U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-­‐Based Violence (GBV) Globally An Analysis by Women Thrive Worldwide August 2012 Background On August 10th, the White House took a monumental step forward in preventing and responding to all forms of violence against women and girls around the world by releasing its first-­‐ever, government-­‐wide strategy to address this very issue. Until now, various U.S. government agencies have implemented projects to protect women from violence here and there, and while some have been successful, U.S government efforts overall have fallen short of their potential. Agencies did not necessarily coordinate with each other – even when working to end violence in the same country – and there was no system for sharing lessons learned. The launch of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-­‐Based Violence (GBV) Globally (herein after referred to as “the Strategy”) changes all that. It ensures that agencies are collaborating, projects are informed by best practices, and resources are used most effectively. The Strategy lays out an inter-­‐agency, comprehensive and multisector approach to identify, coordinate, integrate and leverage U.S. efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, as well as men and boys, around the world. It sends a clear message that addressing this violence is a U.S. foreign policy priority. Further, it ensures that efforts to prevent and respond to gender-­‐based violence are integrated across all sectors of U.S. diplomacy and development. This means that U.S. efforts to reduce HIV/AIDS, help women farmers, or respond to natural disasters will also be designed to prevent and respond to violence. This strategy has the potential to help millions of women, girls, men, and boys to lead lives free from violence. Over the past seven years, Women Thrive Worldwide, Futures Without Violence and Amnesty International USA, have led a coalition of more than 200 organizations to encourage U.S. global leadership in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls worldwide. A fundamental piece of this work has been in drafting and building support for the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), introduced for the first time in the 110th Congress and again in the 111th and 112th. This legislation calls for the creation of a multi-­‐year, multi-­‐country U.S. government strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women globally across all sector areas—much like the one recently released by the U.S. government—and outlines key principles and approaches for doing so. Below is an analysis of the recently released Strategy, including an assessment of the extent to which it addresses the core components of the IVAWA, as introduced in the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress on June 7, 2012. Overall, the Strategy, in conjunction with the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP), does an excellent job of addressing nearly every element of the IVAWA, and many more. International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) Included in U. S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to GBV Globally? Strategy Development Strategy submitted to Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House foreign Affairs Committee COMPLETE Strategy must be made available to the public COMPLETE Consultations must take place with (1) federal departments and COMPLETE agencies; and (2) consult with civil society organizations Country Selection Calls for the identification of eligible countries YES Selects at least 5 of the eligible countries in which to develop country plans Uses IVAWA country selection criteria NO Strategy Content Collaboration and Coordination Identifies and coordinates with U.S. federal departments and agencies that have existing GBV programs or will be involved in new programs pertaining to the strategy. Identifies and coordinates with existing NGO and multilateral programs, initiatives and groups with experience in GBV prevention and response, especially women’s NGOs and community-­‐based organizations (CBOs). Multisector Approach YES Strategy for each country incorporates at least 2 of the following types of programs: • Legal and judicial sanctions, protections, training and capacity • Engaging men and boys in social norms change • Education for women and girls • Economic opportunity for women and girls • Health • Political participation Engaging Local Women and Women’s Groups YES UNCLEAR YES Includes capacity building and technical assistance for women’s YES NGOs and CBOs with experience in GBV prevention/response Grants to women’s NGOs and CBOs: • 10% of assistance for eligible countries should go to CBOs including women’s NGOs Data Collection and Research Robust research and data collection for the purposes of: (1) Assessing the scope of violence against women and girls internationally; (2) Evaluating effective interventions to prevent and respond to such violence; and NO YES Page 2 of 14 (3) Systemic data collection including by using internationally comparable indicators, norms, and methodologies. Award Process—recipients of assistance shall: • Allocate resources for data collection and program evaluation • Develop and report on outcomes and impacts on preventing and responding to violence against women and girls. Monitoring and Evaluation Office of Global Women’s Issues must coordinate U.S. government departments and agencies to monitor and evaluate women’s empowerment programs, including those to prevent and respond to GBV, and their impact. Annual Reporting: Heads of USG departments and agencies shall report annually on outcomes and impacts of women’s empowerment programs, including international GBV programs. Accountability UNCLEAR YES* YES State Department: Annual Human Rights Reports include reporting on GBV and child marriage YES Upon Request, Secretary will report to Congress on: • Collaboration and coordination between USG departments and agencies with each other and with civil society • Coordination of existing assistance programs to prevent and respond to GBV State Department coordinates data collection, evaluation of GBV programs, and allocates funds for allocation, analysis, and use of such research State Department and USAID: Congressional Briefings to ensure that U.S. international assistance funds to prevent and respond to GBV globally are directed to NGOs that: • Have demonstrated experience regarding violence against women and girls internationally or have entered into a partnership w i t h an organization with such experience; and • Have demonstrated capabilities or experience in one of the sector areas described above. Enhancing U.S. Training of foreign military and police forces and judicial officials on violence against women and girls NO Addressing Violence Against Women And Girls (VAWG) in Humanitarian Relief, Peacekeeping, conflict, and post YES NO COVERED BY National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP) Page 3 of 14 conflict settings. Assistance for humanitarian relief, conflict, mitigation and post-­‐
conflict reconstruction: • Prevents and responds to VAWG; • Builds capacity of local partners to specifically protect women and children; and • Supports survivors of violence through medical/psychosocial assistance, economic opportunity, and legal services. Assistance for disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration (DDR): • Provides women and girls involved in or associated with fighting forces with; o Protection and separate facilities; o Educational and employment opportunities; and o Medical care and psychosocial support • Incorporates efforts to prevent VAWG by future combatants. Specialists in GBV are employed as part of Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) Contractors, grantees, governments carrying out U.S. assistance: • Train humanitarian workers in preventing and responding to GBV globally, including in mechanisms to report GBV • Conduct outreach to share mechanisms with community • Respond to reports of VAWG and treat survivors Secretary of State shall regularly consult with Secretary of Defense and Attorney General to coordinate design and implementation of programs related to preventing and responding to GBV in such situations Accountability of UN peacekeeping and police forces and their capacity to address violence against women and girls • Requiring countries to train UN peacekeeping forces on UN guidance on GBV • Ensure implementation of zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in UN peacekeeping and humanitarian operations • Support expansion of role and number of female officers in UN peacekeeping missions Emergency response to reports of critical or widespread violence against women and girls Includes strategies to address needs of stateless, internally displaced, refugee, religious, or ethnic minority women and girls. Office for Global Women’s Issues Coordinate U.S. government activities, programs, policies, funding to prevent and respond to GBV internationally Promote gender analysis across international programs of U.S. government agencies COVERED BY NAP COVERED BY NAP COVERED BY NAP MOSTLY COVERED BY NAP YES and COVERED BY NAP YES and COVERED BY NAP. MOSTLY COVERED BY NAP YES YES* YES* Page 4 of 14 Direct resources to respond to needs for gender integration, women’s empowerment programs, including GBV programs Design, support, implement women’s empowerment programs including GBV programs Planning and Budgeting Authorization of appropriations YES* YES* YES* NO *These responsibilities are assigned to the Department of State generally, not specifically to the Office of Global Women’s Issues. However, because the U.S. Strategy covers them, they are marked as included. Page 5 of 14 Strategy Development In addition to calling for the development and implementation of a comprehensive, interagency strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally, the IVAWA also outlines specific methods by which the strategy should be developed. Specifically, the IVAWA mandates that the strategy (1) be shared with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; (2) that it be made available to the public; and (3) that it be developed in consultation with relevant federal agencies and civil society organizations. All three of these criteria were met during the development of the strategy. Strategy Content The IVAWA outlines specific requirements for the content of a strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls globally. The vast majority of these requirements have been met by the recently released Strategy, as described below. Selects Countries for Strategy Implementation? NO. The IVAWA calls for the identification of at least 5 eligible countries for the implementation of a comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to GBV globally. The recently released U.S. Strategy, however, does not identify eligible countries. Uses IVAWA Country Selection Criteria? The IVAWA outlines criteria by which eligible countries should be selected for the implementation of a comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to gender-­‐based violence. Specifically, it outlines the following criteria: • Government or nongovernmental organization (NGO) capacity to manage and implement gender-­‐based violence (GBV) prevention and response. • Countries should, when possible, be geographically, ethnically, and culturally diverse from one another. UNCLEAR. While the recently released strategy does not identify or select eligible countries for its implementation, it does discuss the possibility of a focused, coordinated, multi-­‐sector pilot country approach to addressing GBV. The Strategy indicates that the capacity of in-­‐country government and CSOs may be a factor in country selection and that criteria may include “geographic, ethnic, and cultural representation.” Steps for Selected Eligible Countries As noted above, the IVAWA calls for the identification and selection of eligible countries in which the comprehensive strategy should be implemented. Further, it outlines key steps that should be taken for each identified country in order to achieve effective implementation of a strategy. Specifically, the IVAWA requires the following as part of a comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to GBV globally: • Assesses and describes capacity of government and CSOs to address and respond to GBV for each eligible country. Page 6 of 14 •
