The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2015

FACT SHEET: Promoting and Protecting the Human Rights of LGBT Persons: A United States Government Priority

On May 17, the international community marks International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT).  This day, and every day, the United States is taking steps to promote respect for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons both at home and around the world.   Among the areas in which the U.S. Government has made significant progress are the following:

Making the Advancement of LGBT Rights A Foreign Policy Priority:

  • On December 6, 2011, President Obama released the Presidential Memorandum on International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of LGBT Persons, which directs departments and agencies to combat criminalization of LGBT status or conduct abroad; protect vulnerable LGBT refugees or asylum seekers; enhance assistance to protect human rights and advance nondiscrimination for LGBT persons; and help ensure swift and meaningful responses to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad.
  • On the same day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a landmark speech in Geneva, stating that “The Obama Administration defends the rights of LGBT people as part of our comprehensive human rights policy and as a foreign policy priority,”  and underscoring that LGBT rights are human rights, and human rights are LGBT rights. 
  • During the course of this Administration, we have launched two global funding partnerships – the Global Equality Fund and the LGBT Global Development Partnership – which have provided millions of dollars in assistance, including emergency assistance, to LGBT civil society activists and organizations. 
  • Our diplomats have opened U.S. embassies and consulates to LGBT communities around the world, marched in Pride parades, and raised the human rights of LGBT persons in countless bilateral and multilateral meetings.  In forums ranging from the U.N. General Assembly to The Human Rights Campaign to the Tonight Show, President Obama and senior administration officials have spoken publicly, engaged privately, and made clear our conviction that all persons deserve to live lives free from violence and discrimination. 

Changes to Department and Agency Staffing, Policies, and Practices

  • The State Department revised its Foreign Affairs Manual to allow same-sex couples to obtain passports under the names recognized by their state through their marriages or civil unions and in 2010, the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs announced new procedures for changing the sex listed on a transgender American’s passport, streamlining the process and simplifying requirements to ensure greater dignity and privacy for the applicant.
  • We have steadily expanded coverage of the conditions for LGBT persons in every country in the world in the State Department’s annual Human Rights Reports.  The State Department continues to provide information on discriminatory laws and societal practices for U.S. citizen travelers through the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Country Specific Information (CSI).
  • A number of Departments and Agencies, including State, USAID, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and the Peace Corps are providing new training for staff and implementing partners to better understand the issues of gender identity and sexual orientation and agency roles in advancing the human rights of LGBT persons. 
  • In June 2014 USAID launched its LGBT Vision for Action: Promoting and Supporting the Inclusion of LGBT Individuals that demonstrates the Agency's commitment to LGBT inclusion.  
  • In February 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the appointment of Randy Berry as the first-ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons.  Special Envoy Berry joins USAID Senior Coordinator Todd Larson in leading the U.S. Government’s efforts to advance the human rights of LGBT persons.  Six openly gay U.S. Ambassadors are serving at Embassies around the world.  And, this year, the Peace Corps also created a position devoted to training staff to support LGBT Peace Corps Volunteers. 

