Yet in many regions of the world, especially in regions of conflict, women have little political clout, lack protection for their most basic human rights, are disproportionately undereducated, and are the most economically vulnerable. In many countries, women also face social and cultural barriers to their advancement, including discrimination, having to balance family life with the need or desire to work outside the home, and the biggest barrier of all — illiteracy. Additionally, women are the targets of sexual exploitation, trafficking in persons, and domestic violence.

The United States finds these barriers intolerable. The political, economic, and social empowerment of women is critical to the promotion of prosperity and peace in every land.

The United States is determined to eliminate the repression and oppression of women and children. In the words of President Bush, "America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law; limits on the power of the state; and respect for women, private property, free speech, equal justice, and religious tolerance."

In a resounding endorsement of our commitment to women's equality, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during her confirmation hearings that improving the status of women worldwide will be "one of the most important things that we do over the next few years." In fact, she added, "We've already tried to do a lot. ... We're very outspoken about the need of every society to make sure that women's rights are protected. ... It is in our moral interest to do so, but it's also in the interest of these societies, economically and in terms of modernity, that women take a rightful place and are fully contributing to the prosperity of these societies."

In recognition of the global focus on women's issues that began in earnest 10 years ago in Beijing, this publication offers examples of the many ways the United States promotes a better future for women everywhere, in terms of the key concerns expressed in the Beijing Declaration. You will read poignant stories of inspiring women who, with the help of U.S.-funded programs, are helping themselves and others achieve more than they thought possible.

Education: A Priority Around the World

It is well known that education can empower women. Yet two-thirds of all those who are illiterate today are women. The forecast for the future is equally disturbing: Worldwide, of the more than 104 million children of primary school age who are not in school, 57 percent are girls.

As our stories on education point out, the need to expand access to education is critical, because educating women and girls benefits every aspect of society and fosters economic development. Only through literacy, knowledge, access to the best information and latest technology, and opportunities to gain competency skills can women truly escape lives of poverty, raise healthier and better-educated children, and begin to take part in decision-making processes that can better their lives.

Throughout the world, U.S. programs bring greater access to education and thus greater hope to women and girls. The U.S. Education and Child Nutrition Program, for example, feeds seven million children in schools in 38 countries. It offers an incentive to impoverished families to make sure their children go to school. The U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative is another one of many U.S. programs focused on improving the lives of women and girls through literacy training and scholarships that enable them to stay in school.

Some of women's greatest educational needs are found in post-conflict societies. That's why in Afghanistan, for example, after the fall of the Taliban, the United States has worked to reopen schools: 4.8 million Afghan children are now enrolled in school, and nearly 40 percent of them are girls — many more than at any point in Afghanistan's history. Furthermore, a new Women's Teacher Training Institute/Afghan Literacy Program announced by First Lady Laura Bush was opened in Kabul in 2004. Now many Afghan women can receive literacy training to take back to their villages throughout Afghanistan.

Similar progress is being made in Iraq, where a coalition of countries is renovating thousands of schools. Female attendance in Iraq exceeds pre-war rates, with girls making up 46 percent of all students in secondary school. The United States not only provides training for teachers in Iraq, it also provides training to Iraqi women in media, entrepreneurial, and democratic skills.

Education is also a priority in other regions. After attending a women's leadership program in Guatemala funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), women from a small village decided that more than anything else they needed to learn to read and write. USAID helped to set up a literacy program for them. Three times a week young mothers attended classes with their sleeping infants on their backs and pre-school children at their sides. The women then decided their children should have their own classes. While the mothers attended the literacy classes, their children were learning skills that would prepare them for primary school.

Economy: Providing Opportunities for Women

It has been said that when you educate a woman, you educate a family. The United States recognizes that educating women is not an option; it is a necessity. Education and literacy empower women to improve their economic status as well. However, in too many places, even educated women lack economic opportunities.

As the section on economic empowerment shows, the United States offers many programs to help countries develop market-based economies that create a climate in which men and women can go as far and as fast as energy and talent can take them. Particularly in developing countries, the United States is an advocate for women's property and inheritance rights, as well as equal access to credit and business opportunities. But the United States also backs up its advocacy with a major commitment to providing microfinance and other entrepreneurial opportunities.

U.S. support for microenterprise development has exceeded $150 million each year for the past five years. A large proportion of this assistance supports microcredit programs, for which 70 percent of the clients are women. Through such programs, millions of women have the means to better their own lives and contribute to the economic revitalization of their communities and their countries.

USAID provides grants for women's agriculture cooperatives, and the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Program provides study tours for women entrepreneurs. The State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative supports a program that equips young Arab women business representatives with substantive experience and tools to participate in their countries' reform process.

The 2002 Helsinki Women's Business Summit was the largest ever public-private outreach program between the United States and countries in the Baltic region. We hope this will become a model for other regions to promote trade, commerce, and women's economic empowerment.

Experience shows that nothing is more effective in building entrepreneurship than person-to-person assistance. The U.S.- Afghan Women's Council is based on this principle. Since 2002, U.S. and Afghan women have partnered to enable the Afghan women to take on political and economic leadership roles in their country. The council places top priority on education and microfinance. For example, Connie Duckworth, a member of the council, has established a microenterprise cooperative for Afghan women to make and export rugs. The company, Arzu, placed its first order for carpets on International Women's Day in 2004.

