How the U.S. Gender Equality Funding Increase Can Actually Be Effective

Saskia Brechenmacher and Nikhita Salgame consider the practical needs for President Biden's strategy for increasing funding for foreign assistance programmes that promote gender equality and equity. While the $2.6 billion USD commitment by Biden appears high in comparison with reduced investment under Trump and in Biden's first years, it is only an increase of $300 million over the largest investment made during the Obama years. The US' impact as the third-largest donor to gender equality in 2019 is also questionable, as when one looks at the share of gender equality aid relative to total ODA, the majority of US foreign development assistance does not target gender equality at all. The authors argue that for all foreign policy funding to effectively integrate gendered considerations, significantly more funding and resources will be required. Moreover, the US needs to think how and on which initiatives it will channel funding, as an issue globally with ODA is that little funding actually reaches feminist and women-led organisations.

Read the full piece here at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.