Ivanka Trump unveils initiative to help women in developing countries
District Media Group’s Beverly Hallberg discusses how senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump unveiled an initiative that will seek to bring economic security to 50 million women in developing countries.
On Thursday, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum launching a landmark effort on behalf of women worldwide, closely crafted and conceived by Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump.
Trump, who has proven herself to be a strong, effective ally of working women, will score another achievement with the official launch of the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP).
The new initiative will change the lives of women across the globe, bolster America’s national security, and serve as the first-ever government-wide partnership with the private sector aimed at helping 50 million women in developing countries by 2025.
IVANKA TRUMP: EMPOWER WOMEN TO FOSTER FREEDOM
With an initial $50 million investment, W-GDP helps to realize President Trump’s 2017 National Security Strategy, which acknowledges “women’s critical role in achieving global peace and prosperity,” as Ivanka Trump wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
Trump went on to note the mounds of research that found “[t]he larger the gender gap (defined as the differences in experiences and opportunities between men and women), the more likely a country is to be involved in… conflict,” according to the World Bank.
Though the media refuses to cover and Democrats refuse to acknowledge the successes of the Trump administration – many spearheaded by Ivanka Trump – she continues to work tirelessly to better the lives of everyday Americans.
President Trump teased Thursday’s announcement during his State of the Union address.
Underscoring the importance of women’s initiatives to his administration, President Trump said, “As part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday we are launching the first ever Government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries.”
His tease of Thursday’s announcement came after Trump touted the important strides his administration has made for women. “No one has benefitted more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year,” Trump said.
Indeed, the Trump administration’s successes on behalf of women are in large part because of the work of Ivanka Trump. The new W-GDP initiative is only part of the story.
From reskilling America’s workforce through the newly formed the National Council for the American Worker and a new women’s finance initiative at the World Bank to expanding the child tax credit and doubling the standard family deduction, Ivanka Trump has been instrumental in making policy goals realities.
The expanded tax breaks for working families, for example, only came after months of Ivanka personally lobbying lawmakers. And the much-lauded effort to prioritize the hiring of military spouses in government jobs, likewise, came after a year long, in-depth process spearheaded by Ivanka.
In addition to these successes, Ivanka is responsible for the Republican Party becoming the lead voice on paid family leave.
Donald Trump was the first-ever Republican presidential candidate to be a consistent voice for aligning America with the rest of the developed world in providing paid family leave. As President, Trump has included six weeks of paid family leave in his 2018 budget, opening the door for Congress to act.
It was Ivanka who helped to get the ball rolling in Congress, meeting with lawmakers ahead of a subcommittee hearing on the bold proposal.
The Trump administration’s expansive efforts for working women both at home and across the globe often receives little attention, notoriety, and coverage. That was not the case, however, on Tuesday during President Trump’s State of the Union address.
Garnering perhaps the largest applause of the night, and even prompting cheers from recalcitrant Democrats, Trump noted, “All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before -- and exactly one century after the Congress passed the Constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than ever before.”
Though the media refuses to cover and Democrats refuse to acknowledge the successes of the Trump administration – many spearheaded by Ivanka Trump – she continues to work tirelessly to better the lives of everyday Americans.
The hard-working senior adviser said it best: “Women can choose to knock each other down or build each other up. I choose the latter.”
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