Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy

Gender equality and female empowerment are now universally recognized as core development objectives, fundamental for the realization of human rights, and key to effective and sustainable development outcomes. No society can develop sustainably without increasing and transforming the distribution of opportunities, resources, and choices for males and females so that they have equal power to shape their own lives and contribute to their communities. A growing body of research demonstrates that societies with greater gender equality experience faster economic growth, and benefit from greater agricultural productivity and improved food security. Empowering women to participate in and lead public and private institutions makes these institutions more representative and effective. Increasing girls’ and women’s education and access to resources improves the health and education of the next generation. Women also play critical roles as effective peace advocates, community leaders, and champions of civil and human rights. The 2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), prepared jointly by the State Department and USAID, placed women at the center of U.S. diplomacy and development - not simply as beneficiaries, but also as agents of peace, reconciliation, development, growth, and stability. The first operational principle in the USAID Policy Framework 2011 - 2015 is “Promote Gender Equality and Female Empowerment.” This policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment seeks to codify and operationalize these principles across USAID policies and practices.