Work in the Multilateral Arena

  • In 2010, the United States joined the LGBT Core Group at the UN in New York for the first time.  That year, on Human Rights Day, Ambassador Susan Rice spoke alongside the UN Secretary General at a panel discussion on the Human Rights of LGBT individuals – marking the first time the United States had co-sponsored such an event. 
  • In December 2010, the United States led efforts at the UN General Assembly to reinsert language on sexual orientation into a resolution on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions, after the language’s removal in committee.  The amendment was approved by a 93-55 margin.  In 2012, that resolution included language on gender identity for the first time.
  • At the UN Human Right’s Council’s June 2011 session, the United States, South Africa, and Latin American and EU countries led efforts to pass the first UN resolution on the human rights of LGBT persons.  The resolution also called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to produce the first global report, published in November 2011, on discrimination and violence toward persons based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.  In September 2014 the United States co-sponsored the second U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on the human rights of LGBT persons. 
  • With the support of the United States, the World Health Organization has begun discussions on the negative repercussions of stigma, discrimination, and other barriers to care for LGBT persons in the health system as a whole.  In 2013 the Pan-American Health Organization passed a ground-breaking resolution on LGBT health, which emphasized that equal access to care is a health issue and called on countries to collect data on access to health care and health facilities for their LGBT population. 
  • At the 2013 and 2014 high-level meetings of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the United States co-sponsored ministerial level events on the human rights of LGBT people.  In 2014, USAID co-hosted an UNGA event on LGBT Inclusion, Extreme Poverty, and Religion.  In collaboration with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the Arcus Foundation, the event featured a conversation with religious leaders on the importance of religion as a positive force to advance the human rights and livelihoods LGBT persons around the world.
  • In March 2015, the United States worked with partners to defeat a proposal in the 5th Committee of the UNGA that would have rescinded a UN Secretary General administrative bulletin allowing the same-sex spouses of all UN staff, regardless of their nationality, to receive spousal benefits.
  • The Doha Declaration, a consensus document adopted by Member States in April 2015 during the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, includes groundbreaking language that the United States introduced on the need to provide “specialized training to criminal justice professionals to enhance capacities for recognizing, understanding, suppressing and investigating hate crimes motivated by discrimination of any kind, to help engage effectively with victim communities and to build public confidence and cooperation with criminal justice agencies.”
  • The Treasury Department encourages the multilateral development banks (MDBs) to strengthen attention to LGBT issues in their human resources policies, and to protect the human rights of LGBT persons and advance social inclusion and non-discrimination through MDBs’ projects, including, for example, studies to measure the economic cost of discrimination against LGBT persons, and steps to ensure that LGBT persons can access projects’ benefits without being exposed to harm.

Supporting LGBT Activists and Individuals around the world

  • Since its inception in 2011, the State Department’s Global Equality Fund, a partnership of 11 governments as well as a number of corporations and private foundations, has allocated more than $19 million to frontline advocates in 50 countries. 
  • In fiscal year 2014, USAID invested approximately $3.3 million in stand-alone programs specifically designed to address the needs of the LGBT community as well as an additional $113 million in programs related to health and human rights that were particularly relevant to members of the LGBT community.  For example, the Agency’s LGBT Global Development Partnership operates in 15 countries and consists of 28 resource partners including multinational corporations, foundations, NGOs and a university.  One of the Partnership’s projects, with the Williams Institute at UCLA, resulted in a report on the economic costs of discrimination: The Relationship Between LGBTI Economic Inclusion and Economic Development: An Analysis of Emerging Economies.
  • PEPFAR and USAID have launched a $7 million public-private partnership with the Elton John Foundation.  The project, called health4men, focuses on strengthening community capacity and expanding access to non-discriminatory HIV services for men who have sex with men and transgender persons in South Africa.
  • In July 2014 at the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, USAID announced Linkages Across the Continuum of HIV Services for Key Populations Affected by HIV (LINKAGES), a $73 million award over 5 years. It is PEPFAR and USAID’s first global project dedicated to 15 key populations, which includes gay men, other men who have sex with men, and transgender persons as specific populations to reach with HIV services.
  • The State Department and the Department of Justice provide training on LGBT issues to law enforcement officials and NGOs.  For example, in 2014, the State Department sponsored counter hate crimes training for law enforcement officials from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, and Mexico.  In addition, State supports a Violent Crimes Task Force in Honduras that investigates and supports the prosecution of LGBT-related homicide cases. 
  • In late February 2015, USAID’s Being LGBT in Asia convened a landmark regional dialogue in Bangkok that was attended by 200+ delegates from 30+ Asia-Pacific countries and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok.

Coming Together, Taking Action, and Speaking Out

  • U.S. diplomats and development professionals work with host countries around the world to address discriminatory laws and practices and to encourage more inclusive policies.  We continue to work in partnership with like-minded governments, civil society organizations, religious leaders, and the private sector.
  • The U.S. Government has pushed back publicly and privately against discriminatory legislation, including in Uganda and The Gambia.  And senior U.S. officials continue to speak in support of LGBT persons around the world, as President Obama has done in trips to Russia, Senegal and, most recently, Jamaica.  
  • In June 2014 the White House hosted the first-ever Global LGBT Human Rights Forum, which brought together the faith community, private sector, philanthropy, HIV and other health advocates, LGBT activists from around the world, and the broader human rights community to discuss how to work together with the U.S. government and others to promote respect for the human rights of LGBT individuals around the world.  National Security Advisory Susan Rice delivered keynote remarks. 
  • In November 2014, the State Department and USAID hosted the third Annual Conference to Advance the Human Rights of and Promote Inclusive Development for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Persons (LGBTI).  The conference was the largest such gathering to date, bringing together senior leaders from government, civil society and the private sector to discuss and strategize on how to most effectively protect the human rights of LGBT persons and promote their inclusion in development programs.
  • U.S. Embassies, Consulates, USAID Missions, and Department of Defense installations around the world host and participate in Pride events.  In 2014, for the first time, the Department of Defense’s Tri-Service Color Guard participated in the Washington, D.C. Capital Pride Parade.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2015

Statement by the President on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Michelle and I join our fellow Americans and others around the world in commemorating the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia tomorrow, May 17.  We take this opportunity to reaffirm that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are human rights, to celebrate the dignity of every person, and to underscore that all people deserve to live free from fear, violence, and discrimination, regardless of who they are or whom they love. 

We work toward this goal every day. Here at home, we are working to end bias-motivated violence, combat discrimination in the workplace, and address the specific needs of transgender persons.  Overseas, I am proud of the steps that the United States has taken to prioritize the protection and promotion of LGBT rights in our diplomacy and global outreach.

There is much more to do, and this fight for equality will not be won in a day.  But we will keep working, at home and abroad, and we will keep fighting, for however long it takes until we are all able to live free and equal in dignity and rights.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2015

Statement by the President on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Michelle and I join our fellow Americans and others around the world in commemorating the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia tomorrow, May 17.  We take this opportunity to reaffirm that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are human rights, to celebrate the dignity of every person, and to underscore that all people deserve to live free from fear, violence, and discrimination, regardless of who they are or whom they love. 

We work toward this goal every day. Here at home, we are working to end bias-motivated violence, combat discrimination in the workplace, and address the specific needs of transgender persons.  Overseas, I am proud of the steps that the United States has taken to prioritize the protection and promotion of LGBT rights in our diplomacy and global outreach.

There is much more to do, and this fight for equality will not be won in a day.  But we will keep working, at home and abroad, and we will keep fighting, for however long it takes until we are all able to live free and equal in dignity and rights.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2015

Statement by NSC Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan on Counter-ISIL Operation in Syria

Last night, at the President’s direction, U.S. personnel based out of Iraq conducted an operation in al-Amr in eastern Syria to capture an ISIL senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf.  During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged U.S. forces.

Umm Sayyaf was captured and is currently in U.S. military detention in Iraq.  The operation also led to the freeing of a young Yezidi woman who appears to have been held as a slave by the couple.  We intend to reunite her with her family as soon as feasible.

No U.S. personnel were killed or injured during this operation.

Abu Sayyaf was a senior ISIL leader who, among other things, had a senior role in overseeing ISIL’s illicit oil and gas operations – a key source of revenue that enables the terrorist organization to carry out their brutal tactics and oppress thousands of innocent civilians.  He was also involved with the group’s military operations.  We suspect that Umm Sayyaf is a member of ISIL, played an important role in ISIL’s terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in the enslavement of the young woman rescued last night.

The President authorized this operation upon the unanimous recommendation of his national security team and as soon as we had developed sufficient intelligence and were confident the mission could be carried out successfully and consistent with the requirements for undertaking such operations.  This operation was conducted with the full consent of Iraqi authorities and, like our existing airstrikes against ISIL in Syria, consistent with domestic and international law.

We are working to determine an ultimate disposition for the detainee that best supports the national security of the United States and of our allies and partners, consistent with domestic and international law.  We will follow our usual practice with respect to giving the ICRC notification and access to the detainee.

