[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 388 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 388

           Supporting the goals of International Women's Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 2016

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
 Markey, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Baldwin, Mrs. Gillibrand, 
Mrs. Murray, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Kirk, Ms. Warren, Mr. Murphy, 
    and Ms. Cantwell) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Supporting the goals of International Women's Day.

Whereas, in March 2016, there are more than 3,640,000,000 women in the world;
Whereas women around the world--

    (1) have fundamental rights;

    (2) participate in the political, social, and economic lives of their 
communities;

    (3) play a critical role in providing and caring for their families;

    (4) contribute substantially to economic growth and the prevention and 
resolution of conflict; and

    (5) as farmers and caregivers, play an important role in the 
advancement of food security for their communities;

Whereas the advancement of women around the world is a foreign policy priority 
        for the United States;
Whereas, on July 28, 2015, in Mandela Hall at the African Union in Addis Ababa, 
        Ethiopia, the President told individuals in Africa--

    (1) ``if you want your country to grow and succeed, you have to empower 
your women. And if you want to empower more women, America will be your 
partner''; and

    (2) ``girls cannot go to school and grow up not knowing how to read or 
write--that denies the world future women engineers, future women doctors, 
future women business owners, future women presidents--that sets us all 
back'';

Whereas 2015 marked the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing 
        Declaration at the Fourth World Conference on Women, in September 1995, 
        which reaffirmed--

    (1) the commitment of the international community to the full 
implementation of the rights of women and girls as an inalienable, 
integral, and indivisible part of all human rights; and

    (2) that local, regional, national, and global peace is attainable and 
inextricably linked to the advancement of women, who are a fundamental 
force for leadership, conflict resolution, and the promotion of lasting 
peace at all levels;

Whereas 2016 will mark the 5-year anniversary of the establishment of the first 
        United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, which 
        includes a comprehensive set of commitments by the United States to 
        advance the meaningful participation of women in decisionmaking relating 
        to matters of war or peace;
Whereas the first United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and 
        Security states that, ``Deadly conflicts can be more effectively 
        avoided, and peace can be best forged and sustained, when women become 
        equal partners in all aspects of peace-building and conflict prevention, 
        when their lives are protected, their experiences considered, and their 
        voices heard.'';
Whereas there are 58 national action plans around the world, and there are 15 
        national action plans known to be in development;
Whereas at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in February 
        2015, leaders from more than 60 countries, multilateral bodies, civil 
        society, and private sector organizations agreed to a comprehensive 
        action agenda against violent extremism that--

    (1) highlights the importance of the inclusion of women in countering 
the threat of violent extremism; and

    (2) notes that ``women are partners in prevention and response, as well 
as agents of change'';

Whereas women remain underrepresented in conflict prevention and conflict 
        resolution efforts, despite the proven success of women in conflict-
        affected regions in--

    (1) moderating violent extremism;

    (2) countering terrorism;

    (3) resolving disputes through nonviolent mediation and negotiation; 
and

    (4) stabilizing societies by improving access to peace and security--

    G    (A) services;

    G    (B) institutions; and

    G    (C) venues for decisionmaking;

Whereas peace negotiations are more likely to end in a peace agreement when 
        women's groups play an influential role in the negotiation process;
Whereas studies show that a peace agreement is 35 percent more likely to last 
        not less than 15 years if women participate in the development of the 
        peace agreement;
Whereas according to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement 
        Affairs of the Department of State, the full and meaningful 
        participation of women in security forces vastly enhances the 
        effectiveness of the security forces;
Whereas, on August 30, 2015, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State 
        for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom highlighted, 
        ``our goal must be to build societies in which sexual violence is 
        treated--legally and by every institution of authority--as the serious 
        and wholly intolerable crime that it is. We have seen global campaigns 
        and calls to action draw attention to this issue and mobilize 
        governments and organizations to act. But transformation requires the 
        active participation of men and women everywhere. We must settle for 
        nothing less than a united world saying no to sexual violence and yes to 
        justice, fairness and peace.'';
Whereas, in 2014--

    (1) 700,000,000 women or girls had been married before the age of 18; 
and

    (2) 250,000,000 women or girls had been married before the age of 15;

Whereas, on October 11, 2013, the President strongly condemned the practice of 
        child marriage;
Whereas approximately \1/4\ of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are victims 
        of physical violence;
Whereas it is estimated that 1 in 3 women around the world has experienced some 
        form of physical or sexual violence;
Whereas according to the 2012 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and 
        Crime entitled the ``Global Report on Trafficking in Persons''--

    (1) adult women account for between 55 and 60 percent of all known 
trafficking victims worldwide; and

    (2) adult women and girls account for approximately 75 percent of all 
known trafficking victims worldwide;

Whereas according to the United Nations, women are subjected to physical or 
        sexual violence, including rape, other forms of sexual violence, and 
        human trafficking, as a weapon of war;
Whereas 603,000,000 women live in countries in which domestic violence is not 
        criminalized;
Whereas, on August 10, 2012, the President announced the United States Strategy 
        to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally, the first 
        interagency strategy to address gender-based violence around the world;
Whereas, in December 2015, the Department of State released a report on the 
        implementation of the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to 
        Gender-Based Violence Globally that states, ``Addressing GBV is 
        intimately tied to a range of global efforts that address gender 
        equality and women's and girls' empowerment, whether in peacetime or in 
        the midst of conflict. This includes addressing GBV as part of efforts 
        to raise the status of adolescent girls and through women's economic 
        empowerment activities.'';
Whereas the ability of women and girls to realize their full potential is 
        critical to the ability of a country to achieve--

    (1) strong and lasting economic growth; and

    (2) political and social stability;

Whereas according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural 
        Organization, \2/3\ of the 775,000,000 illiterate individuals in the 
        world are female;
Whereas 150,000,000 children currently enrolled in school will drop out before 
        completing primary school, not less than 100,000,000 of whom are girls;
Whereas according to the United States Agency for International Development, in 
        comparison with uneducated women, educated women are--

    (1) less likely to marry as children; and

    (2) more likely to have healthier families;

Whereas a goal of the United Nations Millennium Project, to eliminate gender 
        disparity in primary education, was achieved in most countries not later 
        than 2015, but more work remains;
Whereas gender equality is 1 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted at 
        the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015;
Whereas according to the United Nations, women have access to fewer income 
        earning opportunities and are more likely to manage the household or 
        engage in agricultural work than men, making women more vulnerable to 
        economic insecurity caused by--

    (1) natural disasters;

    (2) long term changes in weather patterns; or

    (3) environmental degradation;

Whereas according to the World Bank Group, women own or partially own more than 
        \1/3\ of small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries, 
        and 40 percent of the global workforce is female, but female 
        entrepreneurs and employers have disproportionately less access to 
        capital and other financial services than men;
Whereas in the United States, women account for 45 percent of the overall labor 
        force of companies included in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, and 37 
        percent of the first or mid-level officials and managers in those 
        companies are women, but--

    (1) only 25 percent of the executive and senior level officials and 
managers in those companies are women;

    (2) women only hold 19 percent of the seats on the boards of those 
companies; and

    (3) only 4.6 percent of the Chief Executive Officers of those companies 
are women;

Whereas globally women earn an average of 24 percent less than men;
Whereas despite the achievements of individual female leaders--

    (1) women around the world remain vastly underrepresented in--

    G    (A) high-level positions; and

    G    (B) national and local legislatures and governments; and

    (2) according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women account for only 
22 percent of national parliamentarians and 17.7 percent of government 
ministers;

Whereas according to the World Health Organization, during the period beginning 
        in 1990 and ending in 2015, global maternal mortality decreased by 
        approximately 44 percent, but approximately 830 women die from 
        preventable causes relating to pregnancy or childbirth each day, and 99 
        percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries;
Whereas a target of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted at the 
        United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015, is 
        to reduce global maternal mortality to less than 70 deaths for every 
        100,000 live births not later than 2030;
Whereas according to the World Health Organization--

    (1) suicide is the leading cause of death for girls between the ages of 
15 and 19; and

    (2) complications from pregnancy or childbirth is the second-leading 
cause of death for those girls;

Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports 
        that approximately \1/2\ of--

    (1) refugees and internally displaced or stateless individuals are 
women; and

    (2) the 59,500,000 displaced individuals in the world are women;

Whereas it is imperative--

    (1) to alleviate violence and discrimination against women; and

    (2) to afford women every opportunity to be full and productive members 
of their communities;

Whereas, on October 10, 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest ever Nobel 
        Peace Prize laureate for her work promoting the access of girls to 
        education; and
Whereas March 8, 2016, is recognized as International Women's Day, a global 
        day--

    (1) to celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of 
women in the past, present, and future; and

    (2) to recognize the obstacles that women face in the struggle for 
equal rights and opportunities: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals of International Women's Day;
            (2) recognizes that the empowerment of women is 
        inextricably linked to the potential of a country to generate--
                    (A) economic growth;
                    (B) sustainable democracy; and
                    (C) inclusive security;
            (3) recognizes and honors individuals in the United States 
        and around the world, including women human rights defenders 
        and civil society leaders, that have worked throughout history 
        to ensure that women are guaranteed equality and basic human 
        rights;
            (4) reaffirms the commitment--
                    (A) to end discrimination and violence against 
                women and girls;
                    (B) to ensure the safety and welfare of women and 
                girls;
                    (C) to pursue policies that guarantee the basic 
                human rights of women and girls worldwide; and
                    (D) to promote meaningful and significant 
                participation of women in every aspect of society and 
                community;
            (5) supports inclusive, sustainable development, including 
        through the promotion of the access of women to each tool, 
        skill, and bargaining power needed--
                    (A) to promote peace and stability in society;
                    (B) to sustain long-term economic prosperity; and
                    (C) to achieve gender equality and the empowerment 
                of women; and
            (6) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
        International Women's Day with appropriate programs and 
        activities.
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