Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act

Summary: Protecting Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act This bill urges the consideration of the educational needs of vulnerable women and girls in designing, implementing, and evaluating U.S. foreign assistance policies and programs.  The Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) may advance programs that:   provide safe, primary and secondary education for displaced children;  build the capacity of institutions in countries hosting displaced people to prevent displaced children from facing educational discrimination; and  help increase the access of displaced children, especially girls, to educational, economic, and entrepreneurial opportunities.   The State Department and USAID may:   coordinate with multilateral organizations to work with foreign governments to collect relevant data, disaggregated by age and gender, on the ability of displaced people to access education and participate in economic activity; and  work with domestic and foreign private sector and civil society organizations to promote safe, primary and secondary education for displaced children.

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.

            Passed the Senate December 12, 2018.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
115th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 1580

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.