On Friday, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order establishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI) and the President’s Advisory Commission on AA and NHPI.

In recent months, hate crimes against Asian-Americans have increased due to the xenophobic rhetoric that blames Asians for the spread of COVID-19. Human Rights Watch reported earlier this month that government leaders in countries like the US and the UK directly or indirectly fueled hate crimes, racism and xenophobia by using anti-China rhetoric.

A White House fact sheet said that “systemic barriers to equity, justice, and opportunity have put the American dream out of reach for many AA and NHPI communities, and racism, nativism, and xenophobia against AA and NHPI communities continues to threaten safety and dignity of AA and NHPI families.” In January, Biden signed an executive order to promote equity and racial justice through the federal government, followed by a memorandum directing all federal agencies to adopt measures to ensure their official acts prevent anti-Asian bias and xenophobia. The executive order builds on these policies.

The Department of Health and Human Services will carry out the White House Initiative on AA and NHPI, with Krystal Ka’ai as its executive director. The initiative seeks to “advance equity, justice and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities by coordinating Federal interagency policymaking and program development efforts” to eradicate the systemic barriers faced by them. It aims to resolve the federal statistical systems’ systemic lack of disaggregated data on AA and NHPI communities. It will also increase language access and assistance programs for AA and NHPI communities across federal programs.

Further, the executive order also establishes a renewed President’s Advisory Commission on AA and NHPI. The commission will advise the president on how public, private and non-profit sectors may collaborate to advance equity and opportunity for these communities. It will also develop policies to combat anti-Asian xenophobia and violence, as well as methods to strengthen AA and NHPI communities through federal grantmaking and policies to address intersectional barriers within these communities.

The move comes just days after Biden signed a bill aimed at bolstering federal efforts to address hate crimes against Asian-Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.