II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2392 

To promote the empowerment of women in Afghanistan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2006 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To promote the empowerment of women in Afghanistan. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Afghan Women Em5 powerment Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Under the oppressive rule of the Taliban, 

9 the women of Afghanistan were denied the most 

10 basic human rights, including the rights to work, to 

11 an education, to health care, and to move freely. 


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1 (2) Women who attempted to assert their rights 

2 under the Taliban regime were subjected to beatings 

3 and imprisonments, and many suffer from the long4 term consequences of such oppression. 

5 (3) Women in Afghanistan have one of the 

6 highest mortality rates in the world, with an esti7 mated 16,000 maternal deaths annually. 

8 (4) Despite efforts by the United States Gov9 ernment and the international community to improve 

10 the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan, many 

11 women and girls continue to lack access to basic 

12 services, including health care and education. Ap13 proximately 80 percent of Afghan women are illit14 erate. 

15 (5) Today, women and girls in Afghanistan still 

16 face oppression resulting from violence and intimida17 tion by Taliban and other militia groups. In recent 

18 months, there has been a significant increase in the 

19 number of attacks against girls’ schools in an at20 tempt to prevent women and girls from regaining 

21 their rights and freedoms. 

22 (6) The strengthening of institutions and non23 governmental organizations that are led by women in 

24 Afghanistan is essential to building civil society and 


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1 holding the Government of Afghanistan accountable 

2 for protecting women’s rights and human rights. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AF4 GHANISTAN. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the protection of the rights of women and 

7 girls in Afghanistan and their full participation in 

8 the reestablishment of democracy are essential to the 

9 reconstruction of a stable and democratic Afghani10 stan, and to achieve such a reconstruction, the 

11 United States Government must commit resources to 

12 advance the rights of women throughout Afghani13 stan; 

14 (2) the United States Government should pro15 vide strong support for the Afghan Ministry of 

16 Women’s Affairs and the Afghan Independent 

17 Human Rights Commission, both of which were cre18 ated by the Agreement on Provisional Agreements in 

19 Afghanistan Pending the Establishment of Perma20 nent Governing Institutions, done in Bonn December 

21 5, 2001 (commonly known as the ‘‘Bonn Agree22 ment’’) to remedy past violations of women’s rights 

23 and human rights and to establish institutions and 

24 programs to ensure policies that advance such 

25 rights; 


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1 (3) the United States Government should make 

2 it a priority to provide assistance to Afghan-led non3 governmental organizations, particularly Afghan 

4 women-led nonprofit organizations; and 

5 (4) grants and assistance to Afghanistan shall 

6 be conditioned upon the Government of Afghanistan 

7 adhering to international standards for women’s 

8 rights and human rights. 

9 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. 

10 Section 103(a)(7) of the Afghan Freedom Support 

11 Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)) is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking clauses (i) 

13 through (xii) and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) to provide equipment, medical 

15 supplies, and other assistance to health 

16 care facilities for the purpose of reducing 

17 maternal and infant mortality and mor18 bidity; 

19 ‘‘(ii) to establish and expand pro20 grams to provide services to women and 

21 girls suffering from posttraumatic stress 

22 disorder, depression, and mental illness; 

23 ‘‘(iii) to protect and provide services 

24 to vulnerable populations, including widVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:03 Mar 09, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2392.IS S2392

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1 ows, orphans, and women head of house2 holds; 

3 ‘‘(iv) to establish primary and sec4 ondary schools for girls that include math5 ematics, science, and languages in their 

6 primary curriculum; 

7 ‘‘(v) to expand technical and voca8 tional training programs to enable women 

9 to support themselves and their families; 

10 ‘‘(vi) to maintain and expand adult 

11 literacy programs, including economic lit12 eracy programs that promote the well13 being of women and their families; 

14 ‘‘(vii) to provide special educational 

15 opportunities for girls whose schooling was 

16 ended by the Taliban and who now face 

17 obstacles to participating in the normal 

18 education system, such as girls who are 

19 now married and girls who are older than 

20 the normal age for their classes; 

21 ‘‘(viii) to disseminate information 

22 throughout Afghanistan on the rights of 

23 women and on international standards for 

24 human rights; 


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1 ‘‘(ix) to provide information and as2 sistance to enable women to exercise prop3 erty, inheritance, and voting rights, and to 

4 ensure equal access to the judicial system; 

5 ‘‘(x) to monitor and investigate viola6 tions of women’s rights and to provide 

7 legal assistance to women who have suf8 fered violations of their rights; 

9 ‘‘(xi) to increase political and civil 

10 participation of women in all levels of soci11 ety, including the criminal justice system; 

12 ‘‘(xii) to provide information and 

13 training related to women’s rights and 

14 human rights to military, police, and legal 

15 personnel; and 

16 ‘‘(xiii) to provide assistance to the 

17 Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Inde18 pendent Human Rights Commission for 

19 programs to advance the status of 

20 women.’’; and 

21 (2) by restating subparagraph (B) to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—For each 

24 of the fiscal years 2007 through 2009— 


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1 ‘‘(i) $5,000,000 is authorized to be 

2 appropriated to the President to be made 

3 available to the Afghan Ministry of Wom4 en’s Affairs for the administration and 

5 conduct of its programs; 

6 ‘‘(ii) $10,000,000 is authorized to be 

7 appropriated to the President to be made 

8 available to the Afghan Independent 

9 Human Rights Commission for the admin10 istration and conduct of its programs; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) $30,000,000 is authorized to be 

12 appropriated to the President for grants to 

13 Afghan women-led nonprofit organizations 

14 to support activities including the construc15 tion, establishment, and operation of 

16 schools for married girls and girls’ orphan17 ages, vocational training for women and 

18 girls, health care clinics for women and 

19 children, programs to strengthen Afghan 

20 women-led organizations and women’s 

21 leadership, and to provide monthly finan22 cial assistance to widows, orphans, and 

23 women head of households.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that, in providing assist3 ance under section 103(a)(7) of the Afghan Freedom Sup4 port Act (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)), as amended by section 

5 4, the President should— 

6 (1) condition the provision of such assistance on 

7 the recipient adhering to international standards for 

8 women’s rights and human rights; and 

9 (2) ensure that Afghan women-led nongovern10 mental organizations throughout Afghanistan with 

11 demonstrated experience in delivering services to Af12 ghan women and children receive grants without eth13 nic, religious, or any other discrimination. 

14 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

15 (a) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 

17 months thereafter for 3 years, the Secretary of State and 

18 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter19 national Development shall jointly submit a report on the 

20 activities carried out under this Act to the Committee on 

21 Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations 

22 of the Senate and the Committee on International Rela23 tions and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

24 of Representatives. 

25 (b) CONTENT.—Each report submitted under sub26 section (a) shall include the amount of assistance provided 


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1 under section 103(a)(7) of the Afghan Freedom Support 

2 Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)), as amended by sec3 tion 4, to— 

4 (1) the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs; 

5 (2) the Afghan Independent Human Rights 

6 Commission; and 

7 (3) Afghan women-led nonprofit organizations. 

Æ 


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