[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1409 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        H.R.1409

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the fourth day of January, two thousand and five


                                 An Act


 
 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 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
        (1) As of July 2004, there were more than 143,000,000 children 
    living in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the 
    Caribbean who were identified as orphans, having lost one or both 
    of their parents. Of this number, approximately 16,200,000 children 
    were identified as double orphans, having lost both parents--the 
    vast majority of whom died of AIDS. 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) Financial barriers, such as school fees and other costs of 
    education, prevent many orphans and other vulnerable children in 
    developing countries from attending school. 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 psychosocial 
    support 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 25,000,000 children will have been orphaned by 
    AIDS.
        (9) Approximately 2,500,000 children under the age of 15 
    worldwide have HIV/AIDS. Every day another 2,000 children under the 
    age of 15 are infected with HIV. Without treatment, most children 
    born with HIV can expect to die by age two, but with sustained drug 
    treatment through childhood, the chances of long-term survival and 
    a productive adulthood improve dramatically.
        (10) Few international development programs specifically target 
    the treatment of children with HIV/AIDS in developing countries. 
    Reasons for this include the perceived low priority of pediatric 
    treatment, a lack of pediatric health care professionals, lack of 
    expertise and experience in pediatric drug dosing and monitoring, 
    the perceived complexity of pediatric treatment, and mistaken 
    beliefs regarding the risks and benefits of pediatric treatment.
        (11) 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.
        (12) 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.
        (13) 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.
        (14) 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.
        (15) 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 Administrator of the United States Agency for 
    International Development to provide increased levels of assistance 
    for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries.
        (16) 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.
        (17) 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, psychosocial support, school food programs, 
    increased educational opportunities and employment training and 
    related services, the protection and promotion of inheritance 
    rights for such children, and the treatment of orphans and other 
    vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS, are made more accessible.
        (18) 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 143,000,000 orphans living sub-
    Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Of this 
    number, approximately 16,200,000 children have lost both parents.
        ``(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 including treatment of children living 
    with HIV/AIDS, education expenses, and clothing.
        ``(5) Famines, natural disasters, chronic poverty, ongoing 
    conflicts, and civil wars in developing countries are adversely 
    affecting children in these countries, the vast majority of whom 
    currently do not receive humanitarian assistance or other support 
    from the United States.
        ``(6) The United States Government administers various 
    assistance programs for orphans and other vulnerable children in 
    developing countries. In order to improve targeting and programming 
    of resources, the United States Agency for International 
    Development should develop methods to adequately track the overall 
    number of orphans and other vulnerable children receiving 
    assistance, the kinds of programs for such children by sector and 
    location, and any other such related data and analysis.
        ``(7) The United States Agency for International Development 
    should improve its capabilities to deliver assistance to orphans 
    and other vulnerable children in developing countries through 
    partnerships with private volunteer organizations, including 
    community and faith-based organizations.
        ``(8) The United States Agency for International Development 
    should be the primary United States Government agency responsible 
    for identifying and assisting orphans and other vulnerable children 
    in developing countries.
        ``(9) 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 18 years of age.
        ``(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.
        ``(5) Psychosocial support.--The term `psychosocial support' 
    includes care that addresses the ongoing psychological and social 
    problems that affect individuals, their partners, families, and 
    caregivers in order to alleviate suffering, strengthen social ties 
    and integration, provide emotional support, and promote coping 
    strategies.
    ``(c) Assistance.--The President is authorized to provide 
assistance, including providing such assistance through international 
or nongovernmental organizations, 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 increase primary school enrollment through the 
    elimination of school fees, where appropriate, or other barriers to 
    education while ensuring that adequate resources exist for teacher 
    training and 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;
        ``(6) to provide culturally appropriate psychosocial support to 
    orphans and other vulnerable children; and
        ``(7) to treat orphans and other vulnerable children with HIV/
    AIDS through the provision of pharmaceuticals, the recruitment and 
    training of individuals to provide pediatric treatment, and the 
    purchase of pediatric-specific technologies.
    ``(d) Monitoring and Evaluation.--
        ``(1) Establishment.--To maximize the sustainable development 
    impact of assistance authorized under this section, and pursuant to 
    the strategy required in section 4 of the Assistance for Orphans 
    and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005, 
    the President shall establish a monitoring and evaluation system to 
    measure the effectiveness of United States assistance to orphans 
    and other vulnerable children.
        ``(2) Requirements.--The monitoring and evaluation system 
    shall--
            ``(A) establish performance goals for the assistance and 
        expresses such goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to 
        the extent feasible;
            ``(B) establish performance indicators to be used in 
        measuring or assessing the achievement of the performance goals 
        described in subparagraph (A); and
            ``(C) provide a basis for recommendations for adjustments 
        to the assistance to enhance the impact of assistance.
    ``(e) Special Advisor for Assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable 
Children.--
        ``(1) Appointment.--
            ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of State, in consultation 
        with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
        International Development, shall appoint a Special Advisor for 
        Assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
            ``(B) Delegation.--At the discretion of the Secretary of 
        State, the authority to appoint a Special Advisor under 
        subparagraph (A) may be delegated by the Secretary of State to 
        the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development.
        ``(2) Duties.--The duties of the Special Advisor for Assistance 
    to Orphans and Vulnerable Children shall include the following:
            ``(A) Coordinate assistance to orphans and other vulnerable 
        children among the various offices, bureaus, and field missions 
        within the United States Agency for International Development.
            ``(B) Advise the various offices, bureaus, and field 
        missions within the United States Agency for International 
        Development to ensure that programs approved for assistance 
        under this section are consistent with best practices, meet the 
        requirements of this Act, and conform to the strategy outlined 
        in section 4 of the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable 
        Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005.
            ``(C) Advise the various offices, bureaus, and field 
        missions within the United States Agency for International 
        Development in developing any component of their annual plan, 
        as it relates to assistance for orphans or other vulnerable 
        children in developing countries, to ensure that each program, 
        project, or activity relating to such assistance is consistent 
        with best practices, meets the requirements of this Act, and 
        conforms to the strategy outlined in section 4 of the 
        Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in 
        Developing Countries Act of 2005.
            ``(D) Coordinate all United States assistance to orphans 
        and other vulnerable children among United States departments 
        and agencies, including the provision of assistance relating to 
        HIV/AIDS authorized under the United States Leadership Against 
        HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 
        108-25), and the amendments made by such Act (including section 
        102 of such Act, and the amendments made by such section, 
        relating to the coordination of HIV/AIDS programs).
            ``(E) Establish priorities that promote the delivery of 
        assistance to the most vulnerable populations of orphans and 
        children, particularly in those countries with a high rate of 
        HIV infection among women.
            ``(F) Disseminate a collection of best practices to field 
        missions of the United States Agency for International 
        Development to guide the development and implementation of 
        programs to assist orphans and vulnerable children.
            ``(G) Administer the monitoring and evaluation system 
        established in subsection (d).
            ``(H) Prepare the annual report required by section 5 of 
        the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in 
        Developing Countries Act of 2005.
    ``(f) 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 2006 and 2007.
        ``(2) Availability of funds.--Amounts made available under 
    paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended.''.

