    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 132, 115th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Public Law 115-442
    115th Congress

    An Act

    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. <>

    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 ``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

    [[Page 5591]]

    (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.

    [[Page 5592]]

    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.

    Approved January 14, 2019.

    LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1580:
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    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018):
    Dec. 12, considered and passed Senate.
    Dec. 21, considered and passed House.