************************************************************** The material posted here was provided to the Division for the Advancement of Women by the Government in response to a note verbale. It is being made available in electronic format in the form received. In cases where it was not possible at this time to reproduce charts and tables supplied, these can be obtained by contacting the Division for the Advancement of Women directly. ************************************************************** The President's Interagency Council on Women U.S. Follow-Up to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women May, 1996 Follow up on U.S. Commitment Made At the UN Fourth Conference on Women, Beijing, September 4 - 15, 1995 and on U.S. Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action TABLE OF CONTENTS - GREETINGS FROM SECRETARY SHALALA - PRESIDENT'S INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON WOMEN - WORKING WOMEN - UNWAGED WORK - WOMEN AND ECONOMIC SECURITY - VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - CEDAW - RECYCLING AND CHILDCARE - HEALTH - EDUCATION - HOUSING AND URBAN LIFE - TRANSPORTATION - ENVIRONMENT - THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE FOR WOMEN'S INITIATIVES AND OUTREACH - PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES - COMMUNICATIONS - FOREIGN POLICY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS - TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN FOR PROSTITUTION - INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT - DEFENSE - PRESIDENT'S INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON WOMEN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES WORKING WOMEN WORKING WOMEN COUNT Through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Women's Bureau's 1994 "Working Women Count" survey, more than a quarter of a million American working women spoke their minds about their jobs and their lives. In response, the Women's Bureau has created the Working Women Count Honor Roll program. The Honor Roll encourages employers and other organizations to implement real change in the three areas women say they care about most. The Honor Roll was launched in September, and announced at the Fourth World Conference on Women. To date the Honor Roll has generated more than 800 pledges from all 50 states and the District of Columbia: - Pledging organizations: non-profits, 273; businesses, 248; government/elected, 83; labor unions, 40; media, 9; on-line service, l. - The three areas: 216 pledges to improve pay and benefits; 403 pledges to help employees balance work and family; 402 pledges to improve opportunity through advancement, training and anti-discrimination programs. - Elected officials participation: The following elected officials have made Honor Roll pledges themselves and challenged businesses and organizations in their communities to do the same: Arizona Governor Fife Symington; Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke; Boston Mayor Thomas Menino; Kansas City, MO, Mayor Emanual Cleaver. The largest commitment to date has come from the American Business Collaboration (ABC) for Quality Dependent Care. ABC is a coalition of 21 Fortune 500 companies. These businesses pledged to invest $100 million in child and elder care for employees in more than 50 communities over the next six years. Through the Honor Roll the Women's Bureau hopes to create changes affecting at least one million working people this year. - Pledges by Internet or Mail: www.dol.gov/dol/wb/welcome.html or mail, by calling the Hotline for pledge materials: 1-800-827-5335 CONTACT: Harriett Harper, (202) 219-6601 x105, email hharperg@dol.gov Diane Faulkner, (202) 219-6601 xl37, email dfaulkner@dol.gov DISCRIMINATION ON THE JOB The Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will focus significant enforcement effort on gender discrimination in compensation systems at every level of the corporate ladder, from entry level positions to management positions. As part of its efforts to streamline its forms and reporting requirements, OFCCP will develop a new reporting method which identifies pay differentials between women and men who are paid within the same salary band, and highlights women who may be clustered at the bottom of a salary band. Information gathered through this method will be less burdensome for employers to report and will enhance OFCCP's ability to use its limited compliance review resources effectively. By modifying the current job category reporting system, OFCCP will be able to quickly detect wage differentials and discrimination between men and women within the same salary category. By collecting more accurate compensation data, law abiding employers will be protected from unnecessary investigations and compliance reviews can be focused on employers with serious pay discrepancies. The basis of these pay discrepancies will be examined, and corrective remedies sought, as appropriate. Regional Pilot Programs - The Philadelphia regional office is encouraging employers to look at differences in median pay between men and women, minorities and non-minorities, who are employed within the same grades in management levels and take action to ensure equal employment opportunity. Through this program, more than $2 million in back pay and salary adjustments were negotiated on behalf of 310 women and 187 minorities in FY 199.5. - The Atlanta regional office has launched an initiative to explore more effective ways to identify and remedy sexual and racial harassment through the compliance review process. The office has established a task force to develop an investigative guide for compliance officers, trained officers on the use of this guide, and is monitoring the impact of the guide and training. - The San Francisco regional office is examining the participation rate of women and minorities in the entertainment industry. Through this effort, women and minorities seem to be getting greater opportunity to compete for top jobs. CONTACT: Gale Black, (202) 219-9475, Department of Labor VIOLENCE ON THE JOB Homicides are the leading cause of death on the job for U.S. women, accounting for 40% of such deaths, and the second leading cause for all working Americans. Between 1987 and 1992, approximately one million persons were assaulted each year at work. The scope of the problem led Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich to announce on March 14, 1996 the first national guidelines to prevent assaults on workers. The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) focused these first guidelines on the health care and social services industries because these industries' nearly one million workers experience a dramatically higher risk of fatal assault than other workers in private industry and nearly two-thirds of all nonfatal assaults. The vast majority of these endangered workers are women (76.1 percent of hospital workers, 79.1 percent of other health service workers and 80.8 percent of social service workers.) A set of guidelines to protect workers in the night retail industry will follow. The Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care and Social Service Workers offer both policy recommendations and practical ideas employers can use to deter violence in the workplace, without jeopardizing compassionate care for clients and patients. The guidelines were designed to help employers who want to develop effective workplace violence prevention programs identify and prevent potentially violent situations and settings. CONTACT: Pat Biles, (202) 219-8041, Department of Labor UNWAGED WORK The Departments of Labor and Commerce are undertaking consultations to determine how best to construct reliable estimates of the value of unwaged work. Databases have already been developed by statistical agencies in various Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. While it cannot be assumed that there can necessarily be a direct carryover of international experience to U.S. data development needs, it is appropriate to take advantage of prior work and avoid unnecessary duplication. The two departments are in the process of developing a work plan to pull together such data. They are also determining how best they can draw upon the expertise on the measurement of time use from those who reside in the United States. The planning process was significantly hampered by the lack of FY1996 appropriations for both Departments. Nonetheless, they are moving forward as best they can given the extraordinarily limited financial resources. INTERIM CONTACT: Kathy Hendrix, President's Interagency Council on Women, (202) 456-7350 WOMEN AND ECONOMIC SECURITY MICROENTERPRISE Self-employment by American women is growing at an unprecedented pace, and women constitute the majority of Americans who gain access to credit through microenterprise lending. Microenterprise programs have been successful in assisting owners of very small businesses, particularly women, to gain their first access to critical resources for improving their lives. The United States has taken several key actions to further support self-employment and microenterprise