Washington, DC - "By investing in women around the world, we’re investing in families, we’re investing in prosperity, and we’re investing in peace." ~ President Donald J. Trump

PROMOTING ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT FOR WOMEN: The Trump Administration is launching a historic initiative to empower women globally to fulfill their economic potential.

• Today, the Trump Administration launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, the first-ever whole-of-government approach focused on advancing women’s full and free participation in the global economy.
• Through the W-GDP Initiative, the Administration will seize on the significant opportunity that promoting women in the economy represents for boosting global gross domestic product.
  • The aim is to reach 50 million women across the developing world from the start of the Trump Administration in 2017 to 2025.
  • The President signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum and directed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to allocate an initial $50 million for the new W-GDP Fund.
• The W-GDP Initiative will have three pillars of focus:
  • Helping women to prosper in the workforce by improving women’s access to quality education and skills training;
  • Continuing efforts to fund and support women’s entrepreneurship and access to capital, markets, technical assistance, and mentorship; and
  • Working to identify and reduce the policy, legal, and regulatory barriers to women’s participation in the global economy and promote improved practices.

SUPPORTING OPPORTUNITIES TO ENSURE GLOBAL STABILITY: When women are empowered, they spur economic growth and help create stable societies.

• Everyone benefits from the growth and stability that economically empowered women add to the global economy:
  • When women are empowered economically, they invest in their families and communities, spurring economic growth and creating more stable societies.
  • Research shows that promoting global women’s economic participation, especially in developing countries, could boost global economic growth by $12 trillion by 2025.
• Unfortunately, women in many countries face significant barriers to full and free participation in the global economy.
  • Women are legally restricted from working in specific jobs in 104 countries, preventing more than 2.7 billion women from having the same job choices as men.
• Despite making up half of the world’s population, women only own one-third of formal businesses worldwide and have less—or no—access to financial services, markets, and property.

BUILDING ON OUR EFFORTS: Improving the role and ability of women to participate in the global economy is a critical issue and a high priority for President Donald J. Trump.

• At the 2017 G20 Leaders’ Summit, President Trump and global partners announced the first-of-its-kind Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).
  • The initiative is on track to raise more than $1.6 billion in capital.
• On International Women’s Day 2018, the Trump Administration launched the WomenConnect Challenge, to increase women’s access to digital technology and bridge the gender divide.
• Through the Administration’s 2X Women’s Initiative, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is mobilizing $1 billion to support women in the developing world.
• President Trump has signed bipartisan legislation, including the Women, Peace, and Security Act; the BUILD Act; and the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act.

W-GDP DELIVERABLES: The Trump Administration is excited to announce these new and expanded programs and partnerships as part of the W-GDP initiative.

• The W-GDP Fund: With an initial $50 million, this new fund at USAID will support innovative and effective programs that advance women’s economic empowerment, including:
  • The Incentive Fund: $20 million will be dedicated incentivize new programming in the field, including partnerships with government agencies and the private sector.
  • The Women’s Impact Livelihood Bond II: A partial guarantee of $100 million in loans to women entrepreneurs and businesses that support women in South and Southeast Asia.
  • The PepsiCo Partnership: A USAID and PepsiCo partnership in West Bengal, India, to scale women’s economic empowerment throughout PepsiCo’s agriculture supply chains.
  • The Engendering Utilities Partner Expansion: Expanding a program to increase participation and leadership of women in the energy sector to Malawi, Mozambique, Kosovo, El Salvador, Ghana, and Liberia.
• The USAID-UPS Memorandum of Understanding to improve the ability of women entrepreneurs to export their goods to markets, with an initial focus in Africa, Asia, and Central America.
• The Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues will launch WE RISE to work with microfinance civil society organizations to reduce barriers faced by women entrepreneurs.
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation initiatives:
  • Impact-First Development Fund: OPIC’s $50 million loan to Global Partnerships’ Impact First Fund will support organizations providing financial support to female borrowers.
  • Induced Bank Limited-Women Microentrepreneurs Facility: The OPIC $100 million loan will expand IndusInd’s microfinance lending to women in India.
• Peace Corps commits to raising $1 million per year through 2025 from private donors supporting Community Economic Development, Agriculture, and Education projects.