The U.S. Labor Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) support an array of projects aimed at improving the health, education and safety of women as well as creating business opportunities, strengthening workers' rights and eliminating gender discrimination in the developing world.

U.S. Department of Labor
News Release

March 09, 2004

Labor Department Projects Boost Women's Prospects Worldwide
International Women's Day and Week Highlight Administration's Efforts to
Improve Social and Economic Opportunities

WASHINGTON -- As part of President Bush's effort to improve the social and economic opportunities for millions of women and children in developing countries, the Department of Labor (DOL) has distributed approximately $176 million since 2000 to implement 84 projects to strengthen workers' rights, eliminate gender discrimination and improve governments' capabilities to enact and enforce labor laws around the globe. Additionally, since 1995 the department has provided more than $275 million in grants in over 60 countries to combat the worst forms of child labor, including child soldiering.

"During International Women's Day and Week, we want to emphasize President Bush's global effort to press for the human dignity that millions of women and children are entitled and yet denied," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "The Department of Labor is establishing international cooperative projects that combat the devastating practice of using children as laborers or combatants, provide social assistance programs for workers, protect basic workers rights and offer workplace-based HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs, all of which have great impact on women and children."

Many of these projects, which are administered by DOL's Bureau of International Labor Affairs, help to improve the social and economic status of women in developing countries. They do so by stressing education, improving job skills and working conditions, providing micro-enterprise training, increasing employment access, strengthening women's worker rights, and addressing gender-based employment discrimination.

Several of these programs are in Afghanistan and Iraq, where some 25 million women and children have recently been liberated in the War on Terrorism.

In Afghanistan, the DOL is funding a $3 million project to improve the social and economic status of vulnerable groups, including women. Activities include vocational, apprenticeship and skills-training programs and the development of an employer network. Another $300,000 project is training Afghan women to sew school uniforms for girls who cannot afford to purchase or make their own uniforms.

In Iraq, the department has provided $5 million to help demobilize former soldiers and to establish employment centers to address the needs of Iraqi men and women alike, as their transition to productive employment is critical for the country to begin to achieve economic growth. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has scheduled the opening of 28 employment centers by the end of April. Additionally, the department is funding a Bureau of Labor Statistics scholarship program designed to increase the labor market information capacity of developing nations, teach participants how to gather information on workers rights' indicators, thus increasing DOL's access to accurate and complete international workforce and economic data. Iraqi participants in the next training are anticipated to be women.

In more than 60 countries around the world the department has provided more than $275 million in grants to protect children from exploitive and hazardous child labor and give them access to a basic education. These programs also have been used to demobilize, rehabilitate and reintegrate child soldiers, who have been victimized in many trouble spots around the globe. An integral part of these programs is to assist children's families in finding alternatives to child labor. In particular, the projects provide opportunities for mothers, who often play a leadership role in their households, to earn income that reduces the pressure on children to work.

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U.S. Agency for International Development

March 8, 2004

USAID Promotes Development of Women

On March 8, 2004, the U.S. Agency for International Development will recognize International Women's Day. USAID has been a leading proponent in implementing programs to improve the health, education, and safety of women in developing countries. Below are just a few of the many projects supported by USAID to assist women in these countries. USAID has also compiled success stories highlighting women around the world.

Education

USAID works to promote basic education for girls as well as boys in order to reduce poverty, improve health and social well-being, and sustain economic growth. Statistics currently show 45 percent of girls in least developed countries are not enrolled in classes. Of those enrolled, nearly 40 percent drop out before completing fifth grade.

Twenty USAID mission offices implemented education programs in 2002; 19 paid particular attention to improving opportunities for women and girls.

-- In late 2003, USAID started a groundbreaking new program to address school-related gender-based violence in Ghana, Malawi, and Ethiopia.
-- A USAID project focusing on girls from rural areas in Morocco succeeded in raising the enrollment of girls from 16 percent to 41 percent in sixth-grade classes
-- The enrollment of primary school aged girls attending school in Guinea has doubled, making it the first among African countries in sustained increased enrollment for girls
-- A program to raise the acceptance of girls in the classroom in Mali, Morocco, Guatemala, Guinea, Peru, El Salvador, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo helped achieve a number of successes, including establishment of a universal law for the enrollment of girls under 18 in Peru and 47,500 scholarships through the private sector given to girls in Guatemala.

Economic Growth

Women can substantially contribute to economic growth in developing countries. In order to improve economic growth, USAID provides women with sustainable development tools, such as loans, training, and technical assistance.

Of USAID-funded business development programs in 2002, 48 percent were provided to women.

-- Of USAID-funded microloans in 2002, 69 percent were given to women-owned microenterprises.
-- USAID helped 50 women in Mali finance a small produce operation with a concrete irrigation system, fence, seed, and a motor pump for 2.5 acres. This funded school fees, medicines, and clothes.
-- By training an entrepreneurial group of women in Peru, 5,000 jobs were created in a poverty stricken region and the women's company achieved annual sales in excess of $500,000.
-- USAID helped support the creation of the West African Women's Regional Trade Facilitation Program, which works to reduce procedural barriers for women business owners in the region.
-- USAID funded Conservation-Based Economic Opportunities for Women in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru to produce income-generating activities through new processes, products, or markets.

Women's Health/HIV/AIDS

USAID promotes a number of women's health programs ranging from pregnancy complications to HIV/AIDS. Currently, 50 percent of the estimated 40 million adults with HIV/AIDS are women; of young people between 15 and 24 living with HIV/AIDS, approximately two-thirds are female.

-- With life expectancy in southern Africa dropping from 57 years to 33 from HIV/AIDS, USAID has developed a program to focus on the health and family planning needs of HIV-positive women in Swaziland.
-- USAID built 400 new medical clinics in Afghanistan aimed at reducing maternal deaths from childbirth.

Trafficking/Violence Against Women

Violence against women and children was reported in over 95 percent of conflict zones. Trafficking of women and children is in 85 percent of those zones. USAID addresses violence in education-related programs and trafficking through various programs in order to combat the negative effects it has on women's health, education, and economic productivity.

-- USAID provided $15 million for specific anti-trafficking programs in 2003 and supports anti-trafficking programs in 40 countries worldwide.
-- A Trafficking in Persons Strategy created by USAID helps guide the agency's efforts to combat trafficking practices for sexual or economic exploitation, provide recovery for victims, and support legislation and prosecution measures against traffickers.
-- The Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association, a USAID-funded nongovernmental organization, helped to release 32 women and children from internal trafficking rings and gave police information that led to the arrests of 76 traffickers between January and November 2003.
-- In East Timor, USAID is working to draft anti-violence legislation and motivate gender-based violence campaigns that raise men's awareness and change their behavior. Recently, it organized an innovative local campaign with the Association of Men Against Violence.

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