development in our country. The Department of the Treasury has recently established the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The Fund will help promote the development of micro-lenders and other financial institutions dedicated to community development through financial support, technical assistance and training. The CDFI Fund is a bipartisan initiative developed as a part of the Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994. The Fund issued interim regulations implementing both the CDFI and Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Programs on October 19, 1995. A total of $31 million will be available through the CDFI Program, and an additional $15.5 million will be available through the BEA Program. The application deadline for the two programs was January 29, 1996. Over 260 applicants applied, requesting over $300 million in assistance. A significant number of applicants were micro-lenders. - Presidential Awards. The Treasury Department, through the CDFI Fund, will help establish and run a Presidential Awards program to honor outstanding practitioners in the microenterprise field. On May 2, the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development Program was announced by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Secretary of the Treasury, Robert E. Rubin. The recorded video announcement was presented at the annual conference of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, a membership organization for microenterprise development practitioners. This Program will use rigorous standards of program quality to recognize outstanding efforts to promote the development of microenterprise in the United States. Awards will be made to different types of programs, reflecting the broad diversity of the field of microenterprise development. Best practices ]earned from the winning programs will be disseminated in the field, thus enhancing the capabilities of all organizations interested in promoting microenterprise by enabling them to assess their own efforts and learn from well-performing peers. An informational brochure is currently available. Application materials will be available by the end of May. - Federal Microenterprise Initiative. The CDFI Fund will also serve as coordinator of a new Federal Microenterprise Initiative to promote coherence among the many microenterprise programs operating across a number of federal agencies. The purpose of this initiative is to help ensure that federal funding effectively supports the growth and development of the microenterprise field. Among the activities that the Fund will emphasize are coordination of program requirements, standardization of data collection and reporting, harmonization of regulations where appropriate, identification of complementary roles among programs, and the exploration of the feasibility of a central, or one-stop, place for obtaining information on federal microenterprise programs. CONTACT: Bill Luecht, (202) 622-8662, CDFI, Department of Treasury. ENTREPRENEURSHIP The Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise (ICWBE) in conjunction with the National Women's Business Council (NWBC), continues to work towards economic self-sufficiency and business growth and development for women through entrepreneurship. - Annual Report. In early 1996, as mandated by law, ICWBE/NWBC submitted its first annual report, "Expanding Business Opportunities for Women," to the President and Congress. The report -- a resource for current and prospective women business owners -- includes the newly released census statistics on the growth of women-owned businesses and a review of the Federal programs and policies that foster women's business ownership. - Video. The ICWBE and NWBC are also preparing a video which will highlight the business development programs that work for women. CONTACTS. Amy Millman, Carolyn O'Brien, (202) 205-3850, Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN . The Violence Against Women Office at the Department of Justice is leading a comprehensive effort to fight domestic and other forms of violence against women by combining tough new federal laws with assistance to states and localities in law enforcement, victim assistance, prosecutions and crime prevention. It also works to raise public awareness about the problem of violence against women, including domestic violence and sexual assault. The Advisory Council on Violence Against Women is co-chaired by Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. The group of 46 experts -- representatives of law enforcement, media, health and social services, victim advocacy and survivors -- provides practical and general policy advice concerning the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act. It also works to bring national attention to the problems of domestic violence and sexual assault. An early outcome of the Council's work has been the recent announcement of a collaborative research grant program on violence against women and within the family by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Justice, the Centers for Disease Control and the Administration for Children and Families. - National Domestic Violence Hotline: On February 21, 1996, the President announced the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE, and TDD number for the hearing impaired, 1-800-787-3224. This nationwide, toll-free, 24 hour hotline will provide immediate crisis intervention assistance to those in need. Callers can receive counseling and be connected directly to help in their communities, including emergency services and shelters. Also, operators can offer information and referrals, counseling and assistance in reporting abuse to survivors of domestic violence, family members, neighbors and the general public. Help is available to callers in Spanish and to other non-English speakers and the hearing impaired. The Texas Council on Family Violence in Austin, a leader and vital support to families in crisis for over 17 years, staffs and operates the hotline. The hotline is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services with three HHS agencies contributing: Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. - S.T.O.P. Grants: In January, 1996, the Attorney General approved the S.T.O.P. Violence Against Women (Services, Training, Officers and Prosecution) plans for all 50 slates and territories. Each grantee received $426,000. All grantees, and their sub-grantees, were required to submit documentation that they had consulted and coordinated with, among others, non-governmental victim services programs (such as sexual assault and domestic violence victim services programs) in developing their implementation plan. - Community Oriented Policing to Combat Domestic Violence: To fulfill part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Office works to place an additional 100,000 law enforcement officers on the street and promote community policing. The Community Policing to Combat Domestic Violence Program, initiated as part of the COPS Office, provides law enforcement agencies with a unique opportunity to execute well-planned, innovative strategies employing community policing to combat domestic violence. To be eligible for this funding, police departments and sheriffs offices must partner with non-profit, non-governmental victim service programs, domestic violence shelters, or community services groups to coordinate efforts to fight domestic abuse. Twenty million dollars is available through this grant program to all state, local, tribal, and other public and private law enforcement agencies that are committed to using community policing to address domestic violence. - National Domestic Violence Awareness Month: By Proclamation, President Clinton declared October, 1995 National Domestic Violence Awareness Month at a White House event on October 2. Executive Memorandum. Also at the October 2 event, the President signed an Executive Memorandum directing all federal agencies to educate their employees about violence against women and resources that are available. As part of its Employee Awareness Campaign on Violence Against Women, the Department of Justice held an Information Fair on October 30. Next steps include the announcement of a Home Page on the World Wide Web, and publication of a resource manual which will be made available to all Department of Justice employees. Radio Address. Additionally in October, the President discussed the issue on his weekly radio address, noting that as a child he had witnessed domestic violence in his own family. He referred to the topic again in January in his State of the Union address to the Congress and the nation. CONTACTS: Bonnie Campbell, (202) 616-8894, Department of Justice; Sarah Kovner, (202) 690-5400, Department of Health and Human Services CEDAW The Administration considers the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to be its top priority among the human rights treaties now awaiting the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. In September 1994, President Clinton forwarded a package of reservations, declarations and understandings