Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act of 2007

or the

GROWTH Act of 2007

. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings and statement of policy.

Sec. 3. Microenterprise development assistance for women in developing countries.

Sec. 4. Support for women’s small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries.

Sec. 5. Support for private property rights and land tenure security for women in developing countries.

Sec. 6. Support for women’s access to employment in developing countries.

Sec. 7. Trade benefits for women in developing countries.

Sec. 8. Exchanges between United States entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Sec. 9. Assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account.

Sec. 10. Growth Fund.

Sec. 11. Data collection.

Sec. 12. Support for local, indigenous women’s organizations in developing countries.

Sec. 13. Report.

Findings and statement of policy

(a)

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Women around the world are especially vulnerable to poverty. They tend to work longer hours, are compensated less, and have less income stability and fewer economic opportunities than men. (2)Women’s share of the labor force is increasing in almost all regions of the world. Women comprise more than 40 percent of the labor force in eastern and southeastern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean, nearly a third of the labor force in Central America, and nearly two-fifths of the labor force in South America. About 250 million young women will enter the labor force worldwide between 2003 and 2015. (3)Women are more likely to work in informal employment relationships in poor countries compared to men. In sub-Saharan Africa, 84 percent of female non-agricultural workers are informally employed compared to 63 percent of men. In Latin America, 58 percent of women are informally employed compared to 48 percent of men. Informal employment is characterized by lower wages and greater variability of earnings, less stability, absence of labor organization, and fewer social protections than formal employment. (4)Changes in the economy of a poor country affect women and men differently; women are disproportionately affected by long-term recessions, crises, and economic restructuring and they often miss out on many of the benefits of growth. (5)International trade can be an important tool of economic development and poverty reduction and its benefits should extend to all members of society, particularly the world’s poor women. (6)Promoting fair labor practices for women, and access to information, education, land, credit, physical capital, and social services is a means of boosting productivity and earnings for the economies of developing nations. For example, according to the World Bank, in sub-Saharan Africa, inequality between men and women in employment and education suppressed annual per capita growth during the period 1960–1992 by .8 percentage points per year. (7)Expanding economic opportunity for women in developing countries can have a positive effect on child nutrition, health, and education, as women often invest their income in their families. Increasing women’s income can also decrease women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, and trafficking, and make them more resistant to the impact of natural disasters. (8)Economic opportunities for women, including microfinance and microenterprise development and the promotion of women’s small- and medium-sized businesses, are a means of generating gainful, safe, and dignified employment for the poor. (9)Women play a vital, but often unrecognized, role in averting violence, resolving conflict, and rebuilding economies in post-conflict societies. Women in conflict-affected areas face even greater challenges in accessing employment, training, property rights, credit, and financial and non-financial resources for business development. Ensuring economic opportunity for women in conflict-affected areas plays a significant role in economic rehabilitation and consolidation of peace. (10)Given the important role of women in the economies of poor nations, poverty alleviation programs funded by the Government of the United States in poor countries should seek to enhance the level of economic opportunity available to women in those countries. (b)

Statement of policy

It is, therefore, the policy of the United States to actively promote development interventions that enhance economic opportunities for women, including programs and policies to— (1)promote women’s ability to start micro, small, or medium-sized business enterprises, and enable women to grow such enterprises, particularly from micro to small enterprises and from small to medium-sized enterprises, or sustain current business capacity; (2)promote the rights of women to own, manage, and inherit property, including land, encourage adoption of laws and policies that support the rights of women to enforce these claims in administrative and judicial tribunals, and address conflicts with customary laws and practices to increase the security of women’s tenure; (3)increase women’s access to employment, enable women to access higher quality jobs with better remuneration and working conditions in both informal and formal employment, and improve the quality of jobs in sectors dominated by women by improving the remuneration and working conditions of those jobs; and (4)bring the benefits of international trade policy to women in developing countries and ensure that trade policies and agreements adequately reflect the respective needs of poor women and men.

