[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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