prepared by the Department of State concetning CEDAW to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a necessary step in the ratification process. However, the Committee has taken no action on CEDAW since the beginning of the present session of Congress. CONTACT: Office of Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues, (202) 647-9154, Department of State. RECYCLING AND CHILDCARE . Recycling Funds and Childcare. The General Services Administration -- the federal government's real estate, supplies and services agency -- operates the Federal Recycling Program in government-owned and operated buildings. The program recovers office waste materials to sell for recycling. In Fiscal Year l995 sales amounted to $811,571. All income generated by individual federal agencies is returned to them and is authorized to be used :for acquisition, waste reduction and prevention, recycling programs, environmental management programs, and other authorized employee programs, including tuition assistance for child care. GSA itself has announced it is using its own refund for Fiscal Year 1995 -- $49,167 -entirely to support GSA's Child Care Program. - Government-wide Effort. In addition, the GSA Administrator has written to all Federal Executive agency heads urging them also to designate their receipts for child care tuition assistance. CONTACTS: John Stanberry, (202) 208-7929, (recycling); Faith Wohl, ('02) 5013965, (childcare) General Services Administration HEALTH The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made improving women's health a top priority, establishing women's health coordinators in each of the agencies and regional offices of the U.S. Public Health Service, and creating the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women's Health position to provide leadership in women's health across the Department. Moreover, for the first time, the commitment to women's health has been matched with financial strength. The HHS fiscal year 1996 commitment to women's health exceeds $2 billion, an increase of over $650 million in just the past three years. The results are being measured in innovative programs and groundbreaking research findings that should result in improved health for American women. The Department of Health and Human Services is taking action on a range of health issues affecting women of all ages, with special attention to the health concerns faced by women of low income and from ethnic and racial minorities. Initiatives +a comprehensive plan to reduce smoking among girls and adolescent women by 50 percent; + a new initiative to reduce teen pregnancy; + the establishment of the Governing Council on Children and Youth; + the implementation of a National Action Plan on Breast Cancer; + the establishment of the National Women's Health Information Center; + new initiatives on breast and cervical cancer; + a focus on contraceptive research and development and continued commitment to ensuring access to reproductive health and family planning services; + a continued commitment to increasing research on women's health issues and the requirement that women be included in clinical research trials; + a public policy agenda on HIV/AIDS specific to women, adolescents, and children; + new intervention and prevention programs to combat domestic violence; + initiation of the largest prevention study ever undertaken in the U.S. on the causes of death and disability in postmenopausal women. Actions Taken INCREASING PUBLIC, HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL, AND SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WOMEN'S HEALTH - Ensuring Womens Participation in Clinical Trials: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) now requires that women and minorities be included as subjects in NIH supported research. This means that research findings will reflect gender and ethnic differences found in all inclusive study populations; findings no longer will be extrapolated from a study population of men to guide treatment and prevention of disease in women. Instead, sex and gender differences will be examined in exploration of the causes, treatment, and prevention of disease. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that women be included in the evaluation of drugs and medical devices. - Providing Cutting-edge Information on Women's Health: A National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC) is being established to provide the public, health care professionals, and researchers with access to state-of-the-art Federal and private sector information about women's health. The NWHIC will be accessible by a toll-free telephone number and on the Internet and will serve as a single point of entry to the broad array of women's health information available today. - New Research Studies: Increasing attention is being paid to issues in women's health across the lifecycle. For example, at the NIH, the Women's Health Initiative is studying older women (see below); and the SWAN study (the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation) is focusing on women's mid-life behaviors, such as having children in their forties, diet and exercise, alcohol consumption, and exposure to environmental toxins, as well as examining their effect on disease and disability in later life. Additionally, another study is evaluating the behavioral determinants of adolescent health, factors that may also have implications for the development of disease and disability in later life. The results of these studies will have important ramifications for women of all ages. - Research to Improve the Health of Minority Women: Significant initiatives are being undertaken throughout HHS to reduce health disparities found in minority women through improved education; the conduct of research to examine why there are racial differences in the incidence of diseases such as breast cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and heart disease; and sponsorship of national and regional minority women's health conferences. - Combating Substance Abuse and Mental Illness: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Women's Resource Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Abuse and Mental Illness has been established to gather, synthesize and disseminate promising research and demonstration findings with critical implications for women's substance abuse and mental health services. The Center is a collaborative initiative of the three SAMHSA Centers and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of HRSA. A WOMEN'S FOCUS ON HIV/AIDS AND OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES (STDs) - HIV/AIDS Drug Development: The Administration's commitment to accelerate the discovery and development of AIDS drugs and vaccines includes initiating creative collaborations between the government and the drug industry to explore new ways of moving promising treatments through the development pipeline. Research supported by the NIH is focusing on the development of microbicides to enable women to protect themselves from HIV infection and transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases. - Preventing HIV/AIDS Transmission: With the finding that the use of AZT in HIV-infected pregnant women reduces the rate of HIV transmission from mother to child by two-thirds, physicians and other health care providers are being encouraged to counsel all pregnant women on the need to know their HIV status and on the benefits of AZT therapy. Educational campaigns for women and health care professionals have been launched by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with multilingual videotapes, audiotapes, public service announcements (PSAs), and brochures. Free information is available through the HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS) by calling toll-free at 1-800-448-0440 or 1-800-243-7012 (TTY service for the deaf). - Sexually Transmitted Disease-related Infertility Prevention: A National STD-related Infertility Prevention Program; jointly supported by the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) and CDC, is being implemented to combat sexually transmitted diseases, particularly chlamydia, the most common, yet least readily diagnosed STD affecting American women, and one that often leads to chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and subsequent infertility. CHALLENGING THE BREAST CANCER EPIDEMIC - National Action Plan on Breast Cancer (NAPBC): The Public Health Service's Office on Women's Health (PHS OWH) is coordinating the implementation of a major partnership between government, consumers, health care professionals, and industry to eradicate this disease. The NAPBC is working on a number of priority areas: (1) enhancing information dissemination about breast cancer; (2) establishing national biological resource banks for research; (3) ensuring consumer involvement; (4) increasing knowledge about the causes of cancer, especially environmental factors; (5) increasing women's participation in breast cancer clinical trials; and (6) addressing ethical, legal, and counseling issues associated with discovery of hereditary