As Commander-in-Chief, the President is grateful to the brave U.S. personnel who carried out this complex mission as well as the Iraqi authorities for their support of the operation and for the use of their facilities, which contributed to its success.  The United States will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Iraqi partners in our effort to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2015

Statement by NSC Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan on Counter-ISIL Operation in Syria

Last night, at the President’s direction, U.S. personnel based out of Iraq conducted an operation in al-Amr in eastern Syria to capture an ISIL senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf.  During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged U.S. forces.

Umm Sayyaf was captured and is currently in U.S. military detention in Iraq.  The operation also led to the freeing of a young Yezidi woman who appears to have been held as a slave by the couple.  We intend to reunite her with her family as soon as feasible.

No U.S. personnel were killed or injured during this operation.

Abu Sayyaf was a senior ISIL leader who, among other things, had a senior role in overseeing ISIL’s illicit oil and gas operations – a key source of revenue that enables the terrorist organization to carry out their brutal tactics and oppress thousands of innocent civilians.  He was also involved with the group’s military operations.  We suspect that Umm Sayyaf is a member of ISIL, played an important role in ISIL’s terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in the enslavement of the young woman rescued last night.

The President authorized this operation upon the unanimous recommendation of his national security team and as soon as we had developed sufficient intelligence and were confident the mission could be carried out successfully and consistent with the requirements for undertaking such operations.  This operation was conducted with the full consent of Iraqi authorities and, like our existing airstrikes against ISIL in Syria, consistent with domestic and international law.

We are working to determine an ultimate disposition for the detainee that best supports the national security of the United States and of our allies and partners, consistent with domestic and international law.  We will follow our usual practice with respect to giving the ICRC notification and access to the detainee.

As Commander-in-Chief, the President is grateful to the brave U.S. personnel who carried out this complex mission as well as the Iraqi authorities for their support of the operation and for the use of their facilities, which contributed to its success.  The United States will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Iraqi partners in our effort to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 15, 2015

Statement by NSC Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan on Deputy National Security Advisor Benjamin Rhodes’ Meeting with ASEAN Officials

Today, Deputy National Security Advisor Benjamin Rhodes welcomed to the White House senior officials from all ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a warm and productive discussion on the U.S.-ASEAN relationship.  Mr. Rhodes underscored President Obama’s strong personal commitment to the U.S.-ASEAN relationship and to his strategy of rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region, and noted that the President looks forward to attending the U.S.-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit later this year in Malaysia.  Mr. Rhodes discussed the broad agenda for cooperation between the United States and ASEAN on many political, security, economic, and people-to-people issues.  In particular, Mr. Rhodes discussed maritime security and ongoing concerns regarding China’s extensive land reclamation in the South China Sea, and he expressed continued U.S. support for ASEAN’s efforts to conclude a Code of Conduct with China, and for a resolution of differences consistent with international law.  Noting that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia already host substantial migrant communities, Mr. Rhodes expressed our concerns over the tragic circumstances faced by Rohingya and other migrants at sea, and urged ASEAN countries to work expeditiously to save lives while also pursuing the broader efforts that are necessary to improve conditions in Rakhine state and address underlying challenges that contribute to the migration.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 15, 2015

Notice --Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Burma

NOTICE

- - - - - - -

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY
WITH RESPECT TO BURMA
 

On May 20, 1997, the President issued Executive Order 13047, certifying to the Congress under section 570(b) of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104-208), that the Government of Burma had committed large-scale repression of the democratic opposition in Burma after September 30, 1996, thereby invoking the prohibition on new investment in Burma by United States persons contained in that section. The President also declared a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1701-1706, to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the actions and policies of the Government of Burma.

The actions and policies of the Government of Burma continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For this reason, the national emergency declared on May 20, 1997, and the measures adopted to deal with that emergency in Executive Orders 13047 of May 20, 1997; 13310 of July 28, 2003; 13448 of October 18, 2007; 13464 of April 30, 2008; 13619 of July 11, 2012; and 13651 of August 6, 2013, must continue in effect beyond May 20, 2015. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to Burma declared in Executive Order 13047. This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 15, 2015