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, and 
transmit to the appropriate congressional committees, a strategy for 
coordinating, implementing, and monitoring assistance programs for 
orphans and vulnerable children.
    (b) Consultation.--The strategy described in subsection (a) should 
be developed in consultation with the Special Advisor for Assistance to 
Orphans and Vulnerable Children (appointed pursuant to section 
135(e)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 3 
of this Act)) and with employees of the field missions of the United 
States Agency for International Development to ensure that the 
strategy--
        (1) will not impede the efficiency of implementing assistance 
    programs for orphans and vulnerable children; and
        (2) addresses the specific needs of indigenous populations.
    (c) 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, including 
    coordination with other bilateral and multilateral donors, to 
    provide the assistance authorized in section 135 of the Foreign 
    Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3 of this Act;
        (4) an analysis of additional coordination mechanisms or 
    procedures that could be implemented to carry out the purposes of 
    such section;
        (5) a description of a monitoring system that establishes 
    performance goals for the provision of such assistance and 
    expresses such goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to the 
    extent feasible; and
        (6) a description of performance indicators to be used in 
    measuring or assessing the achievement of the performance goals 
    described in paragraph (5).

SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT.

    (a) Report.--Not later than one year after the date on which the 
President transmits to the appropriate congressional committees the 
strategy required by section 4(a), and annually thereafter, the 
President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report on the implementation of this Act and the amendments made by 
this Act.
    (b) Contents.--The report shall contain the following information 
for grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, contributions, and other 
forms of assistance awarded or entered into under section 135 of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 3 of this Act):
        (1) The amount of funding, the name of recipient organizations, 
    the location of programs and activities, the status of progress of 
    programs and activities, and the estimated number of orphans and 
    other vulnerable children who received direct or indirect 
    assistance under the programs and activities.
        (2) The results of the monitoring and evaluation system with 
    respect to assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children.
        (3) The percentage of assistance provided in support of orphans 
    or other vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS.
        (4) Any other appropriate information relating to the needs of 
    orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries that 
    could be addressed through the provision of assistance authorized 
    in section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by 
    section 3 of this Act, or under any other provision of law.

SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations and the 
Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.