susceptibility genes. Recently, the plan awarded almost 100 grants for innovative research and outreach projects focusing on public-private partnerships in these six priority areas. - Discovery of Breast Cancer Susceptibility Genes: With the recent discovery of breast cancer susceptibility genes-BRCA1, BRCA2, and ATM-programs are being developed to address the ethical and legal issues arising from the identification of these genetic risk factors in order to prevent workplace and insurance discrimination and to provide counseling recommendations. - Safe and Effective Mammography: The Department has undertaken significant initiatives to improve mammography, including the FDA's implementation of the Mammography Quality Standards Act that ensures that women will get the safest and most reliable mammography in their communities; the development of clinician and consumer guidelines for mammography by the AHCPR; the establishment of a nationwide early breast and cervical cancer screening program for low-income women by the CDC; and an initiative to improve older women's utilization of the mammography screening benefit available under Medicare. - From Missiles to Mammograms: Developing New Breast Imaging Technologies: The PHS OWH has forged a unique partnership with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to improve the early detection of breast cancer by transferring imaging technologies from the intelligence communities used for target recognition and missile guidance. Additionally, a Consortium with representatives from the CIA, DoD, Department of Commerce, NASA, and other Federal agencies has been established to foster collaboration to transfer imaging technology from these fields to improve the early detection of diseases that affect women. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - See section on Domestic Violence for Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice's initiatives. OLDER WOMEN'S HEALTH - White House Conference on Aging: The first of its kind White House Post-Conference on Older Women's Health was convened immediately following the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. The report of that Post-Conference contains operational recommendations for improving older women's health. - Women's Health Initiative: To improve older women's health, the NIH's Women's Health Initiative, the largest U.S. research study in history, is being conducted to study how to prevent the major causes of death and disability in postmenopausal women (heart disease and stroke, osteoporosis, and cancer), the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy, and the effects of behavior - diet, the use of dietary supplements, exercise, etc. - on the development and course of chronic disease in older women. WOMEN'S HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT - Examining Environmental Effects on Women's Health: A first Federal Interagency Working Group has been created to foster cross-agency collaborations and initiatives to investigate environmental effects on women's health, to promote research in this area, and to develop strategies to prevent environmental hazards to women's health. A national inventory of Federal initiatives in this area has been developed. PROMOTlNG THE HEALTH OF GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN - Reducing Children's Use of Tobacco Products: President Clinton announced the issuance of proposed FDA regulations designed to reduce children's use of tobacco products, an issue of particular concern for girls and young women, since they record the highest rates of smoking of all populations. The regulations would restrict minors' access to tobacco products and would reduce the appeal of these products that result from pervasive advertising and promotions. - Smoke-Free Kids and Soccer: HHS has entered into a partnership with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team to help reduce smoking by girls by promoting participation in soccer. The partnership is reinforced by a series of motivational posters, television/radio advertising, and public appearances featuring members of the U.S. team and seeks to capitalize on the growing interest in women's soccer occasioned by the upcoming summer Olympic games in Atlanta. Information about the Smoke-Free Kids and Soccer campaign can be obtained from the National Cancer Institute's Public Health Applications Branch at (301) 496-8584. - Drug Abuse Education for Girls and Adolescent Women: As part of the HHS "Safe Passages" initiative, designed to promote healthy and productive transitions from child to adulthood, the SAMHSA has developed a public information campaign to help prevent and reduce the use of drug use among girls between the ages of 9-14 years. - Governing Council for Children and Youth: This Council was established recently to bring together all parts of the Department to foster more integrated and comprehensive strategies to serve children, youth, and their families by building relationships between HHS and other public and private organizations at the national, state, and local levels. - Fatherhood Initiative: Because strong intact families are critical to ensuring the health of girls and young women, HHS has developed a Fatherhood Initiative to foster both a research strategy and support mechanisms to strengthen the role of fathers in the psychosocial development of children and to encourage healthy families. - Young Women's Health Promotion: The PHS OWH, working in collaboration with a private sector organization, has developed and widely disseminated a video and health promotion education curriculum to encourage healthy behavior among young women. Another parallel initiative is a public/private partnership focusing on educating the public and health care professionals about eating disorders. - Child Support Enforcement: Because poverty and inadequate access to health care in childhood and early adolescence are critical predictors of poor health over a woman's lifetime, President Clinton's unprecedented steps to increase support for children will also improve the health of the next generations of adult women. Since 1992, child support collections have increased nearly 40 percent; over the next 10 years, support collections benefiting children could increase by $24 billion. These significant improvements have resulted from streamlined paternity establishment, employer reporting of new hires, uniform interstate child support laws, computerized statewide collections, and tough new penalties for "deadbeat" parents. HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING - Women's Health Medical Curricula Development: In collaboration with women's medical professional organizations, the Department has developed the first medical school model curricula on women's health issues, bringing women's health into mainstream medical education. Further, the first of its kind directory of women's health residency and fellowship opportunities in medicine has been prepared and disseminated by the PHS OWH. CONTACTS: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Sarah Kovner (202) 690-6347 Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. (202) 690-7650 EDUCATION The Department of Education is taking action to remove barriers facing girls and women of different backgrounds, including girls and women with disabilities, those of low income, and those from ethnic and racial minorities. Initiatives + to convene a national assembly on girls' and women's education; + to launch a public awareness campaign to change discriminatory policies and practices; + to convene a leadership forum to nurture a new generation of women leaders; + to intensify efforts to raise the number of employers who encourage family involvement in learning; + to collaborate with other lead agencies to promote girls and women in science, mathematics, and technology; + to combat violence against girls and women. Actions on Initiatives - National Public Awareness Efforts: On July 16, 1996, the Department will sponsor a National Town Hall meeting with satellite down-links to more than one hundred cities throughout the country. This program will focus on leadership development; mathematics, science and technology for girls; and family involvement in learning. The live satellite broadcast time will be one hour, and participants in various locations will be holding workshop discussions before and after the on-air portion of the program. Viewers may also phone in questions during the program. After this National Town Hall meeting, the Department will distribute a fifteen minute excerpt of the program as a conversation starter for future grassroots meetings. - Creating Partnerships for Education and Training: Deputy Secretary Madeleine Kunin is the host of a series of roundtable meetings with governmental and non-governmental organizations, educators and student leaders from across the country to identify obstacles facing women and girls in education. During this series, participants share information to address concerns about the most pressing issues focusing on education policies to address equity; best practices and