[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 196 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING GIRLS' ACCESS TO EDUCATION IN VULNERABLE SETTINGS ACT
Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 530, S. 1580.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 1580) to enhance the transparency, improve the
coordination, and intensify the impact of assistance to
support access to primary and secondary education for
displaced children and persons, including women and girls,
and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with
an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Girls' Access to
Education in Vulnerable Settings Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) As of June 2018, more than 68,000,000 people have been
displaced by disasters and conflicts around the world, the
highest number recorded since the end of World War II, of
which more than 25,000,000 people are refugees.
(2) More than half of the population of refugees are
children and, according to the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 4,000,000 school-aged
refugee children lack access to primary education.
(3) Education offers socioeconomic opportunities,
psychological stability, and physical protection for
displaced people, particularly for women and girls, who might
otherwise be vulnerable to severe forms of trafficking in
persons (as such term is defined in section 103(9) of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7102(9)), child marriage, sexual exploitation, or economic
disenfranchisement.
(4) Displaced children face considerable barriers to
accessing educational services and, because the duration of
such displacement is, on average, 26 years, such children may
spend the entirety of their childhood without access to such
services.
(5) Despite the rising need for educational services, as of
2016, less than two percent of humanitarian aid was directed
toward educational services.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) it is critical to ensure that children, particularly
girls, displaced by conflicts overseas are able to access
educational services because such access can combat extremism
and reduce exploitation and poverty; and
(2) the educational needs of vulnerable women and girls
should be considered in the design, implementation, and
evaluation of related United States foreign assistance
policies and programs.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) partner with and encourage other countries, public and
private multilateral institutions, and nongovernmental and
civil society organizations, including faith-based
organizations and organizations representing parents and
children, to support efforts to ensure that displaced
children have access to safe primary and secondary education;
(2) work with donors to enhance training and capacity-
building for the governments of countries hosting significant
numbers of displaced people to design, implement, and monitor
programs to effectively address barriers to such education;
and
(3) coordinate with the governments of countries hosting
significant numbers of displaced people to--
(A) promote the inclusion of displaced children into the
educational systems of such countries; and
(B) in circumstances in which such inclusion is difficult,
develop innovative approaches to providing safe primary and
secondary educational opportunities, such as encouraging
schools to permit children to be educated by extending the
hours of schooling or expanding the number of teachers.
SEC. 5. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL
SERVICES FOR DISPLACED CHILDREN.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development are authorized to prioritize and advance ongoing
efforts to support programs that--
(1) provide safe primary and secondary education for
displaced children;
(2) build the capacity of institutions in countries hosting
displaced people to prevent discrimination against displaced
children, especially displaced girls, who seek access to such
education; and
(3) help increase the access of displaced children,
especially displaced girls, to educational, economic, and
entrepreneurial opportunities, including through the
governmental authorities responsible for educational or youth
services in such host countries.
(b) Coordination With Multilateral Organizations.--The
Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to coordinate
with the World Bank, appropriate agencies of the United
Nations, and other relevant multilateral organizations to
work with governments in other countries to collect relevant
data, disaggregated by age and gender, on the ability of
displaced people to access education and participate in
economic activity, in order to improve the targeting,
monitoring, and evaluation of related assistance efforts.
(c) Coordination With Private Sector and Civil Society
Organizations.--The Secretary and the Administrator are
authorized to work with private sector and civil society
organizations to promote safe primary and secondary education
for displaced children.
SEC. 6. REPORT.
The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in the
report required under section 7 of the READ Act (division A
of Public Law 115-56; 22 U.S.C. 2151c note) a description of
any primary or secondary educational services supported by
programs for natural or manmade disaster relief or response
that specifically address the needs of displaced girls.
Mr. GARDNER. I further ask unanimous consent that the committee-
reported substitute amendment be agreed to and the bill, as amended, be
considered read a third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read
the third time.
Mr. GARDNER. I know of no further debate on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
Hearing none, the question is, Shall the bill pass?
The bill (S. 1580), as amended, was passed.
Mr. GARDNER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no
intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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