[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2500 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2500
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for
orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 3, 2004
Mr. Lugar introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for
orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, 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 ``Assistance for Orphans and Other
Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) More than 110,000,000 orphans live in sub-Saharan
Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These children
often are disadvantaged in numerous and devastating ways and
most households with orphans cannot meet the basic needs of
health care, food, clothing, and educational expenses.
(2) It is estimated that 121,000,000 children worldwide do
not attend school and that the majority of such children are
young girls. According to the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), orphans are less likely to be in school and more
likely to be working full time.
(3) School food programs, including take-home rations, in
developing countries provide strong incentives for children to
remain in school and continue their education. School food
programs can reduce short-term hunger, improve cognitive
functions, and enhance learning, behavior, and achievement.
(4) The lack of financial resources prevents many orphans
and other vulnerable children in developing countries from
attending school because of the requirement to pay school fees
and other costs of education. Providing children with free
primary school education, while simultaneously ensuring that
adequate resources exist for teacher training and
infrastructure, would help more orphans and other vulnerable
children obtain a quality education.
(5) The trauma that results from the loss of a parent can
trigger behavior problems of aggression or emotional withdrawal
and negatively affect a child's performance in school and the
child's social relations. Children living in families affected
by HIV/AIDS or who have been orphaned by AIDS often face
stigmatization and discrimination. Providing culturally
appropriate psychological counselling to such children can
assist them in successfully accepting and adjusting to their
circumstances.
(6) Orphans and other vulnerable children in developing
countries routinely are denied their inheritance or encounter
difficulties in claiming the land and other property which they
have inherited. Even when the inheritance rights of women and
children are spelled out in law, such rights are difficult to
claim and are seldom enforced. In many countries it is
difficult or impossible for a widow, even if she has young
children, to claim property after the death of her husband.
(7) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a devastating affect on
children and is deepening poverty in entire communities and
jeopardizing the health, safety, and survival of all children
in affected areas.
(8) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has increased the number of
orphans worldwide and has exacerbated the poor living
conditions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable children.
AIDS has created an unprecedented orphan crisis, especially in
sub-Saharan Africa, where children have been hardest hit. An
estimated 14,000,000 orphans have lost 1 or both parents to
AIDS. By 2010, it is estimated that over 250,000,000 children
will have been orphaned by AIDS.
(9) Although a number of organizations seek to meet the
needs of orphans or other vulnerable children, extended
families and local communities continue to be the primary
providers of support for such children.
(10) The HIV/AIDS pandemic is placing huge burdens on
communities and is leaving many orphans with little support.
Alternatives to traditional orphanages, such as community-based
resource centers, continue to evolve in response to the massive
number of orphans that has resulted from the pandemic.
(11) The AIDS orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has
implications for political stability, human welfare, and
development that extend far beyond the region, affecting
governments and people worldwide, and this crisis requires an
accelerated response from the international community.
(12) Although section 403(b) of the United States
Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of
2003 (22 U.S.C. 7673(b)) establishes the requirement that not
less than 10 percent of amounts appropriated for HIV/AIDS
assistance for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2008 shall be
expended for assistance for orphans and other vulnerable
children affected by HIV/AIDS, there is an urgent need to
provide assistance to such children prior to 2006.
(13) Numerous United States and indigenous private
voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations,
provide assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in
developing countries. Many of these organizations have
submitted applications for grants to the United States Agency
for International Development to provide increased levels of
assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children in
developing countries.
(14) Increasing the amount of assistance that is provided
by the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development through United States and indigenous
private voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations,
will provide greater protection for orphans and other vulnerable
children in developing countries.
(15) It is essential that the United States Government
adopt a comprehensive approach for the provision of assistance
to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing
countries. A comprehensive approach would ensure that important
services, such as basic care, mental health and related
services, school food programs, increased educational
opportunities and employment training and related services, and
the protection and promotion of inheritance rights for such
children, are made more accessible.
(16) Assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children
can best be provided by a comprehensive approach of the United
States Government that--
(A) ensures that Federal agencies and the private
sector coordinate efforts to prevent and eliminate
duplication of efforts and waste in the provision of
such assistance; and
(B) to the maximum extent possible, focuses on
community-based programs that allow orphans and other
vulnerable children to remain connected to the
traditions and rituals of their families and
communities.
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following
section:
``SEC. 135. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN.
``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
``(1) There are more than 110,000,000 orphans living in
sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
``(2) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has created an unprecedented
orphan crisis, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where children
have been hardest hit. The pandemic is deepening poverty in
entire communities, and is jeopardizing the health, safety, and
survival of all children in affected countries. It is estimated
that 14,000,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
``(3) The orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has
implications for human welfare, development, and political
stability that extend far beyond the region, affecting
governments and people worldwide.
``(4) Extended families and local communities are
struggling to meet the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable
children by providing food, health care, education expenses,
and clothing.
``(5) Providing assistance to such children is an important
expression of the humanitarian concern and tradition of the
people of the United States.
``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) AIDS.--The term `AIDS' has the meaning given the term
in section 104A(g)(1) of this Act.
``(2) Children.--The term `children' means persons who have
not attained the age of 18.
``(3) HIV/AIDS.--The term `HIV/AIDS' has the meaning given
the term in section 104A(g)(3) of this Act.
``(4) Orphan.--The term `orphan' means a child deprived by
death of one or both parents.
``(c) Assistance.--The President is authorized to provide
assistance for programs in developing countries to provide basic care
and services for orphans and other vulnerable children. Such programs
should provide assistance--
``(1) to support families and communities to mobilize their
own resources through the establishment of community-based
organizations to provide basic care for orphans and other
vulnerable children;
``(2) for school food programs, including the purchase of
local or regional foodstuffs where appropriate;
``(3) to reduce barriers to access to primary education
through the elimination of school fees where appropriate,
helping to otherwise cover costs of education, and improving
the quality of teaching and education infrastructure;
``(4) to provide employment training and related services
for orphans and other vulnerable children who are of legal
working age;
``(5) to protect and promote the inheritance rights of
orphans, other vulnerable children, and widows with children;
and
``(6) to provide culturally appropriate mental health
treatment and related services to orphans and other vulnerable
children.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to the President to carry out this section such sums as may be
necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
``(2) Availability of funds.--Amounts made available under
paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended
and are in addition to amounts otherwise available for such
purposes.
``(3) Relationship to other laws.--Amounts made available
for assistance pursuant to this subsection, and amounts made
available for such assistance pursuant to any other provision
of law, may be used to provide such assistance notwithstanding
any other provision of law.''.
SEC. 4. STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Requirement for Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the President shall develop a strategy
for coordinating and implementing assistance programs for orphans and
vulnerable children.
(b) Content.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall
include--
(1) the identity of each agency or department of the
Federal Government that is providing assistance for orphans and
vulnerable children in foreign countries;
(2) a description of the efforts of the head of each such
agency or department to coordinate the provision of such
assistance with other agencies or departments of the Federal
Government or nongovernmental entities;
(3) a description of a coordinated strategy to provide the
assistance authorized in section 135 of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961, as added by section 3 of this Act; and
(4) an analysis of additional coordination mechanisms or
procedures that could be implemented to carry out the purposes
of such section.
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