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U.S Poised to Support Women Leadership – Envoy
- By Williams Ekanem
- Published October 26th, 2010
- Washington File
- Unrated
THE United States says it is working to support women leadership and efforts on the African continent.
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer gave the indication in Kenya on the ocassion of the launch of the African Women’s Decade.
Addressing women at the event, Verneer said, “We cannot achieve peace, prosperity, security or any of our other shared goals without the full partnership and participation of women around the world”.
That is why, according to her, President Obama is committed to making gender equality a focus of America;s foreign policy agenda, at the State Department and in our government.
The State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues works to promote sustained peace and development by promoting the full engagement of women in the economic and political spheres; mitigating the impact of violence against women; preventing a return to or the start of conflict by addressing underlying socio-economic problems, including women’s access to health and education; and ensuring that emergency relief to countries affected by conflict and natural disasters reaches women and children.
These goals, she pointed out, are at the heart of the African Union’s plans for the African Women’s Decade. The Decade’s objectives provide direction for the continent’s efforts to accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment. And the U.S. government is committed to supporting your efforts to achieve these objectives.
On activities of the Obama administration in that direction, the ambassador stated that two key issues for Africa’s progress and for women’s empowerment are food security and global health are major priorities of the Administration. “The President’s Feed the Future and Global Health initiatives, which are in the process of implementation, will target many countries in Africa for support. They have a special focus on the needs of women. For example, the President’s Feed the Future Initiative recognizes that female small-hold farmers have specific needs that must be addressed to achieve the enhanced agriculture productivity we would all like to see.
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer gave the indication in Kenya on the ocassion of the launch of the African Women’s Decade.
Addressing women at the event, Verneer said, “We cannot achieve peace, prosperity, security or any of our other shared goals without the full partnership and participation of women around the world”.
That is why, according to her, President Obama is committed to making gender equality a focus of America;s foreign policy agenda, at the State Department and in our government.
The State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues works to promote sustained peace and development by promoting the full engagement of women in the economic and political spheres; mitigating the impact of violence against women; preventing a return to or the start of conflict by addressing underlying socio-economic problems, including women’s access to health and education; and ensuring that emergency relief to countries affected by conflict and natural disasters reaches women and children.
These goals, she pointed out, are at the heart of the African Union’s plans for the African Women’s Decade. The Decade’s objectives provide direction for the continent’s efforts to accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment. And the U.S. government is committed to supporting your efforts to achieve these objectives.
On activities of the Obama administration in that direction, the ambassador stated that two key issues for Africa’s progress and for women’s empowerment are food security and global health are major priorities of the Administration. “The President’s Feed the Future and Global Health initiatives, which are in the process of implementation, will target many countries in Africa for support. They have a special focus on the needs of women. For example, the President’s Feed the Future Initiative recognizes that female small-hold farmers have specific needs that must be addressed to achieve the enhanced agriculture productivity we would all like to see.
