AJWS’s Current U.S. Advocacy Priorities: Policy and Legislation
United States foreign policy affects countless people around the world—including millions in the countries where AJWS works. The AJWS Advocacy team elevates the voices of our partners, advocating to the U.S. government for U.S. foreign policy to promotes and strengthens human rights and combats oppression and injustice in our partners’ communities.
Today’s Top AJWS Advocacy Priorities
Strengthen U.S. foreign policy that centers human rights by:
- Defending and bolstering the resources available to U.S. government departments and agencies working to support human rights defenders and civil society globally to ensure that human rights principles and democratic norms are not abandoned in U.S. foreign policy decision-making.
- Supporting universal human rights instruments and international justice and accountability mechanisms.
- Denouncing the use of narrow definitions of religious freedom and “natural rights” that harm all people and instead supporting inclusive language and policies that seek to protect everyone, especially those most at risk of human rights violations.
- Supporting robust funding for and bold leadership in multilateral organizations and agreements.
Promote comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all people worldwide by:
- Advocating for appropriations requests to include as strong global health funding as possible.
- Reauthorizing the life-saving President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for the long-term.
- Working toward full legislative repeal of the global gag rule by reintroducing the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (Global HER) Act.
- Standing up against persecution and abuse of LGBTQI+ people abroad by calling for accountability for those who commit human rights abuses against LGBTQI+ people.
Promote justice and accountability around the world by:
- Supporting the civil and political rights of all people globally to protest and speak out against abusive governments, participate fully in the political process and access information from their governments without fear of reprisal or criminalization.
- Using all U.S. diplomatic and economic levers to uphold the rights of persecuted minorities, journalists, human rights defenders and other grassroots movements globally, especially those that prioritize movements led by young people, women and Indigenous people.
- Supporting credible domestic and international justice and accountability efforts for victims of human rights abuses in the wake of conflict or mass atrocities.
- Increasing support and funding within the international affairs budget for atrocity prevention, humanitarian response and human rights-related accounts, particularly those that serve the most marginalized.
