[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 853 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 853
Calling on the United States and international donors to prioritize
children, including the efforts of UNICEF, in COVID-19 rebuilding
efforts.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 14, 2021
Ms. Jacobs of California (for herself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling on the United States and international donors to prioritize
children, including the efforts of UNICEF, in COVID-19 rebuilding
efforts.
Whereas globally, children have carried the heaviest burdens of the COVID-19
pandemic and the resulting economic crisis;
Whereas during the pandemic, approximately 80 million children under 18 were
unable to access critical vaccines;
Whereas school closures due to the pandemic have affected 1.6 billion children,
and at least one-third of children globally have been unable to access
remote learning;
Whereas globally, there are 31 countries unprepared for remote learning, almost
half of which kept their schools closed for at least half of the COVID-
19 pandemic, leaving 102 million students without any form of education;
Whereas 1.8 billion children have faced increased risk of forced labor, sexual
exploitation, and abuse;
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated physical and sexual violence
against girls;
Whereas the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that the pandemic
will push 142 million children into poverty, most of whom are in sub-
Saharan Africa and South Asia;
Whereas COVID-related loss of income and the lack of job resources have
increased the youths' vulnerability to recruitment in armed groups or
banditry gangs in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, and Nigeria;
Whereas an estimated 4.9 million children worldwide have lost a parent,
custodial grandparent, or primary caregiver because of the pandemic;
Whereas the mental health of children living in conflict-affected regions is
severely deteriorating as a direct result of the socioeconomic hardships
of COVID-19;
Whereas the United States leads the world in sharing COVID-19 vaccines,
committing to share over 1.1 billion doses with countries around the
world, and has already shipped more than 225 million doses to over 100
countries;
Whereas lower income countries still struggle to receive needed COVID-19
vaccines and supplies like oxygen and syringes;
Whereas the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
estimates that the pandemic could increase the number of acutely food
insecure people to 270 million;
Whereas the World Bank estimated that in 2020, an additional 19 to 30 million
people were pushed into extreme poverty in conflict-affected countries;
Whereas government responses and economic impacts of COVID-19 are estimated to
ignite conflict in 13 more countries by 2022;
Whereas African countries in particular have largely been left without access to
COVID-19 vaccines, with less than 5 percent of the African population
being fully vaccinated;
Whereas, for 75 years, UNICEF has worked tirelessly to support the rights and
well-being of every child, in partnership with the United States, and
has provided relief for children and adolescents in war-ravaged
countries and for child health purposes generally, and to provide,
without discrimination, assistance to vulnerable children around the
world;
Whereas UNICEF has worked with partners such as Rotary International, Kiwanis
International, the American Red Cross, and Lions Club International to
decrease child mortality rates by more than half since 1990 and to
provide critical health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and education
services and supplies for millions of children; and
Whereas UNICEF plays a key role in the United Nations global response to the
COVID-19 crisis including by delivering vaccines, medicines, and other
supplies around the world, particularly for vulnerable populations,
providing personal protective equipment and facilitating training on
infection prevention and control for health workers: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls on the United States to increase support for and
work with international partners, including the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), Education Cannot Wait, and the Global
Partnership for Education, to address the education and health
needs of every child as the world recovers and rebuilds from
the global pandemic;
(2) urges the Department of State, the United States Agency
for International Development, and other agencies to work with
UNICEF and other partners to reimagine basic education programs
in foreign assistance, to ensure access across childhood from
the earliest years through adolescence to early childhood
interventions, basic education services, modern tools and
learning platforms including online, and youth skills-building
programs that lead to career opportunities;
(3) urges the United States Government to reinforce its
diplomatic efforts with the international community to increase
global support for the pandemic response in low- and middle-
income countries, especially to promote greater vaccine equity
across sub-Saharan Africa; and
(4) urges the United States to support Giga, a global
initiative to connect every school to the internet and every
young person to educational resources and opportunities.
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