[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 247 (Friday, December 23, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 80205-80207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33089]




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  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 247 / Friday, December 23, 2011 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 80205]]


                Executive Order 13595 of December 19, 2011

                
Instituting a National Action Plan On Women, 
                Peace, And Security

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy. (a) The United States recognizes 
                that promoting women's participation in conflict 
                prevention, management, and resolution, as well as in 
                post-conflict relief and recovery, advances peace, 
                national security, economic and social development, and 
                international cooperation.

                    (b) The United States recognizes the responsibility 
                of all nations to protect their populations from 
                genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes 
                against humanity, including when implemented by means 
                of sexual violence. The United States further 
                recognizes that sexual violence, when used or 
                commissioned as a tactic of war or as a part of a 
                widespread or systematic attack against civilians, can 
                exacerbate and prolong armed conflict and impede the 
                restoration of peace and security.
                    (c) It shall be the policy and practice of the 
                executive branch of the United States to have a 
                National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security 
                (National Action Plan).

                Sec. 2. National Action Plan. A National Action Plan 
                shall be created pursuant to the process outlined in 
                Presidential Policy Directive 1 and shall identify and 
                develop activities and initiatives in the following 
                areas:

                    (a) National integration and institutionalization. 
                Through interagency coordination, policy development, 
                enhanced professional training and education, and 
                evaluation, the United States Government will 
                institutionalize a gender-responsive approach to its 
                diplomatic, development, and defense-related work in 
                conflict-affected environments.
                    (b) Participation in peace processes and 
                decisionmaking. The United States Government will 
                improve the prospects for inclusive, just, and 
                sustainable peace by promoting and strengthening 
                women's rights and effective leadership and substantive 
                participation in peace processes, conflict prevention, 
                peacebuilding, transitional processes, and 
                decisionmaking institutions in conflict-affected 
                environments.
                    (c) Protection from violence. The United States 
                Government will strengthen its efforts to prevent--and 
                protect women and children from--harm, exploitation, 
                discrimination, and abuse, including sexual and gender-
                based violence and trafficking in persons, and to hold 
                perpetrators accountable in conflict-affected 
                environments.
                    (d) Conflict prevention. The United States 
                Government will promote women's roles in conflict 
                prevention, improve conflict early-warning and response 
                systems through the integration of gender perspectives, 
                and invest in women and girls' health, education, and 
                economic opportunity to create conditions for stable 
                societies and lasting peace.
                    (e) Access to relief and recovery. The United 
                States Government will respond to the distinct needs of 
                women and children in conflict-affected disasters and 
                crises, including by providing safe, equitable access 
                to humanitarian assistance.

                Sec. 3. Responsibility of Executive Departments and 
                Agencies. (a) Executive departments and agencies 
                (agencies) shall maintain a current awareness of U.S. 
                policy with regard to Women, Peace, and Security, as 
                set out in

[[Page 80206]]

                the National Action Plan, as it is relevant to their 
                functions, and shall perform such functions so as to 
                respect and implement that policy fully, while 
                retaining their established institutional roles in the 
                implementation, interpretation, and enforcement of 
                Federal law.

                    (b) The Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
                Defense, and the Administrator of the United States 
                Agency for International Development shall each:

(i) designate one or more officers, as appropriate, as responsible for 
coordinating and implementing the National Action Plan;

(ii) within 150 days of the date of the release of the National Action 
Plan, develop and submit to the Assistant to the President and National 
Security Advisor an agency-specific implementation plan that will identify 
the actions each agency plans to take to implement the National Action 
Plan; and

(iii) execute their agency-specific implementation plans, and monitor and 
report to the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor on 
such execution.

                Sec. 4. Interagency Process. The Assistant to the 
                President and National Security Advisor shall, 
                consistent with Presidential Policy Directive 1 or any 
                successor documents, establish an interagency process 
                for coordinating the implementation of this order, 
                which shall, inter alia:

                    (a) coordinate implementation of the National 
                Action Plan and agency-specific implementation plans as 
                specified in section 3(b) of this order;
                    (b) establish a mechanism for agencies to report 
                progress in implementing the National Action Plan and 
                agency-specific implementation plans, as appropriate 
                and as specified in section 3(b), and in meeting the 
                objectives of this order, which the Assistant to the 
                President and National Security Advisor shall draw upon 
                to provide an annual report to the President;
                    (c) coordinate a comprehensive periodic review of, 
                and update to, the National Action Plan. The review of, 
                and update to, the National Action Plan will be 
                informed by consultation with relevant civil society 
                organizations. The first review will take place in 
                2015; and
                    (d) consider and implement other revisions to the 
                National Action Plan, as necessary.

                Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) Independent agencies are strongly encouraged to 
                comply with this order.

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                    (d) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    December 19, 2011.

[FR Doc. 2011-33089
Filed 12-22-11; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F2-P