FACT SHEET: Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity Upskilling Initiative for Women and Girls

FACT SHEET: Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity Upskilling Initiative for Women and Girls
ASowah@doc.gov
Thu, 09/08/2022 – 10:38

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, September 8, 2022

Office of Public Affairs

publicaffairs@doc.gov

On September 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched the Women and Girls Upskilling Initiative in support of the objectives of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth while advancing greater competitiveness in the region. Over the next decade, the initiative will bring 7 million or more training and education opportunities to women and girls in the IPEF emerging and middle-income partners through the use of digital tools. These countries include Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This initiative represents the economic leadership and strong commitment of the United States to the Indo-Pacific region and its support of IPEF objectives by:

Bolstering U.S. private sector engagement in the most economically-dynamic region of the world in ways that will pay long-term dividends for companies and workers in both the United States and the IPEF partner countries; 

Supporting the region’s ongoing efforts to strengthen economic resilience, equity and inclusion, and sustainability, all of which will help grow the region’s middle class and expand export opportunities for U.S. goods and services and regional trade and investment; and 

Facilitating training in areas such as data, cloud, and cybersecurity to enable IPEF partners to achieve high-standard commitments, including around promoting cross-border data flows and online privacy and to combat disinformation, corruption, and cyber-theft.

The Women and Girls Upskilling Initiative reflects the deep and abiding support of both the U.S. government and its private sector to the long-term economic competitiveness of the IPEF partners. Fourteen U.S. companies –Amazon, American Tower, Apple, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Edelman Global Advisory (EGA), Google, HP, IBM, Mastercard, Microsoft, PayPal, Salesforce, and Visa – will each provide 500,000 upskilling opportunities that use digital tools for women and girls in IPEF emerging economies by 2032.

The program will be administered by The Asia Foundation, a non-profit international development organization with deep expertise in supporting good governance, women’s empowerment, and inclusive economic growth throughout the region. 

The participating U.S. companies will work with both governmental and non-governmental partners in the region to leverage their long-standing commitment to and deep experience in upskilling in the United States and the region to provide training and education opportunities in support of both IPEF objectives and the region’s ongoing priority of addressing inequities in labor force participation, pay, and access to financial services. Some of the opportunities provided by the companies include:

Providing training for girls in fields such as data science, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and robotics;

Developing and providing women small business owners with a comprehensive digital toolkit that includes website planning and development; search engine optimization; and marketing, budgeting, and social media;
Supporting digital literacy and entrepreneurship training for rural girls and women via solar-paneled mobile bus training centers;
Training authors and illustrators in digital content creation designed to empower girls and providing that content through low bandwidth reading apps to enhance girls’ literacy.

This type of public-private engagement is a clear demonstration of America’s commitment to IPEF and its partners. It further underscores the benefits of a high-standard economic agreement that incentivizes greater private sector engagement and contributes to long-term economic growth, competitiveness, and sustainability throughout the region.

Tags

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

Related Content

Commerce Department Launches the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Upskilling Initiative

Read the full report from the U.S. Department of Commerce: Read More