Donald Trump’s budget to include US$100 million for daughter Ivanka’s women’s fund

US President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposal will include US$100 million for a global women’s fund spearheaded by his daughter Ivanka.

She said the budget, expected to be released on Monday, will include funding for the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. The administration last month launched the project, which she leads.

In a statement, Ivanka Trump noted that Friday was International Women’s Day and stressed the initiative’s goal to help 50 million women in the developing world get ahead economically over the next six years.

The new initiative involves the State Department, the National Security Council and other agencies, as it tries to coordinate current programmes and develop new ones to help women in areas such as job training, financial support and legal or regulatory reforms.

The funding will come through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which initially set up a US$50 million fund for the effort using already budgeted money.

The initiative will also be supported by programmes across the government, and private investments.

Trump has previously sought to cut USAID’s budget. His full 2020 plans were not available on Friday.

The White House is also expected to announce that the president will nominate Kelley Eckels Currie to serve as ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues.

Ivanka Trump praised Currie, who currently serves as the representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. She said Currie “is a formidable partner on women’s economic empowerment and national security issues”.

Since Ivanka Trump joined her father’s administration in early 2017, she has focused on women’s economic issues.