Ivanka Trump Plans Africa Trip to Promote Women's Initiative
President Donald Trump's daughter will visit Ethiopia and Ivory Coast
over four days this month. The White House said Wednesday that her
schedule includes a women's economic empowerment summit in Ivory Coast
as well as site visits and meetings with political leaders, executives
and female entrepreneurs in both countries.
Accompanying her will be Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency
for International Development. On parts of the trip, they will be joined
David Bohigian, acting president of the Overseas Private Investment
Corp., and Kristalina Georgieva, interim president of the World Bank
Group.
OPIC provides loans, loan guarantees and political risk insurance,
funding projects that stretch across continents and industries.
It will be Ivanka Trump's first visit to Africa since the White House
undertook the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative in
February. In a statement to The Associated Press, she said she was
``excited to travel to Africa'' to advance the effort.
Multi-agency effort
The initiative involves the State Department, the National Security
Council and other U.S. agencies. It aims to coordinate current programs
and develop new ones to assist women in job training, financial support,
legal or regulatory reforms and other areas.
Ivanka Trump says the goal is to economically empower 50 million women in developing countries by 2025.
Money for the effort will come through USAID, which initially set up a
$50 million fund using dollars already budgeted. The president's 2020
budget proposal requests $100 million for the initiative, which will
also be supported by programs across the government as well as private
investment. The White House spending plan would cut overall funding for
diplomacy and development.
Ivanka Trump has made women's economic empowerment a centerpiece of her
White House portfolio. She has made a number of international trips,
with a focus on these issues, including to Japan and India. Her travel
to Africa follows a five-day tour that first lady Melania Trump made
there last year, with a focus on child welfare.
Like the first lady, Ivanka Trump's efforts could be complicated by the
president, who was criticized last year after his private comments about
``s---hole countries'' in Africa and other regions were leaked to
journalists.
VOA
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