WASHINGTON:Â The Joe Biden administration has allocated $200 million for gender equity and equality programs in Pakistan.
This was disclosed in a long thread posted by US Congressman Rep. Dan Bishop while sharing details of the bill passed in the USA for the fiscal year 2023.
A member of the Republican party, Dan Bishop is known for authoring House Bill 2, also known as the Bathroom bill, which prohibited transgender people from using public restrooms other than those of their biological sex as mentioned on their birth certificates.
Gender programs in Pakistan and a $200 million for a Gender Equity Fund. pic.twitter.com/PiH01DjBY1
— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) December 20, 2022
The Gender Equity Fund allotted for Pakistan is part of a mammoth 4155-page $1.7 trillion government spending bill introduced in the Senate, marking an increase from around $1.5 trillion in the last fiscal year.
The bill is meant to fund the federal agencies of the US government through September 2023, which also includes funding for various social programs across the world. The bill has been accepted for discussion by the Senate in a 70-25, and will be passed by this weekend as Democratic and Republican negotiators have agreed to pass the bill to prevent a partial shutdown of federal agencies.
It is pertinent to note that the fund allotted for this purpose has registered a whopping increase in the last few years. In December 2020, the US congress cleared $10 million for promoting gender equality, along with $15 million for strengthening the democracy in Pakistan. Therefore, $200 million allotted for gender equity in Pakistan is a 20-fold increase from the 2020 allotment for the same cause.