Microenterprise development assistance for women in developing countries

(a)

Authorization; implementation; targeted assistance

(1)

Authorization

Section 252(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a(a)) is amended— (A)in paragraph (1), by adding at the end before the semicolon the following: , including specific activities to enhance the empowerment of women, such as leadership training, basic health and HIV/AIDS education, and literacy skills; (B)in paragraph (3)— (i)by adding at the end before the semicolon the following: , including women; and (ii)by striking and at the end; (C)in paragraph (4)— (i)by adding at the end before the period the following: , including initiatives to eliminate legal and institutional barriers to women’s ownership of assets, access to credit, access to information and communication technologies, and engagement in business activities within or outside of the home; and (ii)by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and (D)by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(5)microfinance and microenterprise development programs that— (A)specifically target women with respect to outreach and marketing; and (B)provide products specifically to address women’s assets, needs, and the barriers women encounter with respect to participation in enterprise and financial services.

(2)

Implementation

Section 252(b)(2)(C) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a(b)(2)(C)) is amended— (A)in clause (ii)— (i)by striking microenterprise development field and inserting microfinance and microenterprise development field; and (ii)by striking and at the end; (B)in clause (iii)— (i)by inserting after competitive the following: , take into consideration the anticipated impact of the proposals on the empowerment of women and men, respectively,; and (ii)by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and (C)by adding at the end the following new clause:

(iv)give preference to proposals from providers of assistance that demonstrate the greatest knowledge of clients’ needs and capabilities, including proposals that ensure that women are involved in the design and implementation of services and programs.

(3)

Targeted assistance

Section 252(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a(c)) is amended in the first sentence by adding at the end before the period the following: , particularly women. (b)

Monitoring system

Section 253(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211b(b)) is amended in paragraph (1), by inserting after performance goals for the assistance the following: on a sex-disaggregated basis. (c)

Microenterprise development credits

Section 256(b)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2212(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end before the semicolon the following: , with an emphasis on clients who are women. (d)

Report

(1)

Contents

Section 258(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(12)An estimate of the potential global demand for microfinance and microenterprise development for women, determined in collaboration with practitioners in a cost-effective manner, and a description of the Agency’s plan to help meet such demand.

(2)

Additional requirement

Section 258 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214) is amended— (A)by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and (B)by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection:

(c)

Additional requirement

All information in the report required by this section relating to beneficiaries of assistance authorized by this title shall be disaggregated by sex to the maximum extent practicable.

Support for women’s small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries

(a)

In general

The Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall— (1)where appropriate, carry out programs, projects, and activities for enterprise development for women in developing countries that meet the requirements of subsection (b); and (2)ensure that such programs, projects, and activities that are carried out pursuant to assistance provided under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) meet the requirements of subsection (b). (b)

Requirements

The requirements referred to in subsection (a) are the following: (1)In coordination with developing country governments and interested individuals and organizations, encourage or enhance laws, regulations, enforcement, and other practices that promote access to banking and financial services for women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises, and eliminate or reduce regulatory barriers that may exist in this regard. (2)Promote access to information and communication technologies (ICT) with training in ICT for women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises. (3)Provide training, through local associations of women-owned enterprises or nongovernmental organizations in record keeping, financial and personnel management, international trade, business planning, marketing, policy advocacy, leadership development, and other relevant areas. (4)Provide resources to establish and enhance local, national, and international networks and associations of women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises. (5)Provide incentives for nongovernmental organizations and regulated financial intermediaries to develop products, services, and marketing and outreach strategies specifically designed to facilitate and promote women’s participation in small and medium-sized business development programs by addressing women’s assets, needs, and the barriers they face to participation in enterprise and financial services. (6)Seek to award contracts to qualified indigenous women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, including for post-conflict reconstruction and to facilitate employment of indigenous women, including during post-conflict reconstruction in jobs not traditionally undertaken by women.

Support for private property rights and land tenure security for women in developing countries

(a)

In general

The Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall— (1)where appropriate, carry out programs, projects, and activities for the promotion of private property rights and land tenure security for women in developing countries that— (A)are implemented by local, indigenous nongovernmental and community-based organizations dedicated to addressing the needs of women, especially women’s organizations; and (B)otherwise meet the requirements of subsection (b); and (2)ensure that such programs, projects, and activities that are carried out pursuant to assistance provided under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) meet the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1). (b)

Requirements

The requirements referred to in subsection (a) are the following: (1)Advocate to amend and harmonize statutory and customary law to give women equal rights to own, use, and inherit property. (2)Promote legal literacy among women and men about property rights for women and how to exercise such rights. (3)Assist women in making land claims and protecting women’s existing claims. (4)Advocate for equitable land titling and registration for women. (c)

Amendment

Section 103(b)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151a(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after establishment of more equitable and more secure land tenure arrangements the following: , especially for women.