Message --Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Burma

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to Burma that was declared on May 20, 1997, is to continue in effect beyond May 20, 2015. The Government of Burma has made significant progress across a number of important areas, including the release of over 1,300 political prisoners, continued progress toward a nationwide cease-fire, the discharge of hundreds of child soldiers from the military, steps to improve labor standards, and expanding political space for civil society to have a greater voice in shaping issues critical to Burma's future. In addition, Burma has become a signatory of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Additional Protocol and ratified the Biological Weapons Convention, significant steps towards supporting global nonproliferation. Despite these strides, the situation in the country continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

Concerns persist regarding the ongoing conflict and human rights abuses in the country, particularly in ethnic minority areas and Rakhine State. In addition, Burma's military operates with little oversight from the civilian government and often acts with impunity. For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma.

Despite this action, the United States remains committed to supporting and strengthening Burma's reform efforts and to continue working both with the Burmese government and people to ensure that the democratic transition is sustained and irreversible.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 15, 2015

Statement by the President on the Passing of B.B. King

The blues has lost its king, and America has lost a legend.  B.B. King was born a sharecropper’s son in Mississippi, came of age in Memphis, Tennessee, and became the ambassador who brought his all-American music to his country and the world.  No one worked harder than B.B.  No one inspired more up-and-coming artists.  No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues.  

Three years ago, Michelle and I hosted a blues concert at the White House.  I hadn’t expected that I’d be talked into singing a few lines of “Sweet Home Chicago” with B.B. by the end of the night, but that was the kind of effect his music had, and still does.  He gets stuck in your head, he gets you moving, he gets you doing the things you probably shouldn’t do – but will always be glad you did.  B.B. may be gone, but that thrill will be with us forever.  And there’s going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight. 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 15, 2015

FACT SHEET: The President’s Global Development Council’s Second Report

President Obama’s Global Development Policy, released in the fall of 2010, elevated development as a core pillar of American power and recognized global development as a strategic, economic, and moral imperative for the United States. Consistent with Presidential Policy Directive 6, the President signed an Executive Order in 2012 establishing the President’s Global Development Council (GDC) to inform and provide advice to the President and other senior U.S. officials on U.S. global development policies and practices, support new and existing public-private partnerships, and increase awareness and action in support of global development. Since 2010, we have sharpened the focus of our global development investments on achieving sustainable development outcomes, leveraging the private sector and nongovernmental partners, and investing in game-changing innovations. 

Today, the GDC released its second report outlining five sets of recommendations on how to further advance our new approach to development, including by: 1) further galvanizing the private sector; 2) promoting sustainable growth while building resilience to climate change; 3) driving innovation for development results; 4) increasing collaborative resource mobilization for development; and 5) further catalyzing economic opportunities for women and youth, especially in megacities.

These recommendations come at a critical juncture in the lead-up to the Third International Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July and the UN Summit to Adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda in September. These events present an historic opportunity to shape ambitious global development priorities for the next 15 years.

In implementing our new approach to development, the United States is leading by example, including through the following signature global development initiatives: 

        i.            The United States is the world’s leading donor in global health. Our global health investments are improving health outcomes through strengthened and more sustainable health systems, increased investments in maternal and child health, family planning, nutrition and infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases. From Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 to FY 2014, the U.S. Government dedicated more than $50 billion to achieving global health goals. We have also increased our investments in game-changing innovation by promoting research and development, including both applied science as well as operation and implementation research, that address our partner countries’ health goals and objectives. 
     ii.            Through the Global Climate Change Initiative, the United States is integrating climate change considerations into our foreign assistance strategy to foster a low-carbon future and promote sustainable and resilient societies in coming decades. Based on country-owned plans, the Administration is working to make our climate financing efficient, effective, innovative, and focused on achieving measurable results and mobilizing private sector investment.
   iii.            Through Feed the Future we support partner countries in developing their agriculture sector to spur economic growth and trade, to increase income, and to reduce hunger, poverty and under-nutrition. Under this initiative we achieve impact through country-led approaches and by establishing partnerships with all stakeholders—governments, businesses, research communities, and civil society organizations. Feed the Future programs are supporting the deployment of climate-smart technologies that make farmers more resilient to climate change.
   iv.            In 2013, President Obama launched Power Africa, an innovative private sector-led initiative aimed at doubling electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 600 million people currently lack access to electricity. We have already leveraged more than $29 billion in external commitments in support of Power Africa, including more than $20 billion in private sector commitments. For every U.S. taxpayer dollar invested, the United States has leveraged nearly three dollars in private sector commitments, and more than four dollars in total non-U.S. Government commitments.   

