Refugee Women and Children Protection Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Refugee Women and Children 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES POLICY CONCERNING OVERSEAS ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES 
              AND DISPLACED PERSONS.

    (a) Standards for Refugee Women and Children.--The United States 
Government, in providing for overseas assistance and protection of 
refugees and displaced persons, shall seek to address the protection 
and provision of basic needs of refugee women and children who 
represent 80 percent of the world's refugee population. As called for 
in the 1991 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 
``Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women,'' whether directly, or 
through international organizations and nongovernmental voluntary 
organizations, the Secretary of State shall ensure--
            (1) specific attention on the part of the United Nations 
        and relief organizations to recruit and employ female 
        protection officers;
            (2) implementation of gender awareness training for field 
        staff including, but not limited to, security personnel;
            (3) the protection of refugee women and children from 
        violence and other abuses on the part of governments or 
        insurgent groups;
            (4) full involvement of women refugees in the planning and 
        implementation of (A) the delivery of services and assistance, 
        and (B) the repatriation process;
            (5) incorporation of maternal and child health needs into 
        refugee health services and education, specifically to include 
        education on and access to services in reproductive health and 
        birth spacing;
            (6) the availability of counseling and other services, 
        grievance processes, and protective services to victims of 
        violence and abuse, including but not limited to rape and 
        domestic violence;
            (7) the provision of educational programs, particularly 
        literacy and numeracy, vocational and income-generation 
        training, and other training efforts promoting self-sufficiency 
        for refugee women, with special emphasis on women heads of 
        household;
            (8) education for all refugee children, ensuring equal 
        access for girls, and special services and family tracing for 
        unaccompanied refugee minors;
            (9) the collection of data that clearly enumerate age and 
        gender so that appropriate health, education, and assistance 
        programs can be planned;
            (10) the recruitment, hiring, and training of more women 
        program professionals in the international humanitarian field; 
        and
            (11) gender-specific training for program staff of the 
        United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and 
        nongovernmental voluntary organizations on implementation of 
        the 1991 UNHCR ``Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee 
        Women''.
    (b) Procedures.--The Secretary of State shall adopt specific 
procedures to ensure that all recipients of United States Government 
refugee and migration assistance funds implement the standards outlined 
in subsection (a).
    (c) Requirements for Refugee and Migration Assistance.--The 
Secretary of State, in providing migration and refugee assistance, 
should support the protection efforts set forth under this Act by 
raising at the highest levels of government the issue of abuses against 
refugee women and children by governments or insurgent groups that 
engage in, permit, or condone--
            (1) a pattern of gross violations of internationally 
        recognized human rights, such as torture or cruel, inhumane, or 
        degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without 
        charges, or other flagrant denial to life, liberty, and the 
        security of person;
            (2) the blockage of humanitarian relief assistance;
            (3) gender-specific persecution such as systematic 
        individual or mass rape, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, 
        enforced prostitution, any form of indecent assault or act of 
        violence against refugee women, girls, and children; or
            (4) continuing violations of the integrity of the person 
        against refugee women and children on the part of armed 
        insurgents, local security forces, or camp guards.
    (d) Investigation of Reports.--Upon receipt of credible reports of 
abuses under subsection (c), the Secretary of State should immediately 
investigate such reports through emergency fact-finding missions or 
other means of investigating such reports and help identify appropriate 
remedial measures.
    (e) Multilateral Organizations.--The United States Government shall 
use its voice and vote in the United Nations and its participation in 
other multilateral organizations, to promote policies which seek to 
protect and address basic human rights and needs of refugee women and 
children. The Secretary of State shall work to ensure that multilateral 
organizations fully incorporate the needs of refugee women and children 
into all elements of refugee assistance programs.
    (f) Sense of Congress on Multilateral Implementation of the 1991 
UNHCR ``Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women''.--It is the 
sense of the Congress that the President should enter into bilateral 
and multilateral negotiations to encourage other governments that 
provide refugee assistance to adopt refugee assistance policies 
designed to encourage full implementation of the UNHCR's 1991 
``Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women''.

Summary: Refugee Women and Children Protection Act - Directs the US Government, in providing for overseas assistance and protection of refugees and displaced persons, to address the protection and basic needs of refugee women and children. Requires the Secretary of State to take certain steps concerning such refugees as called for in the 1991 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women. Directs the Secretary to ensure that all recipients of US Government refugee and migration assistance implement such steps. Requires the Secretary, in providing such assistance, to raise at the highest levels of government the issue of abuses against refugee women and children by governments or insurgent groups that engage in or permit: (1) gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, (2) the blockage of humanitarian relief assistance, (3) gender-specific persecution. And (4) continuing violations of the integrity of the person against refugee women and children on the part of armed insurgents, local security forces, or camp guards. Declares that the Secretary should immediately investigate credible reports of abuses and identify remedial measures. Requires the US Government to use its vote in the United Nations and participation in other multilateral organizations to promote policies which protect human rights and needs of refugee women and children. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should enter into negotiations to encourage other governments that provide refugee assistance to adopt refugee assistance policies to encourage full implementation of the UNHCR' s 1991 Guidelines.