[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1141 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.1141

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and seventeen


                                 An Act


 
 To ensure that the United States promotes the meaningful participation 
  of women in mediation and negotiation processes seeking to prevent, 
                 mitigate, or resolve violent conflict.

    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 ``Women, Peace, and Security Act of 
2017''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress makes the following findings:
        (1) Around the world, women remain under-represented in 
    conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict peace 
    building efforts.
        (2) Women in conflict-affected regions have achieved 
    significant success in--
            (A) moderating violent extremism;
            (B) countering terrorism;
            (C) resolving disputes through nonviolent mediation and 
        negotiation; and
            (D) stabilizing societies by enhancing the effectiveness of 
        security services, peacekeeping efforts, institutions, and 
        decisionmaking processes.
        (3) Research suggests that peace negotiations are more likely 
    to succeed and to result in durable peace agreements when women 
    participate in the peace process.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
    It is the sense of Congress that--
        (1) the meaningful participation of women in conflict 
    prevention and conflict resolution processes helps to promote more 
    inclusive and democratic societies and is critical to the long-term 
    stability of countries and regions;
        (2) the political participation, and leadership of women in 
    fragile environments, particularly during democratic transitions, 
    is critical to sustaining lasting democratic institutions; and
        (3) the United States should be a global leader in promoting 
    the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention, 
    management, and resolution, and post-conflict relief and recovery 
    efforts.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
    It shall be the policy of the United States to promote the 
meaningful participation of women in all aspects of overseas conflict 
prevention, management, and resolution, and post-conflict relief and 
recovery efforts, reinforced through diplomatic efforts and programs 
that--
        (1) integrate the perspectives and interests of affected women 
    into conflict-prevention activities and strategies;
        (2) encourage partner governments to adopt plans to improve the 
    meaningful participation of women in peace and security processes 
    and decision-making institutions;
        (3) promote the physical safety, economic security, and dignity 
    of women and girls;
        (4) support the equal access of women to aid distribution 
    mechanisms and services;
        (5) collect and analyze gender data for the purpose of 
    developing and enhancing early warning systems of conflict and 
    violence;
        (6) adjust policies and programs to improve outcomes in gender 
    equality and the empowerment of women; and
        (7) monitor, analyze, and evaluate the efforts related to each 
    strategy submitted under section 5 and the impact of such efforts.
SEC. 5. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PROMOTE THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN 
CONFLICT PREVENTION AND PEACE BUILDING.
    (a) Requirement.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and again four years thereafter, the President, 
in consultation with the heads of the relevant Federal departments and 
agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and 
make publicly available a single government-wide strategy, to be known 
as the Women, Peace, and Security Strategy, that provides a detailed 
description of how the United States intends to fulfill the policy 
objectives in section 4. The strategy shall--
        (1) support and be aligned with plans developed by other 
    countries to improve the meaningful participation of women in peace 
    and security processes, conflict prevention, peace building, 
    transitional processes, and decisionmaking institutions; and
        (2) include specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, 
    performance metrics, timetables, and monitoring and evaluation 
    plans to ensure the accountability and effectiveness of all 
    policies and initiatives carried out under the strategy.
    (b) Specific Plans for Departments and Agencies.--Each strategy 
under subsection (a) shall include a specific implementation plan from 
each of the relevant Federal departments and agencies that describes--
        (1) the anticipated contributions of the department or agency, 
    including technical, financial, and in-kind contributions, to 
    implement the strategy; and
        (2) the efforts of the department or agency to ensure that the 
    policies and initiatives carried out pursuant to the strategy are 
    designed to achieve maximum impact and long-term sustainability.
    (c) Coordination.--The President should promote the meaningful 
participation of women in conflict prevention, in coordination and 
consultation with international partners, including, as appropriate, 
multilateral organizations, stakeholders, and other relevant 
international organizations, particularly in situations in which the 
direct engagement of the United States Government is not appropriate or 
advisable.
    (d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
President, in implementing each strategy submitted under subsection 
(a), should--
        (1) provide technical assistance, training, and logistical 
    support to female negotiators, mediators, peace builders, and 
    stakeholders;
        (2) address security-related barriers to the meaningful 
    participation of women;
        (3) encourage increased participation of women in existing 
    programs funded by the United States Government that provide 
    training to foreign nationals regarding law enforcement, the rule 
    of law, or professional military education;