Government and Civil Society: Empowering Women Leaders

Empowering women economically goes hand in hand with empowering them politically. True democracy does not exist where half the population is excluded from policymaking, political processes, and power structures. Without their political voice, women cannot share their perspective, or draw attention to their hardships, or recommend preventive actions or means of redress.

As the stories on political empowerment demonstrate, the United States believes women's political participation is essential to promoting freedom, democracy, development, and peace and to strengthening civil society.

In 2003, I was proud to lead successful negotiations at the United Nations on a resolution advancing women's political participation. The United States helped craft a blueprint of steps governments and civil society can take to advance women's political participation. One hundred and 10 countries joined us as co-sponsors of this resolution. Already I have heard that some countries are using these guidelines to design legislation and programs that encourage women to become more politically active. It is a good first step, but like so many other efforts, there must be the political will to implement change for the long term.

More dramatic than this success are the results of programs the United States directly funds or partners with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) — programs that teach women political skills, help them run for public office or serve as elected and appointed officials, and help them establish their own organizations. One U.S.-based NGO recently took a group of U.S. women legislators to Bahrain to train and encourage Bahraini women to get politically involved. Interestingly, some Bahraini men they encountered had never met a woman political leader before then.

Recently, the U.S. Congress allocated $10 million for the Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative. This program will benefit Iraqi women in key areas, such as education for democracy, leadership training, political training, teaching entrepreneurship, NGO coalition-building, organizational management and coordination, and media training. Grants have been awarded after an open competition for the best proposals from all interested organizations, and work is underway on the ground in Iraq. With U.S. support, women in Afghanistan have made dramatic progress as well. Women helped draft the new Afghan Constitution, and millions of women voted for the first time in national elections.

Safety: Freeing Women From Violence

Education and political opportunities mean little, however, if women and their children are not safe and free. Women cannot participate in the economy, in the political process, or in the social life of a country if they face domestic abuse; rape as a weapon of war; trafficking in persons; or such horrors as honor crimes, forced abortions and forced sterilization, or female genital cutting.

The United States is firmly committed to taking decisive action against all forms of violence against women, as the stories on this issue show. In particular, for hundreds of thousands of women and children each year, trafficking inflicts unspeakable physical and emotional harm. Women in post-conflict societies are particularly vulnerable. Lacking opportunities at home, they are easily lured by false promises of well-paying jobs abroad, and then coerced or forced into lives of prostitution, domestic servitude, and labor.

The United States has clearly placed a priority on ending this modern-day form of slavery. President Bush chose to bring domestic and international attention to this scourge in September 2003 in his address to the U.N. General Assembly. He pledged an additional $50 million to accelerate efforts to rescue women and children from the exploitation of human trafficking. This amount was in addition to the $70 million the United States had already devoted to combating trafficking worldwide during that fiscal year.

Health: Prevention and Treatment Worldwide

Being safe from violence is as critical as good health if women and their children are to lead productive and satisfying lives. As First Lady Laura Bush said, "Studies throughout the world show that women's health and the opportunities they have in life are directly related to the strength of a country's economy and the level of education attained by its children."

The section on health points to the fact that the largest share of the billions of dollars in aid we commit to the global advance of human rights goes to women's health and related needs. The U.S. government provides approximately $500 million annually for maternal and child health care and family planning support in more than 60 countries. Hundreds of millions of dollars more have gone to providing vaccinations, food aid, agriculture subsidies, and humanitarian assistance where they are very much needed.

Perhaps the greatest human tragedy affecting women today is HIV/AIDS. Over half of the 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS are women. Over two million HIV-positive women give birth each year, transmitting the disease to more than 700,000 infants. Most of these children die before their fifth birthday.

President Bush responded to this tragedy in his first term. He made preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection a major priority. To date, $288 million have been appropriated for this effort alone. The United States, through the president's five-year, $15-billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is working to prevent millions of new HIV infections while providing care and anti-retroviral treatment to millions of people living with the disease, including AIDS orphans, in the most affected countries in Africa and the Caribbean.

Another problem is maternal mortality. Each year more than 500,000 women, most of whom live in developing countries, die because of complications of pregnancy and childbirth. A majority of these deaths are preventable. Access to medical facilities, skilled birth attendants, antibiotics, or other currently available technologies would substantially reduce instances of maternal mortality. Successful programs of American medical specialists in Indonesia and Guatemala, for example, are proving this point. That's why the United States has initiated a $5-million program to help reduce maternal mortality by training midwives.

Ending female genital cutting, a harmful and repressive practice with the potential of severe physical and psychological consequences, is another issue of importance to the health of women and girls in many parts of the world. USAID funds local organizations' efforts to end this practice.

These are just a few of the ways the United States promotes the advancement of women. This publication offers an array of examples, including what we are doing for women here in the United States. There is so much more the United States is doing that I encourage you to explore the resources listed on this web page, and then search other U.S. government web sites. We also have included an appendix with links to many of the more recent statements made by U.S. government officials regarding the needs of women.

Through all of these resources, it should be clear that the United States strongly believes the liberty and equality of women in every aspect of life is fundamental to stable, prosperous, and peaceful societies. It is also clear that, over the past decade, the Beijing conference has brought heightened worldwide attention to women's issues, which is having profound effects in both the developed and the developing world. The United States is enthusiastically committed to helping women everywhere influence their countries' pace and priorities for development and achieve their full inclusion in society. We will continue to do this through bilateral programs like those described in this publication; we also will continue to do it through our generous contributions to international organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and UNESCO.

Education: The Key to Women's Progress »»