Fòs Feminista | International Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
TRANSPARENCY SCORE
The transparency grade represents the expectation that the federal government should make data about U.S. global health assistance available, accessible, and informative. To see the transparency grade, toggle below.

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TRANSPARENCY SCORE
The transparency grade represents the expectation that the federal government should make data about U.S. global health assistance available, accessible, and informative. To see the transparency grade, toggle below.

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Fòs Feminista | International Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
B

This is an average of the three domain scores below.

YEAR 2018

Congress

Congress received an 85 (B) with transparency and an 86 (B) without transparency because it proposed adequate funding for family planning, HIV and AIDS, and maternal and child health programs in the appropriations process in 2018. Congress’ grades increased since 2017 in all three domains due to adequate funding and high transparency, despite the fact that there was little legislation passed by Congress in 2018. The legislation that was passed in 2018 was not gender transformative, but was based in evidence and human rights principles and was responsive to need.

Selecting a document will download the file
2018_Congress-Budget.pdf

A
A

HIV & AIDS

 

Congress received a 93 (A) with transparency and a 95 (A) without transparency for HIV and AIDS because it passed two pieces of legislation related to HIV and AIDS in 2018. Neither piece of legislation hindered the ability of U.S. global health assistance to support comprehensive HIV and AIDS programs globally that are based in evidence and human rights principles. However, both pieces of legislation had the potential to include gender transformative language, but did not. The Congressional budget within this domain received a high score because the budget request included adequate funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Transparency for this domain was also high for both legislation and funding information.

The Fòs Feminista data index grades government agencies on policies and funding impacting family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV & AIDS foreign assistance.

Selecting a document will download the file
2018_Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (S. 2736)
The Asia Reassurance Initiative Act discussed U.S. efforts to improve relations with countries in Asia and promote democracy and human rights within the region. These efforts were responsive to need and based in human rights principles, particularly related to reducing poverty and violations of human rights that have occurred within the region. However, the legislation was not gender transformative or strongly evidence-based in HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment efforts. It mentioned "reducing the HIV and AIDS infection rate” through the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), but provided no programmatic guidance on how to accomplish this. The LMI was launched in 2009 and is a multinational partnership among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the U.S. to create integrated sub-regional cooperation among the five Lower Mekong countries. The LMI could serve as a promising platform for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment efforts, but this could only be implemented if additional policy and technical guidance are released. The legislation also briefly mentioned supporting women’s equality, but did not discuss the importance of addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in promoting democracy and human rights. Given the prevalence of GBV against ethnic and religious minorities in the region, this was a missed opportunity by Congress to address this issue. For these reasons, this legislation will likely only have minimal direct effect on the ability of U.S. global health assistance to support comprehensive HIV and AIDS programs in the region.
2018_PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018 (H.R. 6651)
The PEPFAR Extension Act amended the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight Act of 2013 by extending the authorization of PEPFAR through FY 2023. The legislation allows PEPFAR to continue its programming, which is largely evidence-based, responsive to need, and based in human rights norms. However, it also maintained previous authorization language that is not gender transformative and continued clauses that cause harm to key populations, such as the Anti-Prostitution Loyalty Oath and the refusal clause. With the reauthorization, Congress had the opportunity to revise these harmful aspects of the authorization of PEPFAR and chose not to do so. As a result, this legislation moderately promoted the ability of U.S. global health assistance to support HIV and AIDS programs that are evidence-informed, responsive to need, consistent with human rights principles, and gender transformative.
B+
A-

Maternal and Child Health (MCH)

 

Congress received an 89 (B+) with transparency and a 90 (A-) without transparency for Maternal and Child Health because, although no new legislation was passed in this domain, the FY 2019 Congressional budget included an appropriation of funds for UNICEF and UNIFEM (now UN Women) — despite the absence of funding for both in the President’s budget request. Congress also appropriated more funding for USAID’s maternal and child health programs in FY 2019 than the amount appropriated in FY 2018. The transparency score was lowered due to a lack of clarity regarding UNIFEM funding.

The Fòs Feminista data index grades government agencies on policies and funding impacting family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV & AIDS foreign assistance.

Selecting a document will download the file
C
C

Family Planning (FP)

 

Congress received a 74 (C) with transparency and a 74 (C) without transparency for Family Planning because the enacted FY 2019 Congressional budget appropriated inadequate funds for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and USAID in 2018. Congress did not pass any legislation related to family planning in 2018. Information on family planning legislation and funding was available, so the transparency score did not decrease Congress’ grade for this domain.