programs that help girls and women attain success at all levels; and strategies to help educators, policymakers, and the public understand what they can do to eliminate the often subtle barriers to equity. - Increasing Leadership Development: The Women's Equity in Education Act (WEEA) is a Federal program created specifically to promote educational equity for women and girls. A recent WEEA leadership grant will provide as many as 300 women a year with training and experience in leadership development and self-sufficiency. - Family Involvement in Education: National Drive for Family-Friendly Policies. The Department has launched a family involvement partnership initiative to encourage greater family and community involvement in education. In collaboration with businesses from across the country, on December 11, 1995 the Department held a kick-off event for employers who would commit to review internal policies and practices in order to encourage or allow parent and employee involvement in education. The goal is to build partnerships in the community to promote and coordinate efforts to increase family involvement in children's learning and share best practices with other employers. A Conference on "A New Understanding of Parent Involvement--Family, Work, School". On April 12-13, 1996, the Department, in collaboration with Teachers College of Columbia University, Working Mother Magazine, and Family Involvement Partnership for Learning and others, hosted a conference for teachers, parents, school administrators, community and religious leaders, employers and graduate students in education. Topics included: Strategies for Managing the Time Crunch, Employers and Schools; Programs and Policies that Work; Overview of Research on Family Involvement; Involving Fathers in Children's Learning; Overcoming the Barriers to Parent Involvement; and Models of Effective Involvement in Children's Learning. - Increasing Involvement in Science, Math and Technology: Four new WEEA grants will focus on gender equity in math, sciences and technology. They support training of teachers in gender-sensitive methodology and instructional strategies that take advantage of the differences in perception, motivation, and cultural styles of female students, building of self-confidence, and development of an on-line multimedia environment that will allow young women to explore careers in engineering, conduct research and communicate with girls around the world. - Eradicating Violence: Program and Information Fair. A domestic violence forum for all employees was held on March 20, 1996 with Deputy Secretary Madeleine Kunin moderating a panel discussion on domestic violence and the impact on children. Other resources and information were available. The department is distributing a videotape of the forum to all offices in headquarters and the ten regions. Violence Based on Gender. Three recent WEEA grants on sexual harassment and gender violence in secondary and elementary schools will develop intervention models and curriculum and prevention strategies. CONTACT: Sandra Battle, (202) 401-1000, Department of Education HOUSING AND URBAN LIFE - Women's Home Ownership Strategy. Secretary Henry Cisneros of Housing and Urban Development has recently challenged the National Partners in Homeownership to focus significant efforts to increase the number of women homeowners in America. National Partners in Homeownership in an unprecedented public-private partnership that was formed last year to dramatically increase homeownership opportunity. The partnership consists of 56 national organizations representing lenders, real estate professionals, homebuilders, non-profit housing providers, and federal, state and local governments. The goal of the Partnership is to achieve an all-time high rate of homeownership by the end of the year 2000. A task force of senior officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has formed to direct the Department's implementation of the Platform for Action, with a focus on: - Gender Perspective. Expand HUD's discourse to include a women's perspective, considering that the majority of HUD's clients are women (72% of families living in HUD assisted housing are headed by women). Senior staff have met to discuss HUD's Blue Print II (the plan to complete the transformation of HUD), in order to initiate a gender dialogue on housing issues and incorporate a gender focus into Blue Print II. HUD will distribute a gender analysis of the plan. HUD is also planning a series of community meetings at public or assisted housing sites around the country between HUD staff and housing residents to begin a dialogue about housing as a women's issue. HUD will develop a fact sheet on how its programs serve women. - Family Friendly Policies. Examine and adopt "family friendly" policies, such as working at home (flexiplace) and job sharing. CONTACT: Betsy Julian, (202) 708-4252, Department of Housing and Urban Development TRANSPORTATION The Department of Transportation has prepared a report that focuses on accomplishments and current as well as future actions that will improve the conditions of women in the DOT workforce and those affected by DOT's programs and policies. Examples of Current DOT Activities: - Transportation and delivery of health care services. Analyzing the results of the National Council of Negro Women's study to determine the impact of transportation upon the delivery of health care services in non-urbanized areas. - Non-traditional Jobs. Conducting three regional conferences to create effective partnerships among tradeswomen, women's commissions, State DOTs, labor groups, contractors and others to increase the number of women and minorities in skilled crafts such as engineers, plumbers, mechanics, carpenters. - Highway Engineer Training Program. Sponsoring the Highway Engineer Training Program to train entry level professionals in the various facets of highway engineering. An average of 40% of the participants have been women. - Seat Belt Design. Conducting research on seat belt design including developing belts with load limiters. New designs are currently being tested for both women and children. - Environmental Justice. Developing a program to alert and educate communities regarding environmental justice impacts of transportation projects, and to train women and other community representatives how to become more involved in the decision-making process that determines how federally funded transportation projects come to fruition. Examples of Future DOT Initiatives: - Demonstration Projects. Support demonstration projects of Location Efficient Mortgages issued to households and businesses located in certified pedestrian-oriented, mixed use neighborhoods to lower their monthly expenses by foregoing or minimizing auto ownership. - Travel Issues. Sponsor a conference on Women Travel Issues. Topics will include travel behavior patterns, transportation safety, transportation implications of urban violence, changes in the economy, and labor force. - Airbag Injuries and Design. Continue studies on airbag injuries and designs. In previous studies that DOT conducted hospital based research suggested that persons of short stature are at greatest risk. This group is largely made up of older women. Research has also been directed at infant deaths and airbags. All studies have been and will be done with the active participation of the American automotive industry. - Young People. Continue educational programs that highlight the dangers of excessive speed, drugged or drunk driving, inexperience in operating motor vehicles, careless pedestrian behavior and other behavioral problems that disproportionately affect young people. - Children. Host the second national Moving Kids Safely conference in June 1996 focusing on development and implementation of community based programs to reduce transportation-related injuries and fatalities of children. CONTACT: Frankee Greenberg, (202) 366-1111, Department of Transportation ENVIRONMENT The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing an integrated report on how the USG will be responding to the commitments on women and the environment. These commitments focus on protecting public health and the environment and ensuring women's access to information, education, and environmental decision-making. Currently, an EPA task force for implementing the Platform for Action is developing a summary of EPA plans and projects which address the environmental commitments. Protecting Public Health and the Environment EPA has a number of efforts underway to address women's susceptibilities and exposure to environmental pollution. - Workshop. A workshop, co-sponsored with the National Institutes of Health, in late 1996, will address gaps in knowledge on gender differences in susceptibility and exposure to environmental pollution. An expert panel will recommend research strategies and policies to improve the prospects for adequately protecting women's health. - Review of Scientific Literature. EPA funded a critical review and integration of the scientific literature on gender susceptibilities and environmental pollution. The