FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2020
USAID 2020 Policy Erases Reproductive Health, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity
Today, Equity Forward submitted a public comment in response to USAID’s 2020 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy.
The 2020 Policy could drastically rewrite policies that have helped women across the globe for over a decade, continuing the Trump Administration’s agenda of exporting hateful and regressive policies.
“This is outrageous and regressive," said Molly Bangs, Director of Equity Forward. “USAID put out a policy report supposedly focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment that wipes all references of reproductive health care as well as sexual orientation and gender identity. Furthermore, the USAID policy makes repeated reference to so-called unalienable rights in a clear nod to the State Department's Commission on Unalienable Rights and its prioritization of certain rights at the expense of others. The policy is further evidence of an extremely concerning pattern of Trump's federal agencies disregarding human rights law.”
Through its Global Spotlight database, Equity Forward will continue to watch USAID, the State Department, and other institutions that have been pushing the Trump Administration’s agenda internationally.
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