Additional development activities underway across the U.S. Government are also advancing each of the five goals outlined in the GDC report. The activities listed below are illustrative of the broad range of U.S. Government commitments and efforts underway.

Galvanizing the Private Sector for Development

The Obama Administration has put a premium on leveraging private sector investments to support global development. Below are examples of steps we have recently taken or intend to take to continue to leverage private sector resources:

  • In December 2014, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Nike Foundation, launched a $210 million DREAMS partnership to reduce new HIV infections in adolescent girls and young women in up to 10 Sub-Saharan African countries, and ensure that girls have an opportunity to live Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe lives.
  • In August 2014 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Rockefeller Foundation announced a $100 million Global Resilience Partnership to help protect the lives and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable people, focusing on the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. The Partnership seeks to use unconventional financing instruments to mobilize private capital for resilience, and to fill knowledge gaps in cross-cutting areas relevant to resilience.
  • USAID’s Development Credit Authority (DCA) has leveraged $3.7 billion in private capital for development across 74 countries since its inception in 1999, including $2 billion since 2011.
  • The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, an African-led effort supported by the U.S. Government through Feed the Future, has advanced partner country reforms that facilitate sound private investment, and has leveraged more than $10 billion in responsible private sector commitments in agriculture to support smallholder farmers.  
  • Since the start of the Obama Administration, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has provided over $18 billion in financial and insurance commitments to private sector investors in nearly 100 emerging market countries around the world. Over its history, for each $1 of insurance and finance commitments, OPIC has mobilized $2.46 in external capital. OPIC committed over $70 billion in insurance and finance commitments in this time period, and other partners committed $185 billion.

Promoting Sustainable Growth

This Administration has made promoting sustainable growth a critical priority, including through actions at home and abroad to combat climate change. In June 2013, President Obama outlined the Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution, help prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change, and continue to lead international efforts to address global climate change. U.S. Government agencies are taking steps and will take additional steps to promote more sustainable growth globally, including:In November 2014, President Obama announced his Administration’s intention to contribute $3 billion, not to exceed 30 percent of total confirmed pledges, to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to reduce carbon pollution and strengthen resilience in developing countries. The strong U.S. pledge helped increase the number and ambition of other countries’ contributions and our leadership helped propel initial capitalization of the fund to over $10 billion, a threshold seen by stakeholders as demonstrating serious donor commitment.

  • The Department of State, OPIC, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), and USAID are collaborating under the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative (ACEF) to catalyze private sector investment in clean energy projects in Africa by providing support for early stage project development costs.
  • All MCC investments are implemented to meet the International Finance Corporation’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards, a global benchmark for good international practice. 
  • OPIC has dramatically increased its support for renewable energy projects in developing and emerging markets, including over $5 billion of its total commitments over the last five years.
  • The U.S. Government is working with multilateral institutions such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to support and implement climate adaptation and mitigation activities in the agricultural sector in low-income countries. 
  • USAID and the Department of State are leading U.S. government engagement with the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, an international public-private partnership working with over 40 companies around the world to reduce tropical deforestation caused by agricultural commodity production.

Spurring Innovation and Focus on Results

The Administration has promoted new public and private sector efforts to harness cutting-edge technologies, including to accelerate research and scale innovations in internet and communication technologies to support global development.  U.S. Government agencies have taken and will take steps to integrate a focus on innovation and results into their operations and activities, including through the following:

