[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 114 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 114

  Commending the United States African Development Foundation on the 
 occasion of its 40th anniversary for creating pathways to prosperity 
for underserved communities on the African continent through community-
                            led development.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2021

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Commending the United States African Development Foundation on the 
 occasion of its 40th anniversary for creating pathways to prosperity 
for underserved communities on the African continent through community-
                            led development.

Whereas December 16, 2020, marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of 
        the United States African Development Foundation (referred to in this 
        preamble as the ``USADF'');
Whereas, on December 16, 1980, the President signed the African Development 
        Foundation Act (22 U.S.C. 290h et seq.) into law, which established the 
        USADF as an independent Federal agency with the goal to--

    (1) strengthen the bonds of friendship and understanding between the 
people of the countries of Africa and the United States;

    (2) support local capacity building to create community development 
opportunities and expand the participation of the countries of Africa in 
their development process; and

    (3) foster the establishment and growth of indigenous development 
institutions that are equipped to respond to local needs;

Whereas, for 40 years, the USADF has invested in a pan-African network of local 
        implementing partners that employ a community-led development approach 
        to support African-designed and African-delivered solutions;
Whereas the USADF has provided more than 3,400 grassroots and community 
        enterprise grants in more than 40 sub-Saharan African countries;
Whereas the USADF strengthens food security, empowers smallholder farmers, and 
        creates economic growth in rural, hard-to-reach communities by investing 
        primarily in agricultural enterprises to increase access to larger 
        markets for those rural communities and enhance the business management 
        skills, production, distribution, and marketing capabilities of those 
        rural communities;
Whereas the USADF has maintained a strong emphasis on women and women 
        entrepreneurs, and women represent up to 65 percent of the direct 
        beneficiaries of grants from the USADF;
Whereas, on February 20, 2020, the USADF partnered with the Academy for 
        Entrepreneurs of the Department of State under the Women's Global 
        Development and Prosperity Initiative to provide seed funding to 
        graduates of the Academy for Entrepreneurs to advance the global 
        economic empowerment of women;
Whereas the USADF prioritizes partnerships with youth and supports nearly 300 
        social enterprises of Young African Leaders Initiative fellows and 
        alumni of that initiative in 37 sub-Saharan African countries by 
        providing seed capital, technical assistance, and skills training to 
        help young entrepreneurs create businesses that generate new jobs and 
        incomes for thousands of young Africans;
Whereas the work of the USADF in the off-grid energy sector, which is authorized 
        under the Electrify Africa Act of 2015 (22 U.S.C. 2293 note), has helped 
        bring renewable energy solutions to communities with limited or no 
        connections to national power grids and improve energy access for nearly 
        370,000 individuals in 15 sub-Saharan African countries;
Whereas the USADF's model of using 100-percent African staff and implementing 
        partners on the African continent gives the USADF the ability to work in 
        fragile and conflict-affected areas in the Great Lakes, Horn, and Sahel 
        regions of Africa;
Whereas the small size of the USADF and the use of local implementing partners 
        by the USADF has allowed the USADF to be ranked as one of the most 
        efficient providers of foreign aid by the Center for Global Development;
Whereas the partnerships of the USADF with agencies of the Federal Government, 
        including the Department of State, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, 
        and the United States Agency for International Development, along with 
        the alignment of the USADF with the priorities of Congress, have allowed 
        the USADF to extend the reach of critical development initiatives of the 
        United States, such as initiatives authorized by the Global Food 
        Security Act of 2016 (22 U.S.C. 9301 et seq.), the Electrify Africa Act 
        of 2015 (22 U.S.C. 2293 note), and the African Growth and Opportunity 
        Act and Millennium Challenge Act Modernization Act (Public Law 115-167; 
        132 Stat. 1276);
Whereas the partnerships between the USADF and private sector corporations and 
        foundations, as well as African national and sub-national governments, 
        have allowed the USADF to extend its reach and development impact in 
        addressing food insecurity, insufficient access to energy, and 
        unemployment through youth and women entrepreneurship and job skills 
        training and placement in Africa, while leveraging funding to help the 
        dollars of taxpayers in the United States go further; and
Whereas investments made by the USADF have developed and strengthened an 
        extensive network of grassroots enterprises and social enterprises that 
        are positively disposed to the United States and are better positioned 
        to partner with other Federal agencies and public and private funders: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commends the United States African Development 
        Foundation on the occasion of its 40th anniversary for creating 
        pathways to prosperity for underserved communities on the 
        African continent through community-led development;
            (2) recognizes that, by supporting African-led development 
        that grows community enterprises, the United States African 
        Development Foundation empowers individuals who are least 
        served by existing markets or assistance programs to become a 
        part of the growth story of Africa;
            (3) recognizes that the United States African Development 
        Foundation advances the foreign policy of the Federal 
        Government and contributes directly to the national interests 
        of the United States; and
            (4) commits to continue to support the vital work of the 
        United States African Development Foundation as an independent 
        agency.
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