White House seeks to provide increased role for women in global conflict resolution

June 11 (UPI) -- The White House announced a new initiative on Tuesday seeking to give women an increased role in global peace and security efforts.

President Donald Trump released the "United States Strategy on Women, Peace and Security" document, which the White House touted as the first standalone comprehensive policy on women, peace and security to be signed worldwide.

"The strategy aims to ensure women are no longer absent from, or overlooked at, the negotiating table and it modernizes international programs to improve equality for and the empowerment of women," the White Hosue said.

The strategy comes in response to the Women, Peace and Security Act of 2017, which called for a government-wide approach to increasing women's participation in resolving overseas conflicts.

As part of the strategy, agencies such as the Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security will be directed to ensure that women can meaningfully participate in resolving conflict and countering terrorism.

It also calls for women to be provided with greater protection from physical threats and equal access to private assistance programs in the United States and worldwide.

President Trump's daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers including Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., for a discussion on the strategy.

The Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative "recognizes that good defense policy requires women's participation and empowerment, yet women are critically underrepresented in conflict-resolution and post-conflict peace building efforts," she wrote on Twitter. "Almost 20 years after UN Resolution 1325, the U.S. is proud to show leadership as the first and only country in the world with a comprehensive law on women, peace and security."