United Nations Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin Applauds USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy

United Nations Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin issued the following statement on USAID’s new Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy, which was announced today at the White House:

“With today’s announcement, USAID took a significant step toward advancing women’s empowerment and reducing gender gaps around the world. By making gender a central consideration in its work, USAID ensures that the needs and rights of women and girls are essential elements of its efforts to alleviate poverty, achieve social justice, and accelerate progress on our global development goals. Gender equality is a basic human rights issue, critical to achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives, and a fundamental component of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

“While great progress has been made towards gender equality and female empowerment around the world, there is still more work to be done. We applaud the efforts of USAID and the NGOs that pushed for this momentous policy change. We look forward to working in partnership with USAID, the UN, and our partners to empower women and girls to participate fully in their societies and benefit from their development. From our Girl Up campaign, to our engagement with the Secretary-General’s Every Woman Every Child, to our initiative for universal access to reproductive health, we share these same goals.”

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About the United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by global corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals. For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.

Media Contact:
Katherine Brandon
kbrandon@unfoundation.org
202-419-6406