1.This Act may be cited as Child Protection Compact Act of
2009
.
2.
(a)Congress finds the following:
(1)According to the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 158,000,000 children aged
5–14 are engaged in child labor.
(2)The International
Labor Organizations’ (ILO) Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which the United
States ratified in February 1999, defines worst forms of child
labour
as—
(A)all forms of
slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of
children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including
forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
(B)the use, procuring
or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or
for pornographic performances;
(C)the use, procuring
or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production
and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;
and
(D)work which, by its
nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the
health, safety or morals of children.
(3)The sexual
exploitation of minors is a global phenomenon. The International Labour
Organization estimates that 1,800,000 children worldwide are exploited each
year through prostitution and pornography.
(4)Many countries
with a high prevalence of trafficking in children lack financial resources,
legal expertise, technical capacity, and other resources to appropriately
protect and rescue these children, despite a demonstrated political will to do
so.
(5)Article 8 of the
ILO Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor calls on Members to take
appropriate steps to assist one another in giving effect to the provisions of
this Convention through enhanced international cooperation and/or
assistance . . . .
.
(6)As a States Party
to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, the United States
is obligated pursuant to Article 10 to, among other things, take all necessary
steps to strengthen international cooperation by multilateral, regional, and
bilateral arrangements for the prevention and detection of those responsible
for acts involving the sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography
and child sex tourism. The United States also is required to promote
international cooperation and coordination authorities of other States Parties
to the Convention, national and international nongovernmental organizations and
international organizations to achieve these objectives.
(7)Article 10 of the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography further mandates that the
United States and other States Parties in a position to do so to provide
financial, technical, or other assistance through existing multilateral,
regional, bilateral or other programs.
(b)The purpose of this Act is to protect and rescue children
from trafficking by the establishment of Child Protection Compacts between the
United States and select, eligible countries with a significant prevalence of
trafficking in children, in order to—
(1)address
institutional weaknesses within the government that result in the failure to
protect vulnerable children and to rescue and properly rehabilitate
victims;
(2)address other
legal, political, and societal vulnerabilities for children within the country;
and
(3)ensure
transparency and accountability in achieving the goals stipulated in the
Compact over the course of its three-year implementation.
3.In this Act:
(1)Appropriate
congressional committeesExcept as otherwise provided, the term
appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate.
(2)The
term Child Protection Compact or Compact means a
Child Protection Compact described in section 6.
(3)The
term Ambassador means the Ambassador-at-Large of the Department of
State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
(4)The
term minor means an individual who has not attained the age of 18
years.
(5)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of State.
4.Authorization of
Assistance
(a)The
Secretary, acting through the Ambassador, is authorized to provide assistance
under this section for each country that enters into a Compact with the United
States pursuant to section 6 to support policies and programs that assist the
country to eradicate the trafficking of children and are in furtherance of the
purposes of this Act.
(b)Assistance under this section may be provided in the
form of grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to or with eligible
entities described in subsection (c). Assistance under this section may not be
provided in the form of loans.
(c)An eligible entity referred to in subsection (b)
is—
(1)the national
government of the eligible country;
(2)regional or local
governmental units of the country; or
(3)a
nongovernmental organization or a private entity with expertise in the
protection of vulnerable children, the investigation and prosecution of those
who engage in or benefit from child trafficking, or rescue of child victims of
trafficking.
(d)Number and
amount of compactsSubject to the availability of appropriations,
the Secretary shall determine the number of Compacts based on the established
need of the countries determined to be most eligible based on the criteria
described in section 5. The amount of any single Compact shall not exceed a
total of $15,000,000.
(e)Disbursements shall be made to the eligible
entities on an annual basis pursuant to the terms of the respective
Compacts.
5.
(a)Determination by
the secretaryThe Secretary shall select a country for purposes
of entering into a Compact based on whether the country meets the initial
criteria listed in subsection (b) and the selection criteria listed in
subsection (c). The determination pursuant to subsection (c) shall be based, to
the maximum extent possible, upon objective, documented, and quantifiable
indicators.
(b)
(1)A country may be considered for a Compact if—
(A)the country is
eligible for assistance from the International Development Association, and the
per capita income of the country is equal to or less than the historical
ceiling of the International Development Association, as defined by the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and
(B)subject to
paragraph (2), the country is not ineligible to receive United States economic
assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by reason of the
application of any provision of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or any other
provision of law.
(2)For the purposes of determining whether a country is
eligible for receiving assistance under paragraph (1), the exercise by the
President, the Secretary of State, or any other officer or employee of the
United States of any waiver or suspension of any provision of law referred to
in such paragraph, and notification to the appropriate congressional committees
in accordance with such provision of law, shall be construed as satisfying the
requirement of such paragraph.
(c)A country should be selected on the basis of—
(1)a
documented high prevalence of trafficking of children within the
country;
(2)demonstrated
political will and sustained commitment by the government to undertake
meaningful measures to address the trafficking of children, including—
(A)enactment and
enforcement of laws criminalizing trafficking in children with punishments
commensurate with the crime, including, when necessary, against complicit
government officials;
(B)cooperation with
local and international non-governmental organizations with demonstrated
expertise in combating the trafficking in children; and
(C)the treatment of
child trafficking victims in accordance with Article 6(3) of the Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime;
(3)the capacity of
the host country government and relevant actors within civil society to
effectively utilize additional resources;
(4)United States
Government in-country presence;
(5)an identifiable
impact that will result from implementation of a Compact; and
(6)assurances that
the measures to be undertaken will have a continued, sustainable impact once
the Compact period is completed.
6.
(a)The
Secretary, acting through the Ambassador, may provide assistance for a country
only if the country enters into an agreement with the United States, to be
known as a Child Protection Compact
, that establishes a 3-year
plan for achieving shared objectives in furtherance of the purposes of this
Act.
(b)The
Compact should take into account the national child protection strategy of the
country and shall contain—
(1)the specific
objectives that the country and the United States expect to achieve during the
term of the Compact;
(2)the
responsibilities of the country and the United States in the achievement of
such objectives;
(3)the particular
programs or initiatives to be undertaken in the achievement of such objectives
and the amount of funding to be allocated to each program or initiative;
(4)regular benchmarks
to measure, where appropriate, progress toward achieving such objectives,
including benchmarks for each program or initiative;
(5)a
multi-year financial plan, including the estimated amount of contributions by
the United States and the country, if any, and proposed mechanisms to implement
the plan and provide oversight, that describes how the requirements of
paragraphs (1) through (4) will be met, including identifying the role of civil
society in the achievement of such requirements;
(6)where appropriate,
a description of the current and potential participation of other donors in the
achievement of such objectives;
(7)a
plan to ensure appropriate fiscal accountability for the use of assistance
provided under section 4;
(8)where appropriate,
a process or processes for consideration of solicited proposals under the
Compact as well as a process for consideration of unsolicited proposals by the
Secretary and national, regional, or local units of government;
(9)a
requirement that open, fair, and competitive procedures are used in a
transparent manner in the administration of grants or cooperative agreements or
the procurement of goods and services for the accomplishment of objectives
under the Compact; and
(10)the strategy of
the country to sustain progress made toward achieving such objectives after
expiration of the Compact.
(c)Assistance for
development of compactNotwithstanding subsection (a), the
Secretary may enter into contracts or make grants for any eligible country for
the purpose of facilitating the development and implementation of the Compact
between the United States and the country.
(d)In
this subsection:
(1)National child
protection strategyThe term national child protection
strategy means any strategy to eliminate the trafficking in children
that has been developed by the government of the country in consultation with a
variety of nongovernmental organizations involved in the protection of
vulnerable children, the prosecution of those who engage in or benefit from
child trafficking, or rescue child victims of trafficking.
(2)The term program or initiative may
include the following:
(A)Evaluation of
legal standards and practices and recommendations for improvements that will
increase the likelihood of successful prosecutions.
(B)Training
anti-trafficking police and investigators.
(C)Building the
capacity of domestic non-governmental organizations to educate vulnerable
populations about the danger of trafficking and to work with law enforcement to
identify and rescue victims.
(D)Creation of
victim-friendly courts.
(E)Development of
appropriate after-care facilities for rescued victims.
(F)Development and
maintenance of data collection systems.
(G)Development of
regional cooperative plans with neighboring countries to prevent cross-border
trafficking of children and child sex tourism.
7.Suspension and
termination of assistance
(a)Suspension and
termination of assistanceThe Secretary may suspend or terminate
assistance in whole or in part for a country or entity under section 4 if the
Secretary determines that—
(1)the country or
entity is engaged in activities which are contrary to the national security
interests of the United States;
(2)the country or
entity has engaged in a pattern of actions inconsistent with the criteria used
to determine the eligibility of the country or entity, as the case may be;
or
(3)the country or
entity has failed to adhere to its responsibilities under the Compact.
(b)The
Secretary may reinstate assistance for a country or entity under section 4 only
if the Secretary determines that the country or entity has demonstrated a
commitment to correcting each condition for which assistance was suspended or
terminated under subsection (a).
(c)Congressional
notificationNot later than 3 days after the date on which the
Secretary suspends or terminates assistance under subsection (a) for a country
or entity, or reinstates assistance under subsection (b) for a country or
entity, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees
a report that contains the determination of the Secretary under subsection (a)
or subsection (b), as the case may be.
(d)The authority to suspend or terminate assistance
under this section includes the authority to suspend or terminate obligations
and sub-obligations.
8.Congressional
Notification and Annual Report
(a)Congressional
consultation prior to compact negotiationsNot later than 15 days
prior to the start of negotiations of a Compact with a country, the
Ambassador—
(1)shall consult with
the appropriate congressional committees with respect to the proposed Compact
negotiation; and
(2)shall identify the
objectives and mechanisms to be used for the negotiation of the Compact.
(b)Congressional
notification after entering into a compactNot later than 10 days
after entering into a Compact with a country, the Ambassador shall provide
notification of the Compact to the appropriate congressional committees,
including a detailed summary of the Compact and a copy of the text of the
Compact.
(c)
(1)Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
on the assistance provided under section 4 during the prior fiscal year.
(2)The report shall include the following:
(A)The amount of
obligations and expenditures for assistance provided to each eligible country
during the prior fiscal year.
(B)For each country,
an assessment of—
(i)the
progress made during each year by the country toward achieving the objectives
set out in the Compact entered into by the country; and
(ii)the
extent to which assistance provided under section 4 has been effective in
helping the country to achieve such objectives.
9.Authorization of
Appropriations
(a)There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
$50,000,000 for the 3-year period beginning on October 1, 2010, to carry out
the purposes of this Act.
(b)Amounts authorized to be appropriated under subsection (a)
are authorized to remain available until expended, but not later than the date
of the termination of the Compacts.
(c)
(1)The Secretary may allocate or transfer to any agency of
the United States Government any of the funds available for carrying out this
Act. Such funds shall be available for obligation and expenditure for the
purposes for which the funds were authorized, in accordance with authority
granted in this Act or under authority governing the activities of the United
States Government agency to which such funds are allocated or
transferred.
(2)The
Secretary shall notify the appropriate congressional committees not less than
15 days prior to an allocation or transfer of funds pursuant to paragraph
(1).