report will be finalized in 1996. - Research. EPA has a number of research projects to address specific affects to Long Island Breast Cancer Study. These studies are included in the Public Health Service, Office on Women's Health's "Women's Health and the Environment: Federal Inventory of Activities," released in March 1996. Opportunities for Decision-Making and Empowerment EPA is transitioning to a community-based environmental protection approach of which broad stakeholder involvement and empowerment is a cornerstone of success. EPA recognizes it is critical that opportunities for decision-making and empowerment, such as the Community Based Programs and "Partnerships for the Environment" program, be available to women. It is making every effort to ensure women's participation in them. Access to Information and Education EPA believes that providing men and women access to information empowers recipients to take action both in their home environment and as concerned citizens seeking to influence governmental actions. EPA's numerous publications help family caretakers make informed consumer choices, produce healthy food for the family table, and reduce family health risks from environmental hazards, such as radon, lead, and second-hand smoke. - Access to Chemical Information. The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks estimated chemical releases or emissions into the environment including chemicals involving reproductive and developmental effects. In 1996, the U.S. is planning to increase the number of facilities to be covered by the TRI, many of which include sites that may present exposures close to homes and schools as well as to women workers. - Consumer Labeling Initiative. Existing pesticide product labels are often difficult for consumers to understand and to quickly locate essential environmental and health information on safe use and disposal. Therefore, EPA has begun the Consumer Labeling Initiative to get input from our customers on how to improve labeling on hard surface cleaners, pesticides, and antimicrobial products. - Environmental Education. EPA participates in a national program to train K-12 classroom teachers on how to integrate environmental education into their classrooms. The Agency is also working with the Girl Scouts of America to promote environmental stewardship. Finally, the Agency awards environmental grants to community based organizations, many of which are headed by women. - Promoting Women as Environmental Leaders. Through EPA's GLO (Greater Leadership Opportunities) program, minority and women employees are provided with training and rotational assignments to enhance their supervisory skills and promote professional growth. In addition, EPA supports Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and other programs which seek to encourage women to establish careers in the environmental sciences and management. Environmental Justice Women, children, and the elderly are important segments of those groups, such as people of color, indigenous people, and low-income people within the U.S. or living along U.S. borders, who benefit from the efforts of EPA's Office of Environmental Justice. The Office, its National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and International and Indigenous Peoples Subcommittes, takes the interests, concerns and cultures of these groups into account in EPA's programs and policies. Approximately half of the Council and its subcomittees are composed of women. CONTACTS: Lynn Goldman, M.D., (202) 260-2902; Jean .Nelson, (202) 260-7960, Environmental Protection Agency THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE FOR WOMEN'S INITIATIVES AND OUTREACH The White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach was established by President Clinton to serve as a liaison between the White House and women's organizations. At the Table. At the Table is a series of roundtable discussions across the country between women and Administration officials. They are designed to ensure that women's voices are heard in the White House and that women learn about the resources available in the Federal Government that will help their daily lives. More than 400 roundtables have been held to date, involving thousands of women across the country. Topics have included: domestic violence, reproductive health and rights, affirmative action, education, health care, access to capital and childcare. A report of each roundtable is forwarded to the Women's Office where its ideas and proposals are summarized before being forwarded to the President and policy makers in the White House. Resources. The Women's Office has fact sheets and talking point cards on important actions the Administration has taken for women and families. Fact Sheets include: Expanding Opportunities for America's Families; Making Our Homes and Communities Safer; Investing in Education and Training for Our Families; Expanding Access to Quality Health Care; Promoting Reproductive Health Services for Women; Caring for Our Children; Generating Business and Economic Opportunities for Women; and Supporting Women as Partners in Decision Making. Visit the White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach web site: http//www1.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/Women/OWIO/index.html CONTACT: Besty Myers (202) 456-7300; or FAX (202) 456-7311, Women's Office PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES The Department of Interior has a two part approach to implementing the Platform: 1) Pursue creative approaches to promote gender equity and improve the quality of life for the Department's employees and constituents. 2) Respond to and provide for the needs of women and their families through the protection and conservation of the nation's natural and cultural resources. To achieve this, the Department has formed a Council on Women in each of its ten bureaus and established an Internet Homepage for women's issues that will serve as a forum for women employees and constituents to exchange ideas and suggestions and to get feedback on Interior's services and programs Potential Initiatives - Explore the possibilities of more family friendly policies for Department employees. - Explore the replication of an on-the-job training project for welfare recipients as a Department-wide practice. - Analyze the number of grade level of women in order to identify job classifications where greater efforts to recruit and promote women in non-traditional jobs is needed. - Establish a scholarship or grant for young people pursuing careers in natural resources. CONTACT: Lydia Bickford, (202) 208-3338, Department of Interior COMMUNICATIONS - Worldwide Electronic Bulletin Board. The United States Information Agency (USIA) has created an international electronic bulletin board on worldwide follow-up activities to the Women's Conference. USIA has requested information worldwide on post-Beijing follow-up efforts by both governments and NGOs. Individuals around the world from both the public and private sectors can access this information directly from the USIA maintained homepage of the Official U.S. Delegation to the Women's Conference. USIA overseas posts at Embassies and Consulates have been encouraged to publicize the home page address to host country Beijing delegations and other interested parties. Internet address: http : //women. usia.gov/usia/ - Gender Perspective. USIA is conducting an agency-wide survey assessing the integration of women and their status in all programs. This will establish a baseline from which to judge progress. The survey will help posts around the world better address women's issues and include more female participants in future USIA activities. CONTACT: For Internet - Matt McGrath (202,) 619-6675, USIA FOREIGN POLICY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF STATE The Department of State established a Working Group, chaired by the Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues, to oversee implementation of the Platform for Action within the Department of State. - The Africa Bureau has developed a model to intensify programs and mission efforts to enhance the roles and status of women in Africa, building on the tremendous efforts made by African women at the conference in Beijing. Each U.S. Embassy in Africa is monitoring the follow-up to Beijing Conference. Embassies are working with African women in governments and in NGOs to make the biggest difference with limited resources. - Post and human rights reports are placing a greater focus on women. In addition to reporting on discrimination and violence against women as violations of human rights, reports now examine the extent to which women are active participants in government and economic growth opportunities. Rather than a separate section on women, documentation throughout the reports integrates information on women. - The State Department, especially the Office of Population, Refugees and Migration, is closely coordinating follow-up to the Cairo Conference on Population and Development and the Women's Conference Platform, which reaffirms the conclusions of the Cairo Conference. Although resources for family planning are currently being debated in Congress, the Department is firmly committed to continuing its leadership in ensuring access to safe, voluntary family planning services for millions of women and men. - U.S. foreign policy-makers have been in frequent contact with American NGOs on women's concerns as they relate to the Bosnian Peace Agreement. - On International Women's Day, the Department highlighted the contributions of women to foreign policy and international relations. Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Ambassador Geraldine Ferraro, U.S. Representative to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, spoke at the event which was moderated by Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, Timothy Wirth. Secretary Christopher awarded citations to eleven Congresswomen for their leadership on international women's issues. Representatives of non-governmental organizations and foreign ambassadors from twenty nations attended as well as employees of U.S. foreign policy agencies. CONTACT: Office of Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues, (202) 647-9154, Department of State U.S. MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS Ambassador Madeleine Albright, head of the U.S. Delegation to the Women's Conference, leads the conference follow-up activity at the U.S. Mission. - The U.S. strongly supports the Secretary General's goal of gender equity by the year 2000 for the UN Secretariat. Ambassador Albright and the U.S. Mission have monitored closely the status of women in the Secretariat. The U.S. co-sponsored a General Assembly Resolution in the fall of 1995 urging the Secretary General to increase efforts to recruit and promote qualified women. Ambassador Albright has met informally with representatives of member states, the Secretariat, UN women's groups and representatives from the private sector on this issue. - Ambassador Albright and the U.S. Mission representatives have underscored the important achievements of the Fourth World Conference in a number of statements made before local, national and multinational gatherings. - Ambassador Albright and U.S. Mission representatives continue to consult with American NGOs in matters affecting women, ranging from implementation of the Bosnia Peace Agreement to resolutions regarding human rights in countries around the world. CONTACT: Lucy Tamlyn (212) 415-4277 TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN FOR PROSTITUTION The Department of Labor, through its Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), has established a special unit of international child labor exploitation. ILAB has published a two volume set on this issue ("By the Sweat and Toil of Children"), the second volume of which documents child slavery, including the use of young girls as domestic servants and the trafficking of children for the purpose of prostitution. In late September I995, ILAB sponsored a symposium entitled, "Forced Labor: The Growing Tragedy of Child Prostitution." The proceedings of this symposium are available. Since the September symposium, the Department has continued its effort to broaden the international dialogue on forced child prostitution problem. In addition to an International Labor Organization (ILO) program in Thailand (on girls at risk) that is being supported by the Department, the ILO is initiating a program in Nepal, and is considering additional programs in Southeast Asia. These programs offer some hope to help a small number of children at risk. They can also act as catalysts for broader governmental responses in the countries where forced child prostitution flourishes. The Department hopes to continue supporting such programs. Moreover, the ILO is moving toward the adoption of a new convention on child exploitation which provides an important opportunity to further the international legal sanctions against governments that tolerate this trade. Of course, a shortage of international instruments outlawing child prostitution is not the main cause of the growing tragedy. Rather it is the lack of political will to effectively enforce existing domestic and international laws. However, a new ILO convention will permit us to put in place stronger mechanisms to hold governments accountable for their failure to act decisively against this form of exploitation. The Department, as the representative of the U.S. to the ILO, supports this initiative. The Department will be represented on the U.S. Delegation to the August, 1996 international conference on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children to be held in Stockholm. Finally, the ILAB works with the Department of Justice Child Obscenity and Exploitation Unit on issues related to the trafficking of children for prostitution. CONTACT: Sonia Rosen, (202) 208-4843, Department of Labor INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT The Agency for International Development (USAID) is focusing its efforts to implement the Platform by embarking on several major initiatives. Recognizing that development goals simply cannot be achieved without mainstreaming women in the process, USAID continues to lead the donor community in incorporating gender concerns into policies and programs. Under the leadership of Administrator Brian Atwood, the Agency has made important progress in addressing the 1993 mandate of the General Accounting Office to integrate women's concerns in all areas of the development process. Despite serious budgetary constraints, forcing the Agency to do "less with less," USAID will tailor its programming to ensure that women's concerns are addressed throughout the development cycle. New initiatives and projects, detailed below, thus represent the Agency's efforts to strengthen its commitment to mainstream women into all activities as well as realize the overarching goal of sustainable development. The Agency is now redirecting existing funding to meet these objectives. GENDER PLAN OF ACTION For more than 20 years, USAID has worked to ensure the integration of gender considerations into its programs. The Agency is continuing to foster the institutional changes needed to Support women in development. Having reviewed a variety of options for "institutionalizing" attention to issues concerning women in development, USAID has developed a Gender Plan of Action. This plan responds to the 1993 GAO Report, but requires no new resources. USAID has recently appointed a senior policy advisor on women in development in the Policy Planning Coordination Bureau in order to build capacity to address women in development issues in all Agency programs. Some highlights of the Gender Plan of Action include: - Modifying the Agency's strategic framework to reflect under each strategic objective the key role of women in development. - Implementing a women in development fellows program to build a technical cadre to support the integration of gender issues into development programs. - Establishing a women in development Performance Fund to award supplementary funds to Agency programs that best address gender issues as integral components of development. - Designating USAID's Counselor to play a lead role in monitoring the overall implementation of the Gender Plan of Action to ensure that women's concerns are integrated in all areas of the development progress. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND LEGAL RIGHTS INITIATIVE - Women's Political Participation. A $1 million, 3-year cooperative agreement has been awarded to the Asia Foundation, in conjunction with the African-American Institute, America-Mideast Education and Training Services, Inc., and PARTICIPA (a Chilean NGO} for a Global Women in Politics program. The program is designed to accelerate sharing of models, strategies, tools, and techniques to advance women's participation in the political process. - The Women's Legal Rights Initiative. This initiative, which Ambassador Madeleine Albright announced at the Fourth World Conference in Beijing, will help women develop an understanding of the legal system and empower women to understand the methods in which law inhibits or promotes their participation in social and economic life. Addressing the legislative, judiciary and grass-roots levels of the legal structure, the initiative will strengthen women's legal literacy, integrate gender issues into law school curricula, support legal clinics, and engage in direct policy dialogue with legislators to promote more equitable laws and policies. USAID will work with local NGOs to address all three levels of the legal structure through research and advocacy programs. Programs will be funded from existing resources within USAID. WOMEN'S AND GIRLS' EDUCATION INITIATIVE The focus of the initiative is on increasing girls' primary school completion in twelve USAID-assisted countries. USAID is serving as a catalyst in a process to promote local ownership of the problems and solutions to girls' education by assisting policy-makers from the government and the private sector in these countries to form constituencies to identify the key constraints to