U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia Joins One-Year Commemoration of the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia today joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump at a roundtable event commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative.

Created by a February 2019 National Security Presidential Memorandum signed by President Donald J. Trump, the W-GDP marks the first whole-of-government effort to advance women’s economic development. W-GDP coordinates all women’s economic empowerment efforts across the Federal government.

“Within one year, the Trump Administration’s W-GDP initiative has reached an astounding 12 million women, making progress towards our goal of economically empowering 50 million women by 2025. W-GDP strives to remove foundational legal barriers that prevent women from fully and freely participating in their local economies. Without unleashing the potential of women, countries that receive US foreign assistance will never realize the desired goal of becoming self-sustaining trading partners. Along with our colleagues at the State Department, I look forward to continuing to spearhead these life-impacting programs to advance women’s economic empowerment for our collective economic prosperity and global stability,” Advisor Trump said.

As part of the W-GDP, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) is working to improve women’s access to quality jobs around the world. Over the past year, these efforts have included support for projects aimed at economically empowering vulnerable women and girls globally. In 2019 alone, ILAB’s W-GDP efforts have reached almost one million women.

“Even as our strong economy delivers new career opportunities for women in the United States, millions of women abroad face discrimination, violence, and limited employment opportunities. The W-GDP initiative offers opportunity to millions of women, helping to transform lives and economies across the world” said Secretary Scalia. “The U.S. Department of Labor is proud to join Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, other federal agencies, and international partners in this valuable global initiative.”

More information on the W-GDP can be found at www.wgdp.gov. For information about DOL's work on these issues, visit http://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab.

ILAB's mission is to promote a fair global playing field for workers in the United States and around the world by enforcing trade commitments, strengthening labor standards, and combating international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.