        (4) support appropriate local organizations, especially women's 
    peace building organizations;
        (5) support the training, education, and mobilization of men 
    and boys as partners in support of the meaningful participation of 
    women;
        (6) encourage the development of transitional justice and 
    accountability mechanisms that are inclusive of the experiences and 
    perspectives of women and girls;
        (7) expand and apply gender analysis, as appropriate, to 
    improve program design and targeting; and
        (8) conduct assessments that include the perspectives of women 
    regarding new initiatives in support of peace negotiations, 
    transitional justice and accountability, efforts to counter violent 
    extremism, or security sector reform.
SEC. 6. TRAINING REQUIREMENTS REGARDING THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN 
CONFLICT PREVENTION AND PEACE BUILDING.
    (a) Foreign Service.--The Secretary of State, in conjunction with 
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall ensure that all appropriate personnel (including 
special envoys, members of mediation or negotiation teams, relevant 
members of the civil service or Foreign Service, and contractors) 
responsible for or deploying to countries or regions considered to be 
at risk of, undergoing, or emerging from violent conflict obtain 
training, as appropriate, in the following areas, each of which shall 
include a focus on women and ensuring meaningful participation by 
women:
        (1) Conflict prevention, mitigation, and resolution.
        (2) Protecting civilians from violence, exploitation, and 
    trafficking in persons.
        (3) International human rights law and international 
    humanitarian law.
    (b) Department of Defense.--The Secretary of Defense shall ensure 
that relevant personnel receive training, as appropriate, in the 
following areas:
        (1) Training in conflict prevention, peace processes, 
    mitigation, resolution, and security initiatives that specifically 
    addresses the importance of meaningful participation by women.
        (2) Gender considerations and meaningful participation by 
    women, including training regarding--
            (A) international human rights law and international 
        humanitarian law, as relevant; and
            (B) protecting civilians from violence, exploitation, and 
        trafficking in persons.
        (3) Effective strategies and best practices for ensuring 
    meaningful participation by women.
SEC. 7. CONSULTATION AND COLLABORATION.
    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development may establish 
guidelines or take other steps to ensure overseas United States 
personnel of the Department of State or the United States Agency for 
International Development, as the case may be, consult with appropriate 
stakeholders, including local women, youth, ethnic, and religious 
minorities, and other politically under-represented or marginalized 
populations, regarding United States efforts to--
        (1) prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent conflict; and
        (2) enhance the success of mediation and negotiation processes 
    by ensuring the meaningful participation of women.
    (b) Collaboration and Coordination.--The Secretary of State should 
work with international, regional, national, and local organizations to 
increase the meaningful participation of women in international 
peacekeeping operations, and should promote training that provides 
international peacekeeping personnel with the substantive knowledge and 
skills needed to ensure effective physical security and meaningful 
participation of women in conflict prevention and peace building.
SEC. 8. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
    (a) Briefing.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the first 
submission of a strategy required under section 5, the Secretary of 
State, in conjunction with the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development and the Secretary of Defense, 
shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on existing, 
enhanced, or newly established training carried out pursuant to section 
6.
    (b) Report on Women, Peace, and Security Strategy.--Not later than 
2 years after the date of the submission of each strategy required 
under section 5, the President shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that--
        (1) summarizes and evaluates the implementation of such 
    strategy and the impact of United States diplomatic efforts and 
    foreign assistance programs, projects, and activities to promote 
    the meaningful participation of women;
        (2) describes the nature and extent of the coordination among 
    the relevant Federal departments and agencies on the implementation 
    of such strategy;
        (3) outlines the monitoring and evaluation tools, mechanisms, 
    and common indicators to assess progress made on the policy 
    objectives set forth in section 4; and
        (4) describes the existing, enhanced, or newly established 
    training carried out pursuant to section 6.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act:
        (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
    ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        Senate; and
            (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the of 
        the House of Representatives.
        (2) Relevant federal departments and agencies.--The term 
    ``relevant Federal departments and agencies'' means--
            (A) the United States Agency for International Development;
            (B) the Department of State;
            (C) the Department of Defense;
            (D) the Department of Homeland Security; and
            (E) any other department or agency specified by the 
        President for purposes of this Act.
        (3) Stakeholders.--The term ``stakeholders'' means non-
    governmental and private sector entities engaged in or affected by 
    conflict prevention and stabilization, peace building, protection, 
    security, transition initiatives, humanitarian response, or related 
    efforts.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.