[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1580 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1580
To enhance the transparency, improve the coordination, and intensify
the impact of assistance to support access to primary and secondary
education for displaced children and persons, including women and
girls, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 19, 2017
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Manchin) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enhance the transparency, improve the coordination, and intensify
the impact of assistance to support access to primary and secondary
education for displaced children and persons, including women and
girls, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Girls' Access to
Education in Vulnerable Settings Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) At the start of 2017, more than 65,000,000 people have
been displaced by disasters and conflicts around the world, the
highest number recorded since the end of World War II, of which
more than 21,000,000 people are refugees.
(2) More than half of the population of displaced people
are children and, according to the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 4,000,000 school-aged
displaced children lack access to primary education.
(3) Education offers socioeconomic opportunities,
psychological stability, and physical protection for displaced
people, particularly for women and girls, who might otherwise
be vulnerable to severe forms of trafficking in persons (as
such term is defined in section 103(9) of the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9))), child
marriage, sexual exploitation, or economic disenfranchisement,
and contributes to long-term recovery and economic
opportunities for displaced people and for the communities
hosting them.
(4) Displaced children face considerable barriers to
accessing educational services and, because the duration of
such displacement is, on average, 20 years, such children may
spend the entirety of their childhood without access to such
services.
(5) Despite the rising need for such services, less than
two percent of global emergency aid was directed toward
educational services in 2016.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) it is critical to ensure that children, particularly
girls, displaced by conflicts overseas are able to access
educational services because such access can combat extremism
and reduce exploitation and poverty; and
(2) the educational needs of vulnerable women and girls
should be considered in the design, implementation, and
evaluation of related United States foreign assistance policies
and programs.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) partner with and encourage other countries, public and
private multilateral institutions, and nongovernmental and
civil society organizations, including faith-based
organizations and organizations representing parents and
children, to support efforts to ensure that displaced children
have access to safe primary and secondary education;
(2) work with donors to enhance training and capacity-
building for the governments of countries hosting significant
numbers of displaced people to design, implement, and monitor
programs to effectively address barriers to such education;
(3) incorporate into the design and implementation of such
programs measures to evaluate the impact of the programs on
girls, with respect to the reduction of child marriage, gender-
based violence, and severe forms of trafficking in persons (as
such term is defined in section 103(9) of the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9))); and
(4) coordinate with the governments of countries hosting
significant numbers of displaced people to--
(A) promote the inclusion of displaced children
into the educational systems of such countries; and
(B) develop innovative approaches to providing safe
primary and secondary educational opportunities in
circumstances in which such inclusion is not possible
or appropriate, such as schools that permit more
children to be educated by extending the hours of
schooling and expanding the number of teachers.
SEC. 5. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL SERVICES FOR
DISPLACED CHILDREN.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development are authorized
to prioritize and advance ongoing efforts to support programs that--
(1) provide safe primary and secondary education for
displaced children;
(2) build the capacity of institutions in countries hosting
displaced people to prevent discrimination against displaced
children, especially displaced girls, who seek access to such
education; and
(3) help increase the access of displaced children,
especially displaced girls, to educational, economic, and
entrepreneurial opportunities, including through the
governmental authorities responsible for educational or youth
services in such host countries.
(b) Coordination With Multilateral Organizations.--The Secretary
and the Administrator are authorized to coordinate with the World Bank,
appropriate agencies of the United Nations, and other relevant
multilateral organizations to work with governments in other countries
to collect relevant data, disaggregated by age and gender, on the
ability of displaced people to access education and participate in
economic activity, in order to improve the targeting, monitoring, and
evaluation of related assistance efforts.
(c) Coordination With Private Sector and Civil Society
Organizations.--The Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to
work with private sector and civil society organizations to promote
safe primary and secondary education for displaced children.
SEC. 6. REPORT.
During the five-year period beginning on the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary and the Administrator shall include in any
report or evaluation submitted to Congress relating to a foreign
assistance program for natural or manmade disaster relief or response
the following information (to the extent practicable and appropriate):
(1) A breakdown of the beneficiaries of such program by
location, age, gender, marital status, and school enrollment
status.
(2) A description of how such program benefits displaced
people.
(3) A description of any primary or secondary educational
services supported by such program that specifically address
the needs of displaced girls.
<all>