[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 229 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 229

        To empower women in Afghanistan, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 13, 2009

  Mrs. Boxer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To empower women in Afghanistan, 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 ``Afghan Women Empowerment Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Under the oppressive rule of the Taliban, the women of 
        Afghanistan were denied the most basic human rights and 
        fundamental freedoms, including the rights to life, work, 
        education, health care, movement, expression, and religion.
            (2) Many women who attempted to assert their rights under 
        the Taliban regime were subjected to beatings and 
        imprisonments, and many suffer from the long-term consequences 
        of such oppression.
            (3) Women in Afghanistan have one of the highest maternal 
        mortality rates in the world, with an estimated one death for 
        every 56 live births.
            (4) Despite efforts by the United States Government and the 
        international community to improve the lives of women and girls 
        in Afghanistan, many women and girls continue to lack access to 
        basic services, including health care and education. 
        Approximately 79 percent of Afghan women are illiterate.
            (5) Today, women and girls in Afghanistan still face 
        oppression resulting from violence and intimidation by the 
        Taliban, other religious extremists, and militia groups within 
        their communities. School girls and their teachers continue to 
        face brutal attacks in an effort to prevent them from regaining 
        their rights and freedoms.
            (6) According to the United States Commission on 
        International Religious Freedom, the absence of clear 
        protections for the right to freedom of religion or belief for 
        individual Afghan citizens has resulted in a growing number of 
        criminal prosecutions and other official actions against 
        individuals, including women, for exercising their basic 
        rights.
            (7) The strengthening of institutions and other actors, 
        such as nongovernmental organizations, in Afghanistan is 
        essential to building a civil society and holding the 
        Government of Afghanistan to its international obligations 
        under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
        and other international instruments to protect and ensure the 
        rights of women.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN AFGHANISTAN.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the protection of the rights of women and girls in 
        Afghanistan and their full participation in the reestablishment 
        of democracy is essential to the reconstruction of a stable and 
        democratic Afghanistan, and to achieve such a reconstruction, 
        the United States Government must continue to commit resources 
        to advance the rights of women throughout Afghanistan;
            (2) the United States Government should provide strong 
        support for the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs and the 
        Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, both of which were 
        created by the Agreement on Provisional Agreements in 
        Afghanistan Pending the Establishment of Permanent Governing 
        Institutions, done in Bonn, December 5, 2001 (commonly known as 
        the ``Bonn Agreement'') to remedy past violations of women's 
        rights and human rights and to establish institutions and 
        programs to ensure policies that advance such rights;
            (3) the United States Government should make it a priority 
        to provide assistance to Afghan-led nongovernmental 
        organizations, particularly Afghan women-led nonprofit 
        organizations; and
            (4) grants and assistance to Afghanistan should be 
        conditioned upon the Government of Afghanistan adhering to 
        international standards for women's rights and human rights, 
        including the internationally recognized right to freedom of 
        thought, conscience, and religion or belief.

SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS.

    Section 103(a)(7) of the Afghan Freedom Support Act of 2002 (22 
U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking clauses (i) through 
        (xii) and inserting the following:
                            ``(i) to provide equipment, medical 
                        supplies, and other assistance to health care 
                        facilities for the purpose of reducing maternal 
                        and infant mortality and morbidity;
                            ``(ii) to establish and expand programs to 
                        provide services to women and girls suffering 
                        from mental health problems, such as 
                        depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress 
                        disorder;
                            ``(iii) to expand immunization programs for 
                        women and children;
                            ``(iv) to protect and provide services to 
                        vulnerable populations, including widows, 
                        orphans, and women heads of households;
                            ``(v) to establish primary and secondary 
                        schools for girls that include mathematics, 
                        science, and languages in their primary 
                        curriculum;
                            ``(vi) to expand technical and vocational 
                        training programs to enable women to support 
                        themselves and their families;
                            ``(vii) to maintain and expand adult 
                        literacy programs, including economic literacy 
                        programs that promote the well-being of women 
                        and their families;
                            ``(viii) to provide special educational 
                        opportunities for girls whose schooling was 
                        ended by the Taliban and who now face obstacles 
                        to participating in the normal education 
                        system, such as girls who are now married and 
                        girls who are older than the normal age for 
                        their classes;
                            ``(ix) to disseminate information 
                        throughout Afghanistan on the rights of women 
                        and on international standards for human 
                        rights;
                            ``(x) to provide information and assistance 
                        to enable women to exercise property, 
                        inheritance, and voting rights, and to ensure 
                        equal access to the judicial system;
                            ``(xi) to provide legal assistance to women 
                        who have suffered violations of their rights;
                            ``(xii) to increase political and civil 
                        participation of women in all levels of 
                        society, including the criminal justice system;
                            ``(xiii) to provide information and 
                        training related to women's rights and human 
                        rights to military, police, judicial, and legal 
                        personnel;
                            ``(xiv) to provide assistance to the 
                        Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Afghan 
                        Independent Human Rights Commission for 
                        programs to advance the status of women; and
                            ``(xv) to develop and implement programs to 
                        protect women and girls against sexual and 
                        physical abuse, abduction, trafficking, 
                        exploitation, and sex discrimination, including 
                        providing emergency shelters for women and 
                        girls who face danger from violence.''; and
            (2) by restating subparagraph (B) to read as follows:
                    ``(B) Availability of funds.--For each of the 
                fiscal years 2010 through 2012--
                            ``(i) $5,000,000 is authorized to be 
                        appropriated to the President to be made 
                        available to the Afghan Ministry of Women's 
                        Affairs for the administration and conduct of 
                        its programs;
                            ``(ii) $10,000,000 is authorized to be 
                        appropriated to the President to be made 
                        available to the Afghan Independent Human 
                        Rights Commission for the administration and 
                        conduct of its programs; and
                            ``(iii) $30,000,000 is authorized to be 
                        appropriated to the President for grants to 
                        Afghan women-led nonprofit organizations to 
                        support activities including the construction, 
                        establishment, and operation of schools for 
                        married girls and girls' orphanages, vocational 
                        training and human rights education for women 
                        and girls, health care clinics for women and 
                        children, programs to strengthen Afghan women-
                        led organizations and women's leadership, and 
                        to provide monthly financial assistance to 
                        widows, orphans, and women heads of 
                        households.''.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE.

    It is the sense of Congress that, in providing assistance under 
section 103(a)(7) of the Afghan Freedom Support Act (22 U.S.C. 
7513(a)(7)), as amended by section 4, the President should--
            (1) condition the provision of such assistance on the 
        recipient adhering to international standards for women's 
        rights and human rights; and
            (2) ensure that Afghan women-led nongovernmental 
        organizations throughout Afghanistan receive grants without 
        ethnic, religious, or any other discrimination.
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