The Women, Peace, and Security Act, signed into law by President Trump in 2017, demonstrates the United States' commitment to addressing the challenges faced by women and girls in conflict- and disaster-affected areas around the world. Consistent with the President's National Security Strategy, which recognizes the critical link between women's empowerment and more peaceful, prosperous societies, the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) will strengthen our efforts to advance women's leadership in preventing and resolving conflict, countering violent extremism, and supporting post-conflict recovery. This Strategy also complements other important efforts by the Administration to support the security and success of women around the world, including the recently announced Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.

Despite numerous examples of women providing leadership to prevent and resolve conflict at local and national levels, we know that women remain significantly under-represented at the table where critical decisions about peace, security, and justice are being made. USAID is committed to full implementation of the WPS Strategy because we know that investing in women's leadership and empowerment can help break cycles of conflict and violence that threaten global security and undermine development progress. USAID will continue to support countries on a path to self-reliance through a focus on WPS in our development and disaster assistance efforts. In the past two years, over 69,700 women have participated in WPS-sponsored peacebuilding processes and provided critical medical, psychosocial, legal, and economic services to over six million survivors of gender-based violence.

We look forward to advancing this important agenda through continued collaboration with the other departments and agencies and our broad network of international and local partners - especially faith-based organizations, the private sector, and local women and women's organizations in countries impacted by crisis, conflict, and violent extremism.