Support for women’s access to employment in developing countries

The Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall, where appropriate, carry out the following: (1)Support activities to increase women’s access to employment and to higher quality employment with better remuneration and working conditions in developing countries, including access to insurance and other social safety nets, in informal and formal employment relative to core labor standards determined by the International Labor Organization. Such activities should include— (A)public education efforts to inform poor women and men of their legal rights related to employment; (B)education and vocational training tailored to enable poor women to access opportunities in potential growth sectors in their local economies and in jobs within the formal and informal sectors where women are not traditionally highly represented; (C)efforts to support self-employed poor women or wage workers to form or join independent unions or other labor associations to increase their income and improve their working conditions; and (D)advocacy efforts to protect the rights of women in the workplace, including— (i)developing programs with the participation of civil society to eliminate gender-based violence; and (ii)providing capacity-building assistance to women’s organizations to effectively research and monitor labor rights conditions. (2)Provide assistance to governments and organizations in developing countries seeking to design and implement laws, regulations, and programs to improve working conditions for women and to facilitate their entry into and advancement in the workplace.

Trade benefits for women in developing countries

In order to ensure that poor women in developing countries are able to benefit from international trade, the President, acting through the Secretary of State (acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance) and the heads of other appropriate departments and agencies of the Government of the United States, shall, where appropriate, carry out the following in developing countries: (1)Provide training and education to women in civil society, including those organizations representing poor women, and to women-owned enterprises and associations of such enterprises, on how to respond to economic opportunities created by trade preference programs, trade agreements, or other policies creating market access, including training on United States market access requirements and procedures. (2)Provide capacity building for women entrepreneurs, including microentrepreneurs, on production strategies, quality standards, formation of cooperatives, market research, and market development. (3)Provide capacity building to women, including poor women, to promote diversification of products and value-added processing. (4)Provide training to official government negotiators representing developing countries in order to enhance the ability of such negotiators to formulate trade policy and negotiate agreements that take into account the respective needs and priorities of a country’s poor women and men. (5)Provide training to local, indigenous women’s groups in developing countries in order to enhance their ability to collect information and data, formulate proposals, and inform and impact official government negotiators representing their country in international trade negotiations of the respective needs and priorities of a country’s poor women and men.

Exchanges between United States entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs in developing countries

(a)

Department of Commerce

The Secretary of Commerce shall, where appropriate, encourage United States business participants on trade missions to developing countries to— (1)meet with representatives of women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises in such countries; and (2)promote internship opportunities for women owners of small- and medium-sized businesses in such countries with United States businesses. (b)

Department of State

The Secretary of State shall promote exchange programs that offer representatives of women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries an opportunity to learn skills appropriate to promoting entrepreneurship by working with business counterparts in the United States.

Assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account

The Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) shall seek to ensure that contracts and employment opportunities resulting from assistance provided by the MCC to the governments of developing countries be fairly and equitably distributed to qualified women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises and other civil society organizations led by women, including nongovernmental and community-based organizations, including for infrastructure projects, and that such projects facilitate employment of women in jobs not traditionally undertaken by women.

10.

Growth Fund

(a)

Establishment

(1)

In general

The Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall establish the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive (GROWTH) Fund (hereinafter in this section referred to as the Fund) for the purpose of enhancing economic opportunities for very poor, poor, and low-income women in developing countries with a focus on— (A)increasing women-owned enterprise development; (B)increasing property rights for women; (C)increasing women’s access to financial services; (D)increasing women in leadership in implementing organizations, such as indigenous nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations, and regulated financial intermediaries; (E)improving women’s employment benefits and conditions; and (F)increasing women’s ability to benefit from global trade. (2)

Role of USAID missions

The Fund shall be available to USAID missions to apply for additional funding to support specific additional activities that enhance women’s economic opportunities or to integrate gender into existing economic opportunity programs. (b)

Activities supported

The Fund shall be available to USAID missions to support— (1)activities described in title VI of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211 et seq.), as amended by section 3 of this Act; (2)activities described in sections 4 through 7 of this Act; and (3)technical assistance and capacity-building to local, indigenous civil society, particularly to carry out activities that are covered under paragraphs (1) and (2), for— (A)local indigenous women’s organizations to the maximum extent practicable; and (B)nongovernmental organizations and regulated financial intermediaries that demonstrate a commitment to gender equity in their leadership either through current practice or through specific programs to increase the representation of women in their governance and management. (c)

Authorization of appropriations

(1)

In general

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009 and 2010. (2)

Availability

Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1)— (A)are authorized to remain available until expended; and (B)are in addition to amounts otherwise available for such purposes.

11.

Data collection

(a)

In general

The Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall— (1)provide support for tracking indicators on women’s employment, property rights for women, women’s access to financial services, and women’s enterprise development, including microenterprises, in developing countries; and (2)where practicable track all United States foreign assistance funds to local indigenous nongovernmental, community-based organizations, and regulated financial intermediaries in developing countries, including through subcontractors and grantees, disaggregated by the sex of the head of the organization, senior management, and composition of the boards of directors; (3)encourage United States statistical agencies in their work with statistical agencies in other countries to provide support to collect data on the share of women in wage and self-employment by type of employment; and (4)provide funding to the International Labor Organization (ILO) for technical assistance activities to developing countries and for the ILO to consolidate indicators into cross-country data sets. (b)

Authorization of appropriations

Amounts made available to carry out section 10 of this Act are authorized to be made available to carry out this section.

12.

Support for local, indigenous women’s organizations in developing countries

(a)

Amendments

Section 102 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151–1) is amended— (1)in subsection (a) by inserting after the ninth sentence the following new sentences: Because men and women generally occupy different economic niches in poor countries, activities must address those differences in ways that enable both women and men to contribute to and benefit from development. Throughout the world, indigenous, local, nongovernmental and community-based organizations and regulated financial intermediaries are essential to addressing many of the development challenges facing countries and to creating stable, functioning democracies. Investing in the capacity of such organizations and in their role in the development process, including that of women’s organizations, shall be an important, cross-cutting objective of United States bilateral development assistance.; and (2)in subsection (b)— (A)in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following new sentence: The principles described in this paragraph shall, among other strategies, be accomplished through partnerships with local, indigenous nongovernmental and community-based organizations and regulated financial intermediaries that represent the interests of poor women and poor men.; and (B)in paragraph (6), by adding at the end the following new sentence: Investing in the capacity and participation of local, indigenous nongovernmental and community-based organizations dedicated to addressing the needs of women, especially women’s organizations, shall be an important strategy for achieving the principle described in this paragraph. (b)

Assistance

The Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall, where appropriate— (1)improve the integration of capacity building and technical assistance activities for local, indigenous nongovernmental organizations and community-based organizations in developing countries within project proposals that will include the participation of locally based partners, especially women’s organizations and other organizations leading women’s empowerment initiatives, to promote the long-term sustainability of projects; (2)provide information and training to local indigenous organizations focused on women’s empowerment, especially women’s organizations, in countries in which USAID missions are located in order to— (A)provide technical assistance regarding availability of United States international assistance procurement procedures; and (B)undertake culturally-appropriate outreach measures to contact such organizations; (3)encourage cooperating agencies, implementing partners, and subcontractors, to the maximum extent practicable, to provide sub-grants to local indigenous organizations that focus on women’s empowerment, including women’s organizations and other organizations that may not have previously worked with the Government of the United States or one of its partners, in fulfilling project objectives; (4)work with local governments where appropriate to conduct outreach campaigns to formally register unofficial local nongovernmental and community-based organizations, especially women’s organizations; and (5)support efforts of indigenous organizations focused on women’s empowerment, especially women’s organizations, to network with other indigenous women’s groups to collectively access funding opportunities to implement United States international assistance programs.

13.

Report

(a)

Report required

Not later than June 30, 2009, the Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. (b)

Update

Not later than June 30, 2011, the Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, shall submit to Congress an update of the report required by subsection (a). (c)

Availability to public

The report required by subsection (a) and the update required by subsection (b) shall be made available to the public on the Internet websites of the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development.