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Integrates gender analysis into strategy for each country. Identifies project resources needed to achieve objectives in each eligible country. COVERED BY COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION STRATEGY PROCESS. The principles behind these steps are covered by USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) process as well as other governing principles of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to GBV Globally. USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategies are five year, results-­‐oriented strategies that focus on investments in key areas to enhance a country’s stability and prosperity. The process by which these strategies are formed includes close consultations with country governments, citizens, civil society organizations, the private sector, multilateral organizations, other donors and U.S. government agencies. This process includes assessments of country government and civil society capacity as well as an analysis of existing and projected resources needed to implement projects. In conjunction with USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy, the CDCS process also includes country level gender analysis. • Describes M&E mechanisms established for each eligible country to assess progress in prevention and response. YES. The Strategy outlines plans to work towards a common system for monitoring and evaluation of GBV programming, which includes benchmarks to measure progress in prevention and response. For example, USAID will use existing Foreign Assistance indicators on societal views regarding the acceptability of GBV to evaluate the impact of programs. Further, USAID’s implementation plan for the strategy outlines specific measurements for how it will measure progress on implementation of the 3 strategy goals. Collaboration and Coordination The IVAWA calls for a comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to GBV globally that identifies and coordinates with U.S. federal departments and agencies that have existing GBV programs, or will be involved in new programs pertaining to the strategy. It also calls for identification and coordination with existing NGO and multilateral programs, initiatives and groups with experience in GBV prevention and response, especially women’s NGOs and community-­‐based organizations (CBOs). INCLUDED. One of the Strategy’s four main objectives is to “increase coordination of gender-­‐based violence prevention and response efforts among U.S. government agencies and with other stakeholders.” Specifically, this includes the creation of an Inter-­‐agency Working Group to coordinate U.S. government departments and agencies working to prevent and respond to violence globally as well as to consult with civil society organizations with demonstrated expertise in this area. Both the Department of State and USAID plans for the implementation of the Strategy commit to working specifically with female leaders and women’s groups. Integration of GBV Prevention and Response Across Sector Areas Page 7 of 14 Violence against women and girls is an extreme human rights violation, a public health epidemic and a barrier to solving global challenges such as extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS and conflict. It impedes economic growth and is also an early warning sign of conflict and instability. As such, any effort to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls must cut across development and humanitarian sector areas and ensure that efforts within each sector are coordinated. The IVAWA requires that for each country in which the strategy is implemented, a country strategy must be developed that includes programs in at least two of the following program areas: (1) education; (2) economic opportunity; (3) health; (4) legal and judicial sanctions, protections and training; and (5) social norms change. INCLUDED. Part of what makes the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-­‐based Violence Globally so trailblazing is that it outlines how gender-­‐based violence will be integrated throughout the work of the U.S. government in all agencies and across all sectors. This means that every U.S. foreign policy or foreign assistance effort—whether it be to end hunger in Ethiopia, educate girls in Honduras, or reduce HIV/AIDs in India—must take into account the violence that women, men, boys and girls are experiencing in those countries. Specifically, the Strategy accomplishes this by directing U.S. government agencies to integrate GBV prevention and response throughout the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of projects. This includes incorporating GBV into each USAID Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) process as well as strategies for Conflict Prone Countries (CPC)—a critical step towards improving the agency’s ability to help millions to lead lives free from violence. Additionally, the Strategy builds this commitment into the workings of U.S. government agencies themselves. By requiring that GBV prevention and response efforts are integrated across agency operations, policies, and trainings for staff, the Strategy ensures that it is built into agency DNA in a way that cannot be undone by a future change