The Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (PL 115-68) (WPS Act) codified the United States government’s decades-long sustained commitment to the principles of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. This agenda stemmed from the historic United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 of 2000, which has since been reinforced through a growing body of policies to affirm gender justice and equality in the areas of security, peacemaking and peacekeeping here in the United States and around the world is supported.
Conflict has devastating impacts on affected communities and devastating economic costs worldwide. As half of the world’s population, women must be included as leaders and key actors in responding to the complex challenges of global peace and security. The world is more peaceful, safer and more prosperous when women are able to participate fully in all facets of economic, social and political life – and their human rights are respected. For the Biden-Harris administration, the WPS agenda is a cornerstone of US government efforts aimed at averting and preventing conflict, including supporting the implementation of the US strategy for conflict prevention and promoting stability and US Strategy for Anticipating, Preventing, and Responding to Atrocities. WPS is also a core theme throughout the National Strategy on Gender Equality and Equality, making gender equality a strategic imperative in the domestic and foreign policies of the Biden-Harris administration. This important lens informs our work on crisis prevention and response, from the conflict-related sexual violence we are witnessing in Ukraine to the under-representation of women in civic participation in Guatemala.
The report released today is the second report to Congress assessing the USG’s progress towards the goals of the 2019 US Women’s Peace and Security Strategy and provides an overview of the efforts of the four departments and agencies involved in the strategy : the Department of Defense (DoD), Homeland Security (DHS), the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The reports summarize the progress made in the four lines of effort (LOEs) of the WPS strategy: 1) participation; 2) protection; 3) Internal Capabilities; and 4) partnerships.
To view the report, please visit: U.S. Women Peace and Security Congressional Report 2022. Below are highlights from each agency’s report:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The department continued to focus on the implementation of WPS through monitoring, assessment and learning exercises, and increased collaboration with key partners such as B. leaders of civil society. During the reporting period for financial year (FY) 2021, the department continued to engage with civil society, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector and partner governments; increased staff training on WPS; and increased use of gender analysis in projects and strategic frameworks by 25 percent compared to FY2020. Additionally, the Department’s programs, training, and resources increased for WPS from FY2020 to FY2021. During the reporting period, the Department invested approximately $110 million. Dollars in utility programming to further develop WPS. The department also integrated WPS principles into its internal processes, including 231 notices of requests for funding (NOFOs) and calls for proposals (RFPs) that required gender analysis – down from just 12 reported in FY2020. As part of the department’s ongoing internal review of its WPS data call and to streamline the report, the Department revised or removed some indicators for this reporting period (FY2021).
US Agency for International Development. Consistent with the commitments of USAID’s WPS Implementation Plan, USAID increased efforts to consult with local women leaders, civil society, including religious organizations, and academia in countries affected by crisis and conflict. In FY2021, USAID supported the participation of over 77,000 women in leadership, conflict mediation, legal, political and peacebuilding processes, and provided essential healthcare, psychosocial support, legal assistance and economic services to more than 5.3 million gender-based violence survivors. In FY21, USAID invested over $243 million in programs to empower and protect women and girls in countries affected by crisis, conflict, violent extremism and natural disasters.
Department of Homeland Security. Fiscal 2021 saw significant achievements across the four DHS LOEs. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) trained 8,458 women in both basic and advanced law enforcement training programs; Initiative 2023 was launched to increase the proportion of women in law enforcement by 30 percent by 2023 at the latest; and the US Secret Service celebrated its 50th anniversary of accepting female agents. DHS led the Unified Coordination Group, a state-wide, society-wide effort to relocate more than 76,000 vulnerable Afghans, including women leaders, human rights activists, humanitarian workers, journalists and other vulnerable individuals in the United States. Through these efforts and Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), the Department also promoted the protection of Afghan women and girls through initiatives such as hearing sessions with stakeholders on civil and human rights considerations. In addition to the Department’s efforts, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted targeted training on the global treatment of women and highlighted key issues such as female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).
Department of Defense. The US Department of Defense (DoD) WPS Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan (SFIP) has identified three defense objectives to support the WPS strategy Lines of Effort (LOEs): (1) Model and deploy meaningful participation of women in the Joint Force; (2) promoting the participation of women in partner countries in all professions in the defense and security sectors; and (3) ensure partner nations protect women and girls, particularly during conflict and crisis. In fiscal year 2021, the Department of Defense spent $5.5 million to establish policies and programs to promote implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-68), hire and train qualified personnel, and WPS in to integrate relevant training plans and occupations military training for the Bundeswehr. As a role model for meaningful women’s participation, Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost assumed command of the U.S. Transportation Command and Army General Laura Richardson assumed command of the U.S. Southern Command. The Department initiated the use of $3 million from the International Security Cooperation Programs (ISCP) account to implement Security Cooperation (SC) programs that include gender analysis and encourage women’s participation in defense institutions and national security forces. This work was complemented by the Department’s efforts to support an independent review commission into military sexual assault, which led to historic reforms to prevent and address sexual and gender-based violence throughout the force and reaffirmed the DoD’s commitment to achieving WPS goals within to advance our military.
From the US Embassy Tbilisi | July 18, 2022 | Topics: fact sheets, key documents, key officials, news
