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Meng and Ros-lehtinen Urge USAID to Prioritize Gender Equality and Women and Girls’ Empowerment

November 26, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY), a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman Emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led a letter to U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green urging him to prioritize gender equality and women and girls' empowerment in the Journey to Self-Reliance for partner countries. USAID's Journey to Self-Reliance development strategy prioritizes fostering stable, resilient, prosperous, inclusive, and self-reliant countries.
The lawmakers' letter makes multiple recommendations for USAID to ensure that gender equality and women and girls' empowerment are included as a core part of the USAID Transformation process. This would involve using multiple gender equality metrics and strengthening the use of disaggregated data by age and sex to better understand how women and girls' lives are impacted by U.S. foreign assistance programs.
"I'm proud to work with Chairman Ros-Lehtinen and our colleagues in Congress in urging USAID to focus on gender equality and women and girls' empowerment," said Congresswoman Meng. "USAID is instrumental in assisting developing countries and we need to ensure our international aid strategy is focused on ensuring women and girls can succeed in all aspects of their lives."
"At a time marked by crippling conflict – such as the ongoing crises in Syria and Yemen – it is more important than ever the United States does what we know works to build stability and prosperity," said Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children. "Unlocking the power and potential of women and girls across the world will only accelerate countries' progress towards their own development goals and is a key way to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars have the greatest impact. Save the Children commends Reps. Meng and Ros-Lehtinen for their leadership and commitment to empowering women and girls globally and for ensuring that the U.S. global development and humanitarian policy prioritizes gender equality as a way to create a better future for us all."
A copy of the correspondence can be viewed here. Other signatories include Reps. Lois Frankel (D-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Susan Brooks (R-IN), David Cicilline (D-RI) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN).