Our commitment to a world free of gender-based violence.
This International Women’s Day, March 8, FUTURES joins with global advocates to call for more efforts to end gender-based violence (GBV), which has reached pandemic-like proportions around the world.
We believe that each girl, no matter where she is born, deserves to grow up without experiencing violence, free to follow her dreams and equipped with the education and support she needs to contribute to the well-being of her community and development of her nation.
But that’s not true today. Instead, one out of every three women worldwide will be physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her lifetime—with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries. This type of violence can take on many forms, from rape to domestic violence, to child marriage and human trafficking. We need greater political will, targeted resources, and locally led solutions to turn the tide.
What is FUTURES doing to respond? Read about our global policy priorities below.
- US GOVERNMENT POLICY: Supporting the Implementation of the US Government Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally – 2022
- FUTURES leadership helped coordinate input into the development of the Strategy from U.S. advocates.
- We continue to consult and collaborate on the implementation of the GBV Strategy and the 2021 National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality.
- We are working to strengthen ongoing communication and consultations during the development of the Strategy’s implementation plans.
- APPROPRIATIONS: Advocating for Robust Funding for Gender Equality and GBV Prevention in the Fiscal Year 2024 Funding
- Call on Congress but to fully invest in funding to prevent and respond to GBV at $414 million in the Fiscal Year 2024 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill and Committee report.
- Call on the President to invest at least $3.45 billion for global gender equality in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget request.
- LEGISLATION: Advancing Policy Solutions that Address GBV Through Key Legislations:
- Pass the Safe from the Start Act, legislation that would advance policy solutions that address GBV in Humanitarian Emergencies and improve the ability of those who work in emergencies to adequately prevent and respond to GBV from the onset of a crisis.
- Pass the International Violence Against Women Act, legislation that would make ending violence against women and girls a top diplomatic, development, and foreign assistance priority.
- EMERGENCY RESPONSE: Calling on the US Government to show leadership and mobilize the international community to center gender equality and human rights in all engagements in Afghanistan and Iran
- Afghanistan – Call on the US Trafficking in Person’s Office to pay immediate and urgent attention to forced and child marriage, and sexual slavery, in Afghanistan and to identify pathways to safety, security, and effective ways to combat human trafficking in Afghanistan.
- Iran – Call on the US Government to continue to monitor the condition of women and girls in Iran and to urge Iranian authorities to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the recent poisoning of girls in schools.
- Read Leila Milani, Program Director of Global Policy’s latest blog on the poisoning of girls in schools.
- PROGRAMMING: Implementing Coaching Boys Into Men program throughout Africa
- Tanzania – In 2022 Pact enlisted Futures Without Violence (FUTURES) to implement the Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) program throughout Tanzania in six regions of the country. To date this USAID ACHIEVE project has reached 130,035 adolescent boys ages 9-14 across 12 councils in Tanzania. This March FUTURES will travel to the Shinyanga region of Tanzania to monitor the delivery of CBIM to adolescent boys as part of its commitment to help build a culture of respect and advance healthy relationships.
Join us at the following event:
