[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 190 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 190

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that foreign assistance for child 
  welfare should adhere to the goals of the United States Government 
                 Action Plan on Children in Adversity.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2013

   Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Ms. Landrieu) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that foreign assistance for child 
  welfare should adhere to the goals of the United States Government 
                 Action Plan on Children in Adversity.

Whereas, as of 2013, there are at least 153,000,000 children in the world who 
        have lost at least 1 parent, and of those children, approximately 
        17,800,000 have lost both parents;
Whereas more than 400,000,000 children in developing countries are living in 
        extreme poverty;
Whereas more than 115,000,000 children are engaged in hazardous work and more 
        than 5,500,000 children are in situations of forced labor;
Whereas 36 percent of girls and 29 percent of boys around the world have been 
        sexually abused;
Whereas at least 2,000,000, and probably many more, children are raised in 
        institutional care;
Whereas millions of children throughout the world live under conditions of 
        serious deprivation or danger, and children who experience violence or 
        are exploited, abandoned, abused, or severely neglected also face 
        significant threats to their survival and well-being, as well as 
        profound risks that have an impact on their human, social, and economic 
        development;
Whereas children in the most dire circumstances, including children without 
        protective family care, or who are living in abusive households, on the 
        streets, or in institutions, trafficked, participating in armed groups, 
        or exploited for their labor, face a multitude of risks posed by extreme 
        poverty, disease, disability, conflict, and disaster;
Whereas family reunification, kinship care, and domestic and intercountry 
        adoption promote permanency and stability to a far greater degree than 
        long-term institutionalization;
Whereas permanent family care, transitioning children from institutions into 
        protective family care, and preventing violence within households and in 
        schools are associated with reduced infant and child mortality, 
        decreased grade repetition, decreased future criminal activity, 
        decreased drug use and abuse, fewer teen pregnancies, and higher 
        economic earning potential;
Whereas past efforts by the United States to assist vulnerable children in low- 
        and middle-income countries have not always been coordinated among the 
        Federal agencies responsible for foreign assistance, and that lack of 
        coordination has sometimes resulted in a fragmented response;
Whereas, with the increasing number of children in need, limitations on Federal 
        funding, and multiple Federal agencies involved in efforts to assist 
        children in need, it is more important than ever to improve the 
        coordination and coherence of those efforts in order to maximize the 
        effect on children;
Whereas the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing 
        Countries Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-95; 119 Stat. 2111), which passed 
        the House of Representatives by a vote of 415 to 9 and passed the Senate 
        by unanimous consent, called for a comprehensive, coordinated, and 
        effective response on the part of the Government of the United States to 
        assist the most vulnerable children in the world;
Whereas the Special Advisor for Assistance for Orphans and Vulnerable Children 
        appointed under section 135(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
        U.S.C. 2152f(e)), in coordination with 7 Federal agencies, released the 
        United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity as the 
        first-ever whole-of-government strategic guidance for foreign assistance 
        for children provided by the United States; and
Whereas the United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity seeks 
        to ensure that all activities of the Government of the United States are 
        coordinated among appropriate Federal agencies and integrated into 
        relevant foreign policy initiatives of the United States, with the goal 
        of promoting permanent family care and integrating evidence-based 
        practices that are in the best interest of children: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) a comprehensive action plan for addressing the needs of 
        children living in adversity should be sanctioned by the 
        highest level of the Government of the United States;
            (2) Federal funding that currently goes toward projects and 
        research benefitting children in low- and middle-income 
        countries should be coordinated among the Federal agencies that 
        receive it with the goals of--
                    (A) promoting permanent family care for the most 
                vulnerable children in the world;
                    (B) reducing the number of children who experience 
                violence, exploitation, or abuse; and
                    (C) eliminating unnecessary duplication and 
                contradictory approaches within the Government of the 
                United States; and
            (3) the United States Government Action Plan on Children in 
        Adversity has the potential to realize those goals and create a 
        more effective and efficient response by the Government of the 
        United States to assisting the most vulnerable children in the 
        world.
                                 <all>