Challenge
An assessment of the implementation of USAID’s Women’s Empowerment Policies recommended that Agency capacity be strengthened in understanding the policy requirements, conducting analyses and incorporating results into Agency planning documents, integrating women’s empowerment in solicitations, conducting monitoring and evaluation on women’s empowerment indicators, and disseminating best practices and lessons learned within the Agency.
Solution
The LEAD Task Order will enable USAID Washington Bureaus and overseas Missions to strengthen and substantially expand support for integrating women’s empowerment into USAID’s work. Making Cents, as a subcontractor to ECODIT, supports the provision of collaborative, multi-sectoral integration technical assistance; the promotion of thought leadership through the development of knowledge products and learning opportunities to strengthen USAID’s programming and processes to achieve women’s empowerment and prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG), specifically improving USAID’s capability to understand and incorporate women’s empowerment into the economic growth sector; and the building of connectivity and enhancing knowledge sharing platforms for USAID and external stakeholders.
In LEAD’s first year, Making Cents supported various analyses for USAID Missions in Guatemala, Haiti, the Kyrgyz Republic, Senegal, West Bank/Gaza, and Zambia, with the goal of eventually establishing regional technical assistance hubs and building out a diverse global network of experts for USAID. Making Cents also led the promotion and utilization of existing tools and resources related to various forms of VAWG, supported the integration of VAWG into analyses, and developed learning products on social norms; child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU); and female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C).