No economy in the twenty-first century can prosper if half of its people are left behind. The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to making sure women are ready for and involved in the industries of the future in our quickly evolving global economy.
Vice President Harris is announcing the launch of the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) Initiative, which aims to support women’s economic empowerment globally by expanding access to employment, training, leadership roles, and financial resources in the industries critical to our future and the future of our planet. This announcement is part of U.S. government efforts to advance the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) theme of “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All.” In order to support women’s economic participation in fields like clean energy, fisheries, recycling, forest management, and environmental conservation, the Vice President is announcing commitments totalling more than $900 million from governments, private sector businesses, foundations, and civil society organizations.
The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to promoting women’s economic empowerment both domestically and globally, and this initiative is a part of that effort. It builds on the Vice President’s work earlier this year in Ghana, where she announced $1 billion in investments to advance the economic empowerment of women globally, with a focus on closing the digital gender divide. This work is in line with the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality and the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security. Under the Vice President’s direction, investments totalling over $2.4 billion have been made in the last eight months to improve the economic standing of women worldwide.
The economic prospects of women are associated with their capacity to manage, obtain, and utilize land, energy, and water resources, thereby enhancing food security and agricultural productivity within communities and economies. Even though women produce the majority of the food produced worldwide, they are less likely to be the owners of the land they cultivate and to have access to markets and capital. We enhance women’s economic security, progress efforts to address the causes and effects of climate change, and promote economic prosperity by promoting women’s work and leadership in fields that are vital to the future of our planet.
The WISE initiative, spearheaded by the United States, is a public-private partnership that unites foundations, governments, and private sector businesses to support women’s economic opportunities through three main pillars:
- Promoting well-paying, quality jobs for women in energy, land, and water use and management by ensuring women have the skills and training; access to decent jobs in the formal economy; labour and social protections; and other support needed to compete and safely work.
- Increasing access to banking and financial services, networks, markets, trade and investment opportunities, and technical assistance for women-owned, -led, and -managed businesses in the energy, land, and water use and management sectors.
- Improving girls’ access to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in order to remove obstacles to women’s economic participation in the use and management of energy, land, and water; and removing obstacles that restrict equitable access to and control over assets.