in Administration or leadership. Engaging Men and Boys The IVAWA specifically calls for programs that target men and boys through social norms change. Further, the bill underscores the importance of engaging men and boys as community leaders, partners, and advocates in ending violence against women and girls. INCLUDED. The USAID plan to implement the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to GBV Globally commits to actively working with men, including youth, to change harmful attitudes and behaviors, reduce gender inequalities, and prevent violence. Similarly, the Department of State implementation plan highlights the Department’s efforts to support civil society and community level approaches to change behaviors and attitudes, including by targeting and engaging men and boys. Working with Local Women’s Groups and Communities Page 8 of 14 In order to ensure that U.S. assistance to prevent and respond to GBV actually reaches women and girls, and is accurately informed by their needs, the IVAWA requires that 10% of grants provided for this purpose go directly to CBOs, including women’s organizations. Additionally, the bill stipulates that the strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women should include capacity-­‐building and technical assistance for community-­‐based women’s NGOs and CBOs with experience in violence prevention and response. PARTIALLY INCLUDED. While the U.S. government strategy does not mandate that funds be directed to local women’s organizations specifically, it does outline efforts to ensure that women and girls are able to impact the programming and policies intended to prevent and address violence in their communities. The strategy indicates that women and girls must have full access to social services and treatment, have a voice in decision-­‐making and be leaders in national and community-­‐level policy making. Further, USAID’s implementation plan commits to actively working to increase women and girls’ capacity for social change by providing leadership training. The USAID implementation plan also notes the importance of engaging women, as well as men, in social norms change efforts, recognizing that both women and men can be perpetrators of violence. Like the IVAWA, the Strategy also builds upon USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy, which requires that USAID policies and programs in each country prioritize women’s empowerment and are informed by gender analysis. This ensures that country programs take women’s unique needs, including those relevant to GBV prevention and response, into account in program design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. Finally, the Strategy includes a commitment from USAID to focus on prevention and response efforts for underserved and vulnerable populations, including those who are stateless, internally displaced or refugees; tribal or indigenous women; and religious or ethnic minorities, as is also stipulated by the IVAWA. Data Collection and Research While we know that violence against women and girls has devastating effects—on individuals, families, and communities—substantial gaps remain in data around the precise prevalence of violence globally. To bridge this gap, the IVAWA calls for robust research and data collection for the purposes of: (1) Assessing the scope of violence against women and girls internationally; (2) Evaluating effective interventions to prevent and respond to such violence; and (3) Systemic data collection including by using internationally comparable indicators, norms, and methodologies. INCLUDED. The Strategy makes good on all three accounts, and one of its main objectives is to “improve collection, analysis and use of data and research to enhance GBV prevention and response efforts.” Specifically, the Strategy directs relevant agencies to promote ethical and safe research, data collection and evidence-­‐based analyses on GBV at both the country Page 9 of 14 and local levels. It stresses the importance of forming partnerships with key stakeholders, building the capacity for country-­‐level data collection, and focusing on the impact of GBV on U.S. foreign policy and assistance goals more broadly. The IVAWA also requires that any funds provided to organizations for the purposes of carrying out GBV programs should allocate a portion of those funds to data collection, research, and program evaluation. UNLCEAR. While the Strategy underscores a strong commitment to data collection, research, and monitoring and evaluation, it does not specifically require that organizations receiving U.S. assistance to prevent and respond to GBV be required to collect data, conduct research, or develop and report on impact assessments. It may be that USAID and the State Department intend to require some, if not all, organizations receiving assistance to take on these efforts, however, the Strategy does not explicitly state this requirement. Monitoring and Evaluation The IVAWA requires heads of United States Government departments and agencies to report annually on outcomes and impacts of women’s empowerment programs, including international GBV programs. INCLUDED. The Strategy calls for the prioritization of monitoring and evaluation of U.S. government programs, including GBV programs. This includes establishing a common system for monitoring and evaluation of global gender-­‐based violence programs across U.S. government agencies. The Strategy also calls for the identification and sharing of best practices, lessons learned and research within and across agencies and outside partners. The IVAWA also directs the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues to coordinate U.S. government departments and agencies to monitor and evaluate women’s empowerment programs, including those to prevent and respond to GBV, and their impact. INCLUDED. The Strategy outlines the Department of State’s plans to improve monitoring