Through the initiative, the president's daughter seeks to highlight the importance of promoting the economic empowerment of women in the Americas

At the last Summit of the Americas in Peru, Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of US President Donald Trump, presented what she called "a new initiative to boost the economic empowerment of women in the region." According to the newspaper La República, the businesswoman intends to become a role model for Latina women, as she is considered one of the most powerful women in the United States.

Leer en español: ¿En qué va el fondo de Ivanka Trump para emprendedoras en América Latina?

Faced with the characteristics of the project, Ivanka Trump only pointed out that it seeks to "highlight the importance of promoting the economic empowerment of women in the Americas and throughout the world through a public-private partnership." She also noted that the idea arises when noting the difficulties faced by women seeking to undertake in the region. According to La República, "women have a deficit of 300 billion dollars in access to credit compared to men, and most of it is registered in Latin America."

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The businesswoman also explained to the newspaper El País that "although rates of female participation in the labor force in Latin America and the Caribbean improved, from 44% in 1990 to 54% in 2014, the rates of formation of companies owned by women have remained low, barely 12% of all businesses. " Because of this, Ivanka Trump said she wanted to have the support of the different Latin American countries. Additionally, last year Ivanka Trump  promoted the Financial Initiative for Women Entrepreneurs (We-FI) to the World Bank. Thanks to this, today it has become a fund in conjunction with the multinational organization, which seeks to promote entrepreneurship in women.

Ivanka Trump reiterates her intentions.

Since the aforementioned announcements, much information has not been made public regarding the way in which the project has been developed. However, last June while the Trump government was strongly criticized in the wake of the migration crisis that led to the separation of children from their parents on the southern border, Ivanka again emphasized the need to promote new economic opportunities in Latin America and expressed her disagreement with her father's immigration policies. The newspaper El Diario said that this message "has to do with immigration issues, since the main complaint of those who come to the United States from those areas (Central and South America) accuse lack of opportunities and insecurity, although the latter issue was not addressed for the also businesswoman ".

Through a tweet, the businesswoman said: "I agree with many people, from the Left and the Right, who argue that we should help foster stability in Central + South America to help them create economic opportunities." And she affirmed that "# 2XAmericas It was organized in Peru this May to promote this important objective." In addition, in this tweet she mentioned the Department of State, the Private Investment Corporation Abroad and the US Agency for International Development.

The tweet was accompanied by a video in which the businesswoman talks about an investment of 150 million dollars in the project. In addition to this, in a recent press conference Ivanka said that "we want to work with our partners in the private sector to raise the necessary capital to finally close this persistent credit gap, so that (per) every dollar we invest will be mobilized until three dollars from the private sector, "since" 2XAmericas will empower women in Latin America. And when women are successful, families are successful, communities are successful and countries are successful. "

I agree w / the many people, on the Left and Right, arguing that we must help foster stability in Central + South America by helping create economic oppportunity. # 2XAmericas was launched in Peru this May in furtherance of this important goal. @opicgov @StateDept @USAID https://t.co/GmZcv2swei

– Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) June 24, 2018

Although not much is known about the results obtained by the initiative of Ivanka Trump, according to a press release from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), after the meeting in Peru "the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, and senior executives from Google, IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, MasterCard and Danper, announced their commitment to IDB's # 100kChallenge initiative to train, connect and certify more than 100,000 women entrepreneurs from the Americas for the year 2021. "

LatinAmerican Post | Sofía Carreño
Copy Edited by Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz