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U.S. Government Fails to Report to Congress on WPS Progress

The United States government was required by law to submit a report to Congress on its progress towards its Women, Peace, and Security commitments yesterday. It didn’t. 

The failure of the Administration to deliver this report violates the 2017 Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Act, which President Trump signed into law and Secretaries Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem co-sponsored. 

“The Women, Peace, and Security Act is an invaluable tool for the United States, recognizing the critical role women play in advancing peace and security and creating a legal framework for WPS work across the U.S. Government. WPS has always enjoyed bipartisan support, and the law was passed overwhelmingly by both parties. Implementation of the WPS Act makes America and the world safer and stronger. The report is a critical way for Congress and the American people to learn what the government is doing to advance WPS and whether it is fully complying with the law,” said Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security (GIWPS). 

Decades of evidence shows that WPS delivers real results for peace and security; for example, inclusion of women in peace processes make them more likely to be effective and to last. 

“Advancing WPS is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do,” Verveer adds.

Recently the State Department commented: “The Department of State is committed to implementation of the WPS Act, and will continue to comply with all applicable requirements under the law. The State Department remains dedicated to empowering and protecting women and girls.”

Despite this commitment, the Department has not explained how this will be done since the Administration eliminated key positions and offices with expertise on WPS. Secretary Hegseth also committed to complying with the minimum requirements of the law. Yet yesterday, the Administration has failed to meet this basic commitment. 

“The Trump Administration has systematically dismantled the U.S. Government’s WPS architecture, eliminating key staff, funding, training, policies, and programs across the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, USAID, and the Department of Defense. Secretary Rubio has stated that the Administration is not abandoning women’s contributions to peace and security, a recognition of how important this work is to keeping America strong at home and a leader abroad. This report is an essential tool for the Administration to articulate how it plans to continue this important work now, and for Congress to hold it accountable. Congress must ask “Where is the report?” and demand that the Administration produce an update on how it is complying with the law,” notes Kim Hart, Director for Policy and Programs at GIWPS.

WPS is a proven tool to advance America’s priorities abroad and at home. The American people deserve to know what the Administration is doing to advance WPS. The WPS report must be completed and made public. 

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