People around the world should have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Gender should not matter. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
That is why the Biden-Harris administration launched what it calls the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality.
“By promoting the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people in all their diversity, we will advance the collective prosperity, health, security, and safety of our nation and the world,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on November 4. He called gender equity “a moral and strategic imperative.”
The 42-page strategy (PDF, 628KB) identifies 10 priorities that the administration says are inherently linked and must be addressed together. They include commitments to:
Improve economic security, including access to education and leadership positions. Prevent gender-based violence and ensure that women have equal access to legal and humanitarian relief systems. Expand access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health. “We are very inclusive in our definition of gender,” said Jennifer Klein, co-chair and executive director of the White House Gender Policy Council, at a White House press briefing on March 8. She stated that the administration intends to address all forms of discrimination and fight for equal rights for people, whether they are LGBTQI+ individuals, women, girls, or men.
The administration said that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges that women and girls face in particular. Worldwide, and across all regions and income groups, women lost more jobs during COVID-19 than men, according to a January report from the International Labour Organization.
The UN reported this year that the COVID-19 outbreak also created a “parallel pandemic” of gender-based violence worldwide, which will be addressed and is part of the administration’s strategy.
Vice President Harris called the strategy bold “and one that this moment demands.”
Source: share.america.gov