113 S2591 IS: Girls Count Act of 2014
U.S. Senate
2014-07-10
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.
This Act may be cited as the Girls Count Act of 2014
.
2.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1)
According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2014 international figures, 1 person in 8—or 12
percent of the total population of the world—is a girl or young woman age
10 through 24.
(2)
The Census Bureau's data also asserts that young people are the fastest growing segment of the
population in
developing countries.
(3)
Even though most countries have birth registration laws, every year 51,000,000 children under age 5
are not registered at birth, most of whom are girls.
(4)
A nationally recognized proof of birth system is the key to determining a child’s citizenship,
nationality, place of birth, parentage, and age. Without such a system, a
passport,
drivers license, or national identification card is extremely difficult to
obtain.
The lack of such documentation prevents girls and women from officially
participating in and benefitting from the formal economic, legal, and
political sectors in their countries.
(5)
Without the ability to gain employment and identification necessary to officially participate in
these sectors, women and girls are confined to the home and remain unpaid
and often-invisible members of society.
(6)
Girls undertake much of the domestic labor needed for poor families to survive: carrying water,
harvesting crops, tending livestock, caring for younger children, and
doing chores.
(7)
Accurate assessments of access to education, poverty levels, and overall census activities are
hampered by the lack of official information on women and girls. Without
this rudimentary information, assessments of foreign assistance and
domestic social welfare programs cannot be accurately gauged.
(8)
To ensure that women and girls are fully integrated into United States foreign assistance policies
and programs, that the specific needs of girls are, to the maximum extent
possible, addressed in the design, implementation, and evaluation of
development assistance programs, and that women and girls have the power
to effect the decisions that affect their lives, all girls should be
counted and have access to birth certificates and other official
documentation.
3.
It is the policy of the United States to—
(1)
encourage countries to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enact laws that ensure
girls and boys of all ages are full participants in society, including
requiring birth certifications and some type of national identity card to
ensure that all citizens, including girls, are counted;
(2)
enhance training and capacity-building in developing countries, local nongovernmental
organizations, and other civil society organizations to effectively
address the needs of birth registries in countries where girls are
undercounted;
(3)
include organizations representing children and families in the design, implementation, and
monitoring of programs under this Act; and
(4)
incorporate into the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programs at all levels
an understanding of the distinctive impact that such policies and programs
may have on girls.
4.
United States assistance to support counting of girls in the developing world
(a)
The Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to—
(1)
support programs that will contribute to improved and sustainable Civil Registration and Vital
Statistics Systems (CRVS) with a focus on birth registration as the first
and most important life event to be registered;
(2)
promote programs that build the capacity of developing countries’ national and local legal and
policy frameworks to prevent discrimination against girls;
(3)
support programs to help increase property rights, social security, home ownership, land tenure
security, and inheritance rights for women; and
(4)
assist key ministries in the governments of developing countries, including health, interior,
youth, and education ministries, to ensure that girls from poor households
obtain equitable access to social programs.
(b)
Coordination with multilateral organizations
The Secretary and the Administrator shall coordinate with the World Bank, relevant United Nations
agencies and programs,
and other relevant organizations to urge and work with countries to enact,
implement, and enforce laws that specifically collect data on girls and
establish registration and identification laws to ensure girls are active
participants in the social, economic, legal and political sectors of
society in their countries.
(c)
Coordination with private sector and civil society organizations
The Secretary and the Administrator should work with United States, international, and local
private sector and civil society organizations to advocate for the
registration and documentation of all girls and boys in developing
countries to prevent exploitation, violence, and other abuses.
5.
The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in all relevant congressionally mandated reports
and documents the following information:
(1)
To the extent possible, United States foreign assistance and development assistance beneficiaries
by age, gender, marital
status, location, and school enrollment
status in all programs and sectors.
(2)
A description of how United States foreign assistance and development assistance benefits girls.
(3)
Information on programs that address the particular needs of girls.
6.
Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for United States foreign assistance programs of a
Federal department or agency that administers such programs for a fiscal
year, up to 5 percent of such amounts are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act for such fiscal year.
7.
In this Act:
(1)
The term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.
(2)
The term development assistance means—
(A)
assistance under—
(i)
chapter 1 of part 1 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.);
(ii)
the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.);
(iii)
the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C.
7601 et seq.);
(iv)
title V of the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 290h et
seq.; relating to the African Development Foundation); and
(v)
section 401 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1969 (22 U.S.C. 290f; relating to the Inter-American
Foundation);
(B)
official development assistance under any provision of law; and
(C)
reconstruction assistance under any provision of law.
(3)
The term foreign assistance means any tangible or intangible item provided by the United States Government to a foreign
country or international organization under the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) or any other Act, including any training,
service, or technical advice, any item of real, personal, or mixed
property, any agricultural commodity, any gift, loan, sale, credit,
guarantee, or export subsidy, United States dollars, and any currencies of
any foreign country which are owned by the United States Government.
(4)
The term Secretary means the Secretary of State.
8.
This Act shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.