poverty, and malnutrition. Feed the Future’s work to empower women in the food and agriculture sector supports the goal of the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative to advance global women’s economic empowerment. The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index is the first-ever comprehensive and standardized measure to capture women’s empowerment and inclusion levels in the agricultural sector.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wgdp/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/wgdp/ https://www.feedthefuture.gov/the-womens-empowerment-in-agriculture-index/ ot o:

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CONFLICT & INSECURITY

Around the world, conflict and disasters adversely and disproportionately affect women and girls, yet women remain under-represented in efforts to prevent and resolve conflict, and in post-conflict peacebuilding or recovery efforts, as highlighted in U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS).

The following themes highlight how gender inequality affects security for women:

State Insecurity. The security and empowerment of women is closely linked to the security of states, including their ability to prevent and recover from conflict and to build resilience to threats of terrorism and violent extremism.16 Higher levels of gender equality are also associated with a lower risk of conflict between and within states, and women’s meaningful participation in the prevention and resolution of conflict improves outcomes for peace and security.17 Moreover, official State actors, militaries, paramilitaries, and security forces, as well as organized crime, gangs, and other non-state actors around the world often use violence as a tactic, and may be exasperated during conflict and instability.

Peace-building. Women remain significantly under-represented in decisions related to peace and security, despite evidence of their critical contributions to stability. Since 1992, women have made up only 13 percent of negotiators, four percent of signatories, and three percent of mediators in major peace processes.18 Excluding women from efforts to prevent, resolve, and recover from conflict results in overlooking differences in the ways that conflict and violence affect women and men. However, when women participate in peace processes, the resulting agreements are 35-percent more likely to last at least 15 years19 because women’s participation helps broaden the range of conflict-drivers and potential solutions under discussion.

Countering and Preventing Violent Extremism. Terrorism and violent extremism contribute to insecurity and conflict in many regions of the world, and affect women and men in different ways. Violent extremist organizations (VEOs) frequently use GBV to terrorize and control populations, and exploit gender roles and stereotypes to recruit and radicalize individuals.20 The systematic rape, enslavement, and trafficking of women and girls is entrenched in the ideology and practices of certain VEOs, while they often subject men and boys to forced recruitment and compel them to commit violent acts aimed at severing ties to their families and communities.21

Though under-recognized, women play many different, active roles related to violent extremism. Some women are leaders, informants, recruiters, or enforcers in VEOs, while other women work effectively to counter the ideology and actions of these groups.22 Women also help influence their families and communities to resist recruitment by VEOs, and work with local and national authorities to act as a part of early-warning response systems.

Increasingly, recognizing the diverse roles and contributions of women and men to countering violent extremism is critical for designing effective interventions.

USAID is committed to the full implementation of the WPS Strategy because we know that investing in women’s leadership and empowerment can help break cycles of conflict and violence that threaten global security and undermine development progress. USAID continues to support communities in our partner countries on a path to self-reliance through a focus on WPS in our development and disaster-assistance efforts.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/WPS_Strategy_10_October2019.pdf

U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security Recognizing that countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women have full and equal rights and opportunities, the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 called for the first-ever U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS Strategy).