On August 14th, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched its implementation of the U.S National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), which established a roadmap to ensure that U.S. Government efforts support and advance the role of women in preventing conflict and rebuilding peace in countries threatened and affected by war, violence, and insecurity.
USAID’s agenda specifies how the Agency will translate the objectives of the NAP into reality for women and girls who experience war and violence around the world. In doing so, USAID will seek to better engage, empower, and ensure the protection of women and girls in countries affected by or emerging from conflict or crisis, those experiencing high levels of insecurity at national or sub-national levels, those recovering from a natural disaster, or those experiencing a significant political transition.
USAID’s actions are aimed at five major goals: national integration and institutionalization; participation in peace processes and decision-making; protection from violence; conflict prevention; and access to relief and recovery.
USAID will finance these efforts by systematically integrating attention to women, peace, and security issues into its broader strategy development and budget planning processes and by making targeted investments in activities that respond to new and catalytic opportunities on the ground.
In this spirit, USAID announced a new investment of over $1.5 million to support innovative programs advancing women, peace, and security objectives in Yemen, Nepal, and the Philippines. These programs respond to areas of need identified during the development of the National Action Plan and build on work already underway in support of women’s participation in peace processes and political transitions.
These actions are just one piece of USAID’s broader effort to empower vulnerable populations, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, and strengthen the ability of entire communities to cope with adversity, recover from crises, and pursue development progress.
As Ambassador Donald Steinberg, USAID Deputy Administrator noted, “we know the success of our efforts will not be measured by the policies we adopt, the resolutions and legislations we pass, the publicity we generate, or even the money we spend. It will be measured by the degree to which we protect the well-being of women and girls faced with the horrors of war, empower them to play their rightful role in peace process and post-conflict reconstruction, hold government security forces and warlords alike accountable for acts of abuse and sexual violence, build strong civil society networks of women and for women, and end the stigma of victimization that confronts women leaders around the world.”
USAID’s agenda specifies how the Agency will translate the objectives of the NAP into reality for women and girls who experience war and violence around the world. In doing so, USAID will seek to better engage, empower, and ensure the protection of women and girls in countries affected by or emerging from conflict or crisis, those experiencing high levels of insecurity at national or sub-national levels, those recovering from a natural disaster, or those experiencing a significant political transition.
USAID’s actions are aimed at five major goals: national integration and institutionalization; participation in peace processes and decision-making; protection from violence; conflict prevention; and access to relief and recovery.
USAID will finance these efforts by systematically integrating attention to women, peace, and security issues into its broader strategy development and budget planning processes and by making targeted investments in activities that respond to new and catalytic opportunities on the ground.
In this spirit, USAID announced a new investment of over $1.5 million to support innovative programs advancing women, peace, and security objectives in Yemen, Nepal, and the Philippines. These programs respond to areas of need identified during the development of the National Action Plan and build on work already underway in support of women’s participation in peace processes and political transitions.
These actions are just one piece of USAID’s broader effort to empower vulnerable populations, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, and strengthen the ability of entire communities to cope with adversity, recover from crises, and pursue development progress.
As Ambassador Donald Steinberg, USAID Deputy Administrator noted, “we know the success of our efforts will not be measured by the policies we adopt, the resolutions and legislations we pass, the publicity we generate, or even the money we spend. It will be measured by the degree to which we protect the well-being of women and girls faced with the horrors of war, empower them to play their rightful role in peace process and post-conflict reconstruction, hold government security forces and warlords alike accountable for acts of abuse and sexual violence, build strong civil society networks of women and for women, and end the stigma of victimization that confronts women leaders around the world.”
