Resource Library

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is pleased to announce the publication of its Amazon Vision 2020 Report and its summary, an update on the strategy to support communities in the Amazon region. Climate change, illegal deforestation, and other large-scale activities, and economic pressures all threaten the region and the women, men, and children who live there.

In March 2021, the USAID Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (USAID/PPL) COVID Analytics Team prepared "Tracking the First- and Second-Order Impacts of COVID-19," a concise landscape analysis examining the pandemic's impacts across USAID sectors and regions after one year.  The analysis explores six broad areas -- the health crisis, macroeconomic and mobility shocks, household-level impacts, shifts in democratic governance and civic engagement, national security, and climate change -- and leverages the best available data from USAID and external institutions to unders

The climate finance system is failing to respond to the triple crises of poverty, climate and nature. Going further and faster on climate action requires a whole-of-society response and more, and better climate finance that reaches local levels. So, what needs to change? This briefing sets out some principles for reforming the current climate finance system.

This new report from the Center for International Environmental Law: "Funding Our Future: Five Pillars for Rights-Based Climate Finance" explores how climate finance can advance the principal goals of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement and protect human rights. Adequate climate finance must flow from those developed countries most responsible for the climate crisis to those developing countries least responsible for it, yet most adversely affected by it. Funding must reach those most in need, without creating new debt or compounding existing inequalities.

A review of trends in modern contraceptive prevalence rates across low- and middle-income countries has led stakeholders to develop a normative S-shaped pattern for how family planning markets grow. In this model, low prevalence and little growth occur on one end, with high prevalence and low growth on the other, and a period of potentially rapid growth in between.

Many governments and donors support the use of public-private partnerships to distribute publicly managed commodities through the private health sector to overcome barriers to access for the full range of family planning methods. This brief draws on country experiences with commodity partnerships for family planning in Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It documents approaches used to place government-managed commodities into the hands of private providers and ultimately the women seeking the method.

A national health management information system (HMIS) is the foundation for effective oversight, management, and provision of health information, products, and services in a country. The private sector is often a significant source of health products and services, yet few countries have fully galvanized routine reporting by private health care providers.

Through the Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality Technical Assistance (WE3 TA) task order, Banyan Global produced the “Gender Inequality Causes Poverty Briefer” highlighting the long-standing and structural barriers contributing to gender inequality, preventing women from full economic participation, and consequently causing and perpetuating poverty.

USAID’s Commercially Viable Conflict-Free Gold Project, known locally as “Zahabu Safi” (Clean Gold), is a five-year program, implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by Global Communities and Levin Sources. The project aims to establish a responsible, commercially viable and conflict-free ASM gold supply chain from eastern DRC. A key objective for achieving the project’s vision is to increase demand for and co-investment in responsibly sourced ASM gold from eastern DRC.

This section details the ways in which women’s economic empowerment and gender equality is integrated into customs and border agencies' services, operations and personnel management.

Definitions for key terms used in the Gender Digital Divide.

List of acronyms used in the Gender Digital Divide.

The resources in this section are the most useful resources relevant to the gender digital divide, particularly looking at the individual use of mobile and the Internet.

Development projects and programs in a country are not, as a rule, primarily focused on digital strategies and tools; the people and partners implementing them are often not digital development experts, let alone gender and tech specialists. There is a risk that the negative consequences of women and girls using information and communication technology could be amplified, unless individuals and organizations have clear guidelines as well as the knowledge required to implement them. Risk Mitigation Strategy 7 looks at capacity development for risk mitigation and safeguarding.

Working in information and communication technology and innovation requires various ways of working, using different skill sets and insights. Any risk mitigation strategy will be more effective when working with others in this space, getting fresh viewpoints and leveraging one another’s resources, brands, and networks. Risk Mitigation Strategy 6 examines elements of collaboration.

Raising awareness of technology-facilitated gender-based violence and other risks, and educating (male and female) users on their rights, privacy, and security, can support other mitigation strategies. Risk Mitigation Strategy 5 examines this further.

Men and other (female) family members are often the decision-makers on whether women and girls use information and communication technology (ICT); they have a crucial role in shaping overall perceptions and behaviors, including awareness and mitigation of risks. Many or most of the information sources in low- and middle-income countries—ICT experts, community leaders, and news broadcasters—are men. If these influencers do not buy into the benefits of ICT and the Internet for women and girls, they may amplify the risks or even block access.

Women and girls are more vulnerable to risks not only because they have lower levels of digital literacy and confidence, but also because they often do not know what to do when faced with negative (digital) events. Information and communication technology (ICT) outreach and digital literacy initiatives can help women and girls (and their networks) understand how to use mobile and Internet safely and protect themselves from the risks. Risk Mitigation Strategy 3 further examines how to:

As more women and girls are using information and communication technology (ICT), USAID needs to invest in ICT and services that work for women and girls to help overcome the associated risks, designing them with a gender and safety or risk lens. Risk Mitigation Strategy 2 looks at investing in digital products and services that:

Being aware of the current status of women’s and girls’ access to, and use of, mobile and the Internet can help understand what needs to be done, what issues women and girls face, and how these issues will affect strategies, projects, or activities. Risk Mitigation Strategy 1 examines “do no harm.”

It is extremely important to understand and mitigate the risks, and potential collateral damage, associated with closing the gender digital divide and connecting more women and girls. Tool 1 offers seven risk mitigation strategies that USAID staff and partners can undertake, as well as suggested actions to be taken and some examples of what has been done elsewhere. Each suggested strategy has been mapped to the ADS 205 and the 10 WEEGE Principles.

This document provides background on the gender digital divide and includes insight on:

The “How To” document provides an overview of the Technical Note, including important terms and definitions, key messages, purpose, components, and linkages to further USAID strategies guidance.

The GDD Risk Mitigation Technical Note offers practice steps, strategies, and resources to mitigate the risks associated with women and girls accessing and using ICTs.