Good afternoon, everyone. It’s a pleasure to be with you today for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s 12th Annual International Women’s Day Forum.
Each year during Women’s History Month, we recommit to building a world where every woman and girl is afforded the rights and opportunities they deserve.
Real progress has been made in recent decades, yet women and girls continue to shoulder a profoundly disproportionate burden of the impacts of today’s global challenges.
As we cross the two year mark of a global pandemic, we are reminded that women are playing an outsized role in responding to the virus as health care workers and caretakers on the front lines around the world, even as the pandemic has disproportionately pushed them out of the workforce and prompted more attacks on their safety and rights.
As the rate and severity of climate shocks continues to rise globally, we are faced with the jarring fact that women and girls are significantly more likely to be killed by natural disasters.
And when conflict breaks out around the world, as we’ve seen this past week following Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, women and girls face an increased risk of exposure to violence, exploitation, and impacts on their health and well-being.
I want to emphasize that within each of these challenges, women are not merely helpless victims, but rather, catalysts for action – whose leadership can have transformative effects on their communities and their countries.
For more than thirty years, Ukrainian women have been leading the fight for a Ukraine that is free, democratic, and prosperous. And as Russian tanks and troops began their illegal maneuvers into Ukraine’s territory last week, Ukrainian women joined the fight to defend their homeland and the democratic principles they’ve worked so hard to advance.
As the conflict continues to unfold, we are seeing women play a crucial role in resisting Russia’s campaign of violence—responding to the urgent needs of their communities, combating disinformation, taking up arms to fight, and engaging on the diplomatic front to bring an end to the conflict that has already driven a million innocent Ukrainians from their homes.
For almost fifty years, USAID has focused on gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment in the countries where we work—and for good reason. When we unlock the full potential of all people, including women and girls, it makes their countries more peaceful and prosperous, paying huge economic and security dividends for us all.
So I come today bearing a simple message: If you’re looking for ways to generate economic growth and opportunity, invest in women’s empowerment and gender equality.
The evidence could not be more clear. When women and girls enjoy the full range of rights and freedoms they deserve, economies grow and communities flourish. In fact, the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that narrowing the global gender gap could generate $12 trillion dollars in annual GDP.
That’s why USAID has set forth an ambitious agenda to boost women’s participation in the global economy. Our Agency’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub, together with our Missions around the world, currently manages over $300 million dollars supporting over 100 activities in more than 60 countries—activities that increase women’s economic security and provide them with the tools they need to help their countries prosper. At the same time, we are demonstrating the business case for women’s economic empowerment around the world.
Take USAID’s partnership with PepsiCo, as one example. Women make up a significant portion of the agricultural labor force in India, but face significant challenges accessing and retaining land rights, preventing them from fully benefiting from the products they grow. By engaging women as critical partners in West Bengal, India, USAID and PepsiCo are providing access to land and sustainable agricultural practices, increasing yields and net profitability for rural farmers.
But in order to fully realize the benefits of empowering women in the global economy, we need to see industry-wide change. Rather than working with one company at a time, USAID aims to influence entire sectors and industries that are ready to adopt gender-smart practices. And with the help of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, we have an opportunity to shift social norms that have historically kept women on the sidelines and kept businesses from realizing their full profit potential.
To accelerate the pace of change, USAID has developed a women’s economic empowerment community of practice that has grown to include over 600 members from across our Agency, our implementing partners—including local organizations and businesses led by women, and external private sector partners, foundations, and multilateral organizations.
With greater coordinated attention to and investments in women’s economic empowerment, we can achieve results at scale that revolutionize the domestic and international labor force, benefiting women, families, and entire countries—all while boosting competitiveness, company performance, and global GDP.
If increasing returns by improving gender equality and women’s economic empowerment within your company or industry resonates with you, USAID is ready to engage.
Thank you for inviting me to join you this afternoon. I look forward to the work ahead.
