Female Empowerment Activity - FEMPOW

The Female Empowerment Activity (FEMPOW), also called Mujeres Poderosas in Spanish, aims to empower women and girls. It will do this by engaging the private sector to reduce gender-based violence, positively transform gender norms and attitudes, and create economic opportunities for women. FEMPOW will also seek to support the U.S. Agency for International Development in Colombia’s (USAID/Colombia) programming in Rural Development Plan with Territorial Approach (PDET) municipalities. USAID/Colombia’s Female Empowerment Activity (FEMPOW) will promote the socio-economic empowerment of women and girls in the conflict and violence-affected municipalities. Addressing issues that marginalize women - inequality, disempowerment, and violence - will pay dividends and strengthen the impact of USAID’s significant development investment in Colombia. FEMPOW will also be part of the mission’s medium- and long-term strategy for COVID-19 economic recovery. FEMPOW, an activity combating GBV and supporting women’s economic empowerment (WEE), aligns with key USAID policies and initiatives. These initiatives include: the United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (2019); the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative (2019); the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act (2018); the Gender Equality & Female Empowerment Policy (2012); and the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally (2012). Moreover, FEMPOW aligns with the Colombian Government’s 2018-2022 National Development Plan’s guiding principle to “leave no one behind.” It also includes a set of cross-cutting agreements, including the “Pact for the Equality of Women,” that serve as coordination mechanisms to foster opportunities for all Colombians.