Colleague–
Lately, the heat wave in Washington is not just limited to the weather. Politics is boiling over, but last week I had a front row seat on one issue that is actually bringing people together – investing in women’s economic empowerment.
It was an impressive, bipartisan crowd gathered as the USGLC hosted a forum on the new Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative, an important effort led by Ivanka Trump and USAID chief Mark Green with the goal to lift up 50 million women by 2025 throughout the developing world.
Lots more below in this edition of the GLOBAL GAB, plus some very concerning news on Ebola, tidbits from Capitol Hill, and the latest from the 2020 campaign trail on foreign policy.
Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC
P.S. A summer read recommendation – I just hosted my friend Ambassador Bill Burns, one of the most highly respected diplomats of our time, to discuss his new book, The Back Channel. It’s a riveting look at the power of diplomacy and a great reminder of why diplomacy matters to America’s interests. Let me know what you’re reading this summer.
THE GLOBAL GAB
July 18, 2019
A WINNING ISSUE. Before a standing room only crowd of business and NGO leaders, officials from across the government, and policymakers from both sides of the aisle, the USGLC co-hosted the first public U.S. event on the Administration’s W-GDP initiative – and most importantly, the announcement of a new public-private partnership fund for women’s economic empowerment around the world:
- SMART POWER. Headlining the discussion with USAID’s Mark Green and the new State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, presidential advisor Ivanka Trump told the audience: “The economic empowerment of women should not be viewed as a ‘women’s issue.’ It's smart development assistance that benefits whole families, communities, and entire nations.”
- BIPARTISAN BOOST. Closing out the program were two leaders who drove the complementary legislation signed into law last year – the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act (WEEE) Act:
- Progressive Caucus member Rep. Lois Frankel (D-NY) captured the room when she closed out the event telling Ivanka: “I actually agree with everything you said today and who would believe that?”
- Top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) told the crowd “What better way to represent America than to empower women throughout the world.”
- POWER PARTNERSHIPS. The new W-GDP Incentive Fund is targeting grants to improve the lives of more than 100,000 women in 22 countries and has already leveraged $160 million in commitments from the private sector. More on the USGLC blog here.
You can find the full event recap here with video and photos.
2020 WATCH. In the days since the first Democratic debates in Miami last month, more candidates vying to be the next commander in chief have stepped up on foreign policy. Here are a few highlights from those who have issued in-depth foreign policy proposals or delivered signature speeches over the last month:
- BIDEN HAS A MISSION. In his biggest foreign speech since hitting the campaign trail, former Vice President Joe Biden said: "I will make it my mission... to elevate diplomacy... I will reinvest in a diplomatic corps... so you don't hear an echo on the 7th floor of the State Department anymore."
- WARREN HAS A PLAN. Late last month, Senator Elizabeth Warren issued her plan – "Revitalizing Diplomacy: A 21st Century Foreign Service” – raising the bar with a comprehensive State Department plan to double the size of both the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, pointing out that “too often, our underinvestment in diplomacy and development causes our leaders to default to military action, instead of treating it as a last resort.”
- BERNIE MAKES THE CASE. And just before hitting the debate stage in June, Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in Foreign Affairs, “We must seriously reinvest in diplomacy and development aid...Addressing issues like civil and religious tension, corruption, and lack of opportunity before these conditions give rise to conflict can eliminate the need to address them militarily in the future.”
- THE FULL RUNDOWN. The USGLC continues to track all the candidates’ major foreign policy speeches. You can catch up on the details – from alliances to China to the global economy – here on the USGLC blog. Plus Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is slated to give her first big foreign policy speech next week in Chicago.
EBOLA GAMECHANGER. The World Health Organization (WHO) has just upgraded the global health emergency status of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after the first case emerged in the country’s urban center of Goma – a city with 2 million people and an international airport – just a half-mile from the Rwandan border.
- HEALTH CZAR. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told the USGLC’s Summit audience last month that the U.S. has provided close to “half of the governmental and nongovernmental funding to confront this outbreak and we're committed to seeing this battle through to the end.”
