What America Must Do: A Woman’s Worth

For the next president, there are no quick fixes. American moral legitimacy has suffered setback after setback in recent years, and there is no singular step a president can now take that would wipe the slate clean overnight. Indeed, seven years of unilateral gestures are what have brought us to this point. The United States is still admired for the possibilities it holds, but it has lost the benefit of the doubt.

At such a moment, what is needed is a sudden and unmistakable break from the past. It should be a policy that clearly demonstrates that the world’s most powerful country is willing to harness its resources to benefit those who, so far, have been denied power. The next president should make a public commitment to use his or her office to promote global gender equality for the next four years.

Cynics will roll their eyes. Some will see this as a task best left to a U.N. agency with an acronym they can’t quite recall. Others will consider it a well-meaning and important initiative that must be pushed aside in favor of more pressing issues. They are all mistaken. Not only is gender equality an important goal in its own right, but it is also an efficient path to solving many of the problems that plague our world. In the past decade, the increased employment of women in developed economies has contributed more to global growth than China’s rise. Not surprisingly, therefore, the education of women far outstrips most other strategies for economic development in the poorest nations. Likewise, many developing countries are beset with poverty, high child mortality rates, and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Yet we now know that with every additional year of education a woman receives beyond the fourth grade, average family size drops by 20 percent and child mortality rates drop by 10 percent. A woman with a fifth-grade education cuts her risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS by more than 50 percent.

Greater female political participation consistently leads to more evenhanded policymaking. In Rwanda, where women hold nearly half of the seats in parliament, a desperately poor nation is close to achieving full healthcare coverage for its citizens. Across Scandinavia, the presence of women in prominent political roles has led to unprecedented investments in education and job training. World Bank studies now indicate that female political empowerment often leads to less corruption.

What if, for four years, the president inquired about women’s rights during each of his or her presidential visits with foreign dignitaries? What if he or she asked for a similar update from U.S. governors or mayors? What if all cabinet members included concerns about women’s educational initiatives in their talking points when abroad? Today, 185 countries have signed an international bill of rights for women. What if the United States added its name to the list? At the end of four years, the next president may not be able to declare the end of gender inequality. But, at almost no cost, he or she will be able to point to how the United States has made life better for millions. For a country looking to regain its moral standing, few options hold more promise.