and evaluation processes to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance, including that intended to prevent and respond to GBV globally, achieves its desired outcomes. Specifically, the Department of State will apply its recently launched Program Evaluation Policy to programs that seek to prevent and respond to GBV. Further, the Department of State will assess performance data from other initiatives such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Health Initiative (GHI), and the National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security (NAP). The Strategy does not, however, specifically require the Office of Global Women’s Issues to take on this role. Ensuring Accountability of the U.S. to Prevent and Respond to GBV The IVAWA contains a variety of accountability mechanisms to ensure that the U.S. takes concrete steps to prevent and respond to GBV globally. Specifically, the bill: • Requires that Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices include reporting on violence against women and girls, including child marriage. Page 10 of 14 •
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Directs the Secretary of State to submit reports to Congress regarding coordination of GBV prevention and response efforts within the US government as well as collaboration with representatives of civil society organizations. Requires the Secretary of State, along with the USAID Administrator, to coordinate data collection and evaluations of GBV programs and allows for the allocation of funds to conduct, analyze and put to use such research. The IVAWA also requires the State Department and USAID to brief Congress on the extent to which assistance funds to prevent and respond to GBV are directed at NGOs that have experience on GBV, or partner with organizations that have this experience, and have demonstrated capacity in one of the sector areas described above. PARTIALLY INCLUDED. The U.S. Strategy indicates that the State Department will continue to highlight gender-­‐based violence in both Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and the Trafficking in Persons Report. The Department of State and USAID implementation plans outlined in the Strategy do not, however, commit either agency to reporting to Congress on GBV prevention and response efforts or related interagency and civil society coordination efforts. The Strategy does outline efforts by both the State Department and USAID to coordinate data collection and evaluation. Further, the Strategy establishes an inter-­‐agency working group to ensure that U.S. departments and agencies coordinate their efforts to prevent and respond to GBV globally. The U.S. Strategy does not commit either agency to briefing Congress on the extent to which assistance is delivered to NGOs that meet the above criteria. Enhancing U.S. Training of foreign military and police forces and judicial officials on violence against women and girls. The IVAWA directs the Department of Defense and the Department of State to incorporate training on prevention and response to GBV into basic training for foreign military forces, police forces, and judicial officials. It also directs both agencies to ensure that assistance for regional and multilateral peacekeeping operations include this training and engage local community organizations in the monitoring of actions taken by foreign military, police forces, and judicial officials to prevent and respond to such violence. COVERED BY NAP. The Strategy does not include commitments to train foreign military, police forces or judicial officials in prevention and response to GBV. The Strategy summarizes current efforts by the Department of Defense to train peacekeepers on GBV through the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), but does not direct any agency to engage in this training or outline forward looking efforts to ensure that such training takes place. However, the State Department’s plan to implement the U.S National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP) does address this issue. Specifically, the Department of State commits to developing and implementing training, guidance and other tools to build the capacity of partner security and judicial sectors to address gender-­‐based violence. Page 11 of 14 Addressing Violence Against Women And Girls in Humanitarian Relief, Peacekeeping, conflict, and post conflict settings. Recognizing the extent of widespread violence against women and girls in situations of conflict, post-­‐conflict, and other humanitarian emergencies such as natural disasters, the IVAWA outlines key steps that must be taken to address women and girls in such situations. The Strategy commits to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls in humanitarian, conflict, and post-­‐conflict settings. However, it is not very prescriptive on this issue. Instead, the Strategy underscores efforts to increase the use of existing platforms to advance efforts to prevent and respond to GBV, including through inter-­‐agency efforts such as the NAP. The NAP includes the vast majority of the IVAWA requirements in this area, as outlined below. • U.S. assistance for such settings is used to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, provide services for survivors of violence, and build local capacity to do both. COVERED BY NAP. While the Strategy only commits to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls in humanitarian, conflict, and post-­‐conflict situations, the NAP goes further to describe plans to build local capacity to protect women and children and to support survivors of violence through a variety of services. • Assistance for disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration (DDR) provides protection and services for women and girls formerly involved in or associated with fighting forces. COVERED BY NAP. Both the Department of State and USAID outline commitments