girls' education in their countries. These constituencies are also being trained to develop culturally-appropriate policies, programs and practices for addressing these barriers. A chief objective is to create programs that can be sustained with locally generated human and financial resources. The programs aim to involve communities in activities to increase girls' primary school participation. Where appropriate, USAID is assisting policy makers to apply effective approaches, such as the "community school" approach, which stimulates involvement by parents and community members in the life of the school. Other successful approaches include developing programs that involve training local female workers to provide tutoring assistance to girls, and training parent committees to find practical means for increasing girls' school participation. In addition, USAID is also working to increase women's literacy and young girls' school readiness in selected countries. A total of $11 million, expected to be awarded in the next few months has been allocated from existing resources to fund this initiative. Targeted countries include Egypt, Morocco, Guinea, Mali, Ethiopia, South Africa, Nepal, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Guatemala and Honduras. Recent Activities - Nepal is using USAID funds ($300,000 in FY95) to train more than 200 NGOs working in the Population, Health, Environment, and Economic Growth sectors. Literacy skills will be taught to women and will further individual NGOs development goals. - India ended a five year program in December, 1995 with the goal of getting girls to go to complete primary school. - Morocco is using USAID funds to amend the Mission's Training for Development Project. The Amended Project will support the improvement of rural girls' primary education. MICROENTERPRISE INITIATIVE USAID's commitments in assisting women and the very poor includes assisting organizations in reaching even greater numbers of people, sustainability and financial self-sufficiency, and establishing partnerships with local organizations. The initiative targets the very poor, who are disproportionately represented by women. A total of $7() million annually will be applied to assist women's microenterprise development, and will focus on providing credit to women, technical assistance, and other financial services. While no new funds will be utilized, this focus strengthens USAID's commitment to women in microenterprise development in its ongoing programs. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH The Agency for International Development has committed major resources to the health and well-being of women in the developing world. USAID is working in more than 55 countries and with a number of public, private, and non-governmental organization (NGO) towards an integrated reproductive health focus. By addressing women's health, family planning, safe motherhood, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, nutrition and breastfeeding, the reproductive health programs seek to enable women to achieve their desired family size while protecting both the woman and child's health. Comprehensive programs in these areas include service delivery, training, education and communications, biomedical, operations and social science research, commodity procurement and logistics management, and policy development. USAID also financially supports the work of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.N. and conducts a Co-Sponsored Program on HIV/AIDS. However, as a result of general congressional mandated reductions in foreign assistance and, specifically, a 35% reduction in the Agency's population program in Fiscal Year 1996, the agency's programs will be scaled down. ENVIRONMENT USAID works to involve women from many sectors of society, from poor and rural women, to representatives of non-governmental organizations, to women with advanced scientific training, into its environmental programs. Supported activities range from skills and leadership training, meetings and conferences, education and communication efforts, as well as women's networks and organizations. A FOCUS ON AFRICA USAID is collaborating with the Department of State to ensure that appropriate support is provided to women in Africa. Programs in democracy and governance, reproductive health, microenterprise development, education, the environment, and HIV/AIDS have strong components which address the needs of African women within an appropriate cultural context. USAID has been one of the leading multilateral donors to address female genital mutilation. A New Partnerships Initiative is strengthening relationships with women's NGOs and private voluntary organizations (PVOs) throughout the Continent. CONTACTS: General - Margaret Lycette (703) 816-0291, Diane Lavoy (202) 647-7057, Women's Political Participation - Melissa Brown, (202) 736-7979; Women's Legal Rights - Cate Johnson, (70t) 816-0291, Education - Susie Clay, (703) 875-4179, Health - Elizabeth Maguire, (703) 875-4402, Microenterprise - Beth Rhyne, (202) 663-2360. DEFENSE The Defense Department has completed a report outlining its programs and initiatives consistent with the objectives of the Fourth World Conference on Women. Women in Defense - DOD Leading the Way analyzes the Platform chapter by chapter, and strategic objective by strategic objective, supplying information on relevant Defense activities. With this analysis completed, the working group is now identifying new issues and developing new initiatives. "Women in Defense" Report Highlights - The Defense Department is the nation's largest employer of women, employing some 631,127 women, 304,796 civilians, 191,399 active duty and 134,932 in the Reserves. In addition, Defense considers the 757,164 spouses (90% women) of active duty military and 1,373,978 children integral to the force. - Education and childcare are of direct concern to the Department since it operates 135 schools in 14 countries and provides education to 114,000 students. It also operates the nation's largest affordable employee sponsored child care program, providing care to 200,000 children with over 16,000 employees (mostly military wives) at 346 locations world-wide. - The Clinton Administration opened many non-traditional career fields in the armed forces to women and appointed many women to positions of power and decision-making. Currently there are 186 pilots and navigators flying combat aircraft with approximately 141 training. The Secretary of the Air Force, the General Counsel and Inspector of Defense, the Defense Advisor to the U.S. Mission to NATO, and Under-Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries are women. - There has been a 194% increase in the number of women participating in technical fields, such as environmental engineering where the number has risen from 187 in 1990 to 550 in 1996. - On active duty, the Army has five women general officers, the Navy has six women admirals, the Air Force has six women generals and the Marine Corps has one general. Recent Initiatives: - Model Communities. Model Communities is a preventive installation base effort to address the reported increase of youth violence, gang-like activity and juvenile crime. It places responsibility at the community level and requires coordination with local governments, not for profit and private sector agencies to develop programs which provide youth with alternatives and productive use of their time. In 1995 the Department selected 20 installations to receive a Model Communities Incentive Award. - New Parent Support. The New Parent Support Program offers basic support services to all parents who request services, while focusing more intensively on first-time parents, young parents, single parents, handicapped or premature infants, and bi-cultural or isolated families. The programs serve quality of life needs of junior enlisted personnel, target families at high risk for child abuse and promote participation by fathers. - Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Report. Concerned about allegations that several recent complaints of discrimination and harassment had been handled inadequately or insensitively, the Department completed a report on Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in May 1995. The report recommends 48 improvements in the way the Armed Services deal with discrimination and harassment. These recommendations have been incorporated into the Department's new guidelines. - Spousal Abuse. Currently the Department is completing a study of spousal abuse involving members of the Armed Forces. The study's final report, due May 31, 1996, will present recommendations for prevention, intervention, and treatment approaches that might enable the Armed Services to address spousal abuse more effectively. It will also recommend methods whereby the Services would continue to monitor its Family Advocacy Program effectiveness in the future. CONTACT: For a copy of "Women in Defense-DOD Leading the Way": DOD Public Affairs, Deborah Bosick at (703) 697-5131. DOD plans to make the report available on its Home Page: DBOSICK@PAGATE.PA.OSD.MIL