- DOCTOR’S NOTE. Former Senate Majority Leader and physician Bill Frist writes on FOXNews.com on the often neglected cause of the spread of Ebola and other pandemics: the lack of water and sanitation.
A GOOD GLOBAL HEALTH CHALLENGE. In an impressive move as she exits, Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May pledged to not only boost the UK’s investment in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to £1.4 billion over 3 years – an increase of about 15% – but challenged other G20 nations to do the same.
CENTRAL AMERICA DEBATE. The House just passed bipartisan legislation pressing the Administration on its Central America policy and declared that funding for the Northern Triangle “may not be reprogrammed, transferred, or used for any [other] purpose.” Passing by voice vote, the bill also calls for an Administration strategy to promote “inclusive economic growth and development” and “improve security” in the region.
- BIPARTISAN DUO. Shout-out to House Foreign Affairs leaders Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Mike McCaul (R-TX) who have traveled to the region together and shepherded this “U.S.-Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act” through the House. Next stop, the Senate.
- HURD ON THE HILL. The sole Republican who represents a district on the U.S.-Mexico border – Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) – writes in the Washington Post that while he appreciates the emergency spending recently approved for border crisis, “It doesn’t get at the root causes of mass migration: violence, extreme poverty and lack of economic opportunity in the Northern Triangle.”
PENTAGON CHIEF TALKS CHINA. Also on the Hill this week, Senator David Perdue (R-GA) asked the nominee for Secretary of Defense about how to confront China’s expansive Belt and Road initiative. The Acting Secretary Mark Esper told the Senate, “We have to have a whole of government approach. So it's not just DOD, it's Department of State, it's USAID… everybody has to be in on this, because that is how the Chinese approach it.” Sounds a lot like General Jim Mattis and every regional Combatant Commander.
FISCAL CLIFF. With a newly looming debt limit deadline and the upcoming August recess, the outlines of a budget deal may be starting to take shape in the high-stakes negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Insiders suggest that if an agreement were reached in principle this week, then lawmakers could be voting as soon as next week on a two-year budget deal to avoid damaging sequestration cuts, with important implications for international programs. Check back here for more details as process moves forward.
HUNGER WARNING. A new warning from a UN report: while the number of hungry people had been declining for decades, “this isn’t true anymore” with 820 million people around the world who don’t have enough to eat. The report says that with “bolder actions and the right investments, zero hunger is still achievable.”
CLIMATE CHANGE UP. In a surprise move, David Malpass – President Trump’s pick to lead the World Bank – recently announced his commitment to the Bank’s Climate Change Action Plan, calling for an investment of $200 billion by 2025 to help countries adapt to global warming. “That’s a good number,” says Malpass, with the Washington Post reporting that he “appears to have broken” with the positions of his former White House colleagues.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOCUS. As part of this week’s second annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom hosted by Secretary Mike Pompeo at the State Department, a key highlight was the special plenary session on the connections between global development and international religious freedom with USCIRF’s Tony Perkins, Catholic Relief Services’ Bishop Gregory Mansour, AJC’s Rabbi Noam Marans, and U.S. Air Force veteran Imam Talib Shareef.
COUNTERING THE KREMLIN. USAID chief Mark Green just announced a new U.S. strategy to help counter Russian efforts to undermine democracies in Europe, Eurasia, and beyond. The new “Countering Malign Kremlin Influence” initiative aims to tackle four tough arenas: democracy promotion, press freedom, energy security, and economic security.
SECRET DIPLOMATIC WIN. The AP reports that “intense U.S. efforts” behind the scenes were the lynchpin that brought about a power-sharing agreement between the Sudanese military and pro-democracy protesters last week. While experts worried that the crisis could have plunged the country into civil war, the diplomatic deal has calmed those fears for now. Let’s hope it stays that way.
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS INDEED. Billionaire political rivals George Soros and Charles Koch announced a new partnership and accompanying think tank to advance American diplomacy and a focus to end “forever wars.” The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft is set to open in September and its founding principles state “the United States must cherish peace and pursue it through the vigorous practice of diplomacy.”