to ensuring that DDR programs address the unique needs of female ex-­‐combatants and women otherwise associated with armed forces as part of their NAP implementation plans. • Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) include specialists in addressing violence against women and girls. COVERED BY NAP. USAID’s plan to implement the NAP indicates that USAID DART members deployed to crisis situations will be trained on the protection of women and girls in humanitarian operations. The Department of State implementation plan does not mention DARTs specifically, but does include a commitment to ensure that U.S. Government crisis response and recovery teams have access to appropriate gender expertise, such as designated gender advisors, to integrate gender considerations in U.S. Government supported relief and recovery efforts. • Implementers of U.S. assistance train humanitarian workers in GBV prevention and response, engage local communities in reporting violence, and respond to reports of such violence. Page 12 of 14 MOSTLY COVERED BY NAP. Department of State and USAID implementation plans discuss commitments to train humanitarian workers in preventing and responding to GBV globally. However, neither plan discusses this training in enough detail to indicate whether this includes training on mechanisms to report violence or outreach to train community members on such mechanisms. Further, it is not clear whether these trainings extend to contractors or grantees. The IVAWA also encourages the Department of State to advocate for UN peacekeeper training in GBV prevention and response and to implement a “zero tolerance” policy for violence or sexual exploitation committed by UN peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel. YES, AND COVERED BY NAP. The Strategy commits the Department of State to continue to advocate for UN peacekeeping missions to have strong mandates to protect civilians, including from gender-­‐based violence, and provide diplomatic support for initiatives in the UN General Assembly Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and budget committees to build the capacity and provide operational tools for the protection of civilians and the prevention of gender-­‐based violence. The National Action Plan’s protection pillar also outlines several actions for ensuring that capacity is increased throughout the UN system, including for peacekeeping forces, to prevent and respond to GBV. The National Action Plan calls for a “zero tolerance” policy for trafficking in persons for military and civilian personnel and also outlines steps to assist multilateral and international organizations in combating sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) among their own personnel. The National Action Plan also outlines plans to increase women’s participation in security forces including through the training of female peacekeepers through the Global Peace Operations Initiative. Finally, the bill also requires the Department of State to identify and respond to widespread incidents of violence against women and girls in situations of armed conflict and to report to Congress on such efforts. MOSTLY COVERED BY NAP. The Department of State’s NAP implementation plan calls on Bureaus and Embassies to provide diplomatic and development support for community-­‐
based early warning and response groups of local women and men designed to notice, report, and respond to outbreaks or escalation of violence, including gender-­‐based violence. The NAP does not, however, require either agency to report on responses to such violence to Congress. Office for Global Women’s Issues The IVAWA outlines many specific responsibilities of the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues and the Ambassador-­‐at-­‐Large for Global Women’s Issues. Specifically, it directs the Ambassador-­‐at-­‐Large to: • Coordinate U.S. government activities, programs, policies, and funding to prevent and respond to GBV internationally; Page 13 of 14 •
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Promote gender analysis across international programs of U.S. government agencies; Direct resources to respond to needs for gender integration, women’s empowerment programs, including GBV programs; and Design, support, and implement women’s empowerment programs including GBV programs. Further, the IVAWA mandates the Office for Global Women’s Issues to coordinate and monitor and evaluate current U.S. women’s empowerment programs, including those to prevent and respond to GBV. It also directs the Secretary of State, along with the USAID Administrator, to fully integrate gender into strategic planning and budgeting and to develop indicators and evaluation mechanisms to evaluate the impact of women’s empowerment programs. INCLUDED. The Strategy requires the Department of State to do all four of the items mentioned above: coordinate U.S. government efforts to prevent and respond to GBV; promote gender analysis across U.S. international programs; direct resources for gender integration, women’s empowerment and GBV programs; and implement GBV programs. However, it does not mandate that these are the specific responsibilities of the Office for Global Women’s Issues or the Ambassador-­‐at-­‐Large. Authorization of Appropriations The IVAWA authorizes “such sums as may be necessary” to carry out the activities outlined in the bill. NOT INCLUDED. The Strategy does not commit the U.S. government to spending a specific dollar amount on preventing and responding to GBV globally or for the implementation of the Strategy per se. However, the Strategy does outline money that has been allocated for this issue to date, underscores the importance of dedicating resources to ensure that the Strategy is implemented effectively, and outlines improvements that have been made to ensure that GBV prevention and response is considered in annual budgeting processes. Page 14 of 14