On Friday, a leading American assistance organisation and a non-profit business advocacy group established a public-private collaboration in India to promote women's economic development.
"I'm here to announce today the launch of the US India Alliance for Women''s Economic Empowerment, along with the US, India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), and George Washington University (GWU)," Samantha Power, Administrator of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), told a virtual audience during the Fourth Annual Leadership Summit of the USISPF.
The collaboration intends to bring together American investors, philanthropists, academic institutions, and civic society in India.
Power said during a USAID debate with former US Ambassador to India Richard Verma that the goal is to promote women entrepreneurs, provide greater employment access, establish careers, and provide mentorship.
She stated that the US administration, led by Vice President Joe Biden, is working on a comprehensive strategy to enhance women's economic empowerment, stop gender-based violence, and address other disparities.
Mukesh Aghi Aghi, president of the USISPF, will co-chair the alliance alongside Don Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Katrina Fotovat, Senior Official for the Office of Global Women's Issues, and Karen Freeman, Assistant Administrator for Asia at USAID.
Speaking at the virtual event, Aghi said, "As we celebrate India at 75, the USISPF has taken a close look at what more we can do to truly achieve inclusive prosperity in India."
Given India's demographics, he believes that increasing women's participation in the economy will be vital to the country's economic progress.
He noted that the International Monetary Fund's projects are promoting gender parity in the economy, allowing the country to achieve double-digit GDP growth.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Strategic Petroleum Fund (USISPF) established the South Asian Women and Energy Effort earlier this year to expand the presence of women in the energy sector.
According to a recent research by the Food and Agriculture Organization, if women farmers had the same access to resources as their male counterparts, the world's hunger could be reduced by 100 million to 150 million people, Power said, emphasising the importance of gender equality in the economy.
"So, this alliance has been in the works for some time, well before my time coming on board, and joining the Biden administration. Launching the alliance is the first step," she said.
Women@Work and the India Million Women Mentors Initiative are the alliance's first two initiatives, according to Power.
Women@Work will form a coalition of businesses, nonprofit organisations, and other stakeholders to respond to the needs of economically marginalised women affected by the pandemic.
Women@Work promotes access to finance and business digitalisation, accelerates women's empowerment through supplier diversity, supports the growth of the care economy, and enables women company owners in transitioning from the informal to the formal sector.
REVIVE Alliance, a USAID-funded platform, supports aspects of Women@Work.
Over the next five years, the India Million Women Mentors Initiative intends to connect 1 million Indian women and girls with mentors.