  • USAID’s Global Development Lab seeks to increase the application of science, technology, innovation, and partnerships to extend the Agency’s development impact in helping to end extreme poverty. The Lab does this by bringing together a diverse set of partners to discover, test, and scale innovations to solve development challenges faster and cheaper. The Lab has helped launch the Better Than Cash Alliance to accelerate the use of mobile and e-payments worldwide.
  •  In 2014 USAID partnered with the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden and the Omidyar Network to launch the Global Innovation Fund, and we have collectively pledged $200 million over the next 5 years to invest in novel solutions to global development challenges.
  • USAID’s Evaluation Policy, launched in 2011, requires that all large and all pilot projects undergo an external evaluation.
  • MCC uses data and evidence as part of its operational model to select partner countries, make investment decisions and monitor and evaluate results, and is developing new mechanisms to link payments to development results, such as pay-for- performance, cash-on-delivery or other outcome-based payment approaches.
  • The Treasury Department is strengthening evaluation policies and practices in the multilateral development banks that will improve the collection and publication of data on evaluation to support learning.

Mobilizing Resources Collaboratively

Achieving an ambitious Post-2015 Development Agenda will require the international community to mobilize the full range of international financial flows, including public and private flows, as well as remittances, philanthropy and other sources. The United States is pursuing efforts to expand resource mobilization efforts, including:

  • Under the Partnership for Growth Initiative in the Philippines, Treasury, USAID, and MCC are investing in a range of programs to strengthen the country’s ability to raise domestic resources. These include support for improved tax administration, electronic tax payments, a data processing division, redesigning tax forms and improving audit functions.
  • To help combat cross-border corporate tax-avoidance practices globally, Treasury is actively participating in the G-20 and Organization for Economic for Economic Cooperation and Development’s joint action plan to develop better global guidelines and standards for the taxation of multinationals. 
  • The U.S. Government is working with African counterparts to develop the Partnership on Illicit Finance (PIF), an initiative to stem illicit finance activities and free up resources for development and investment.
  • To increase domestic revenue mobilization, USAID, Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance, and MCC provide bilateral technical assistance on tax and customs policy and administration in 21 partner countries. In addition to bilateral assistance, the International Monetary Fund and multilateral development banks, supported by the United States, have for decades provided large programs of technical assistance to support domestic revenue mobilization in virtually all developing countries.
  • In the framework of the G-20, Treasury led development of a selected list of proposed concrete actions to reduce remittance transfer costs, including by improving market competitiveness, transparency, and consumer protection, an example being the U.S. proposal to accelerate progress on the G-20 Plan to Facilitate Remittance Flows.

Catalyzing Economic Opportunities for Women and Youth, with a Focus on Megacities

President Obama has made promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and youth, including in megacities in many regions of the world, central to our national security strategy and foreign policy. From establishing the White House Council on Women and Girls, to focusing on women and girls for greater impact in our global health and food security initiatives, we are prioritizing opportunities for women and youth, including:

  • The United States is investing in the next generation of leaders, and has committed significant resources to enhance leadership skills, bolster entrepreneurship, and connect young leaders, the United States, and the American people. President Obama launched the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in 2010, and announced its expansion during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in 2014.
  • Launched by President Obama in 2013, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) seeks to build the leadership capabilities of youth in the region and to strengthen ties between the United States and Southeast Asia through a variety of programs and engagements, including U.S. educational and cultural exchanges, regional exchanges, and seed funding.
  • The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI), launched in 2015, seeks to expand opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs and civil society activists in the Western Hemisphere region.  Building on the success of the President’s young leader initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, YLAI will incubate and accelerate the work of young business and civil society leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. 
  • President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are committed to championing our efforts to help adolescent girls around the globe attend and complete school through the Let Girls Learn initiative, which they launched in 2015. Let Girls Learn is a government-wide effort that will leverage the investments we have made and success we have achieved in global primary school, and expand them to help adolescent girls complete their education.
  • The United States is working to address barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and participation in the workplace through the Equal Futures Partnership, which seeks to break down barriers to women’s political and economic empowerment in their countries through legal, regulatory and policy reforms. U.S. commitments to the partnership have supported women entrepreneurs and civic education and leadership development for women and girls. 
  • The Administration has also launched a number of regional programs to drive reforms and investments, including the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy initiative, the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas (WEAmericas), and the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP). In conjunction with these regional initiatives, we are developing Women’s Entrepreneurial Centers of Resources, Education, Access, and Training for Economic Empowerment (WECREATE).