IANGEL has been hard at work to advance gender justice for women and girls, everywhere. Here are some of the 2021 initiatives that we’re supporting:
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President must invest in gender equality
We signed on to a letter addressed to President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget to protect and increase investments for gender equality-related programs, including those aimed at ending gender-based violence (GBV), improving women’s economic empowerment, engaging women in the peace & security agenda, and adolescent girls’ empowerment. A number of civil society organizations, including IANGEL, have called on the Biden-Harris Administration to increase its funding of programs that include a more global reach.
Put an end to the Global Gag Rule with the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (HER) Act
IANGEL has advocated for a more permanent end to the Global Gag Rule, a policy barring NGOs that receive U.S. global health assistance from providing legal abortion services or support. In our work to end this harmful policy which has been subject to swings in presidential power from one administration to the next, we have formally endorsed the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (HER) Act, effectively repealing the global gag rule through legislative action. While we applaud the fact that President Biden has signed an executive order to end the Global Gag Rule, there is much more to be done to help Black and brown women living overseas who need access to sexual and reproductive health services and to make this harmful rule history.
Passing the Safe from the Start Act of 2021
IANGEL supports passing the Safe From the Start Act, which directs the Department of State to employ a gender-based response when addressing humanitarian crises in a manner that aims to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) at the onset of an emergency. The bill will improve U.S. consideration of, and support for, programs that address both immediate and long-term challenges surrounding GBV. It also brings more attention to the increase in GBV, including intimate partner violence, child marriage, human trafficking, and sexual assault, that displaced women, girls, and others face during emergencies.
Support Funding for UNFPA Act
We are also supporting a bill that will authorize additional U.S. funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency of the UN focused on improving reproductive and maternal health around the world. The bill will increase funding for programming addressing gender-based violence, such as providing health services in humanitarian crises. The Support Funding for UNFPA Act will enable UNFPA to focus its work in countries that have weaker public health and social support systems, as well as provide resources for family planning, gender based violence, female genital mutilation, and child marriage. An increase in funding is a necessary step in ensuring that every woman and girl, especially those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, attains the basic human right to obtain sexual and reproductive health services.
This is only the beginning. With your support, we can continue to fight for gender justice for everyone, everywhere.
You can make a difference for gender justice everywhere! Contact your representatives in Congress and ask them to support the Global HER Act, the Safe From the Start Act and the Support Funding for UNFPA Act.
Some other ways you can get involved: