I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2214 

To empower women in Afghanistan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2009 

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To empower women in Afghanistan, and for other purposes. 

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 2009’’. 

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 and fundamental freedoms, in11 cluding the rights to life, work, education, health 

12 care, movement, expression, and religion. 


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1 (2) Many women who attempted to assert their 

2 rights under the Taliban regime were subjected to 

3 beatings and imprisonments, and many suffer from 

4 the long-term consequences of such oppression. 

5 (3) Women in Afghanistan have one of the 

6 highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with 

7 an estimated 1,600 deaths per every 100,000 live 

8 births. 

9 (4) Despite efforts by the United States Gov10 ernment and the international community to improve 

11 the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan, many 

12 women and girls continue to lack access to basic 

13 services, including health care and education. Ap14 proximately 80 percent of Afghan women are illit15 erate. 

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

17 face oppression resulting from violence and intimida18 tion by the Taliban, other religious extremists, and 

19 militia groups within their communities. In recent 

20 months, there has been a significant increase in the 

21 number of attacks against girls’ schools in an at22 tempt to prevent women and girls from regaining 

23 their rights and freedoms. 

24 (6) According to the United States Commission 

25 on International Religious Freedom, the absence of 


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1 clear protections for the right to freedom of religion 

2 or belief for individual Afghan citizens has resulted 

3 in a growing number of criminal prosecutions and 

4 other official actions against individuals, including 

5 women, for exercising their basic rights. 

6 (7) The strengthening of institutions and other 

7 actors, such as nongovernmental organizations, in 

8 Afghanistan is essential to building a civil society 

9 and holding the Government of Afghanistan to its 

10 international obligations under the International 

11 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other 

12 international instruments to protect and ensure the 

13 rights of women. 

14 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AF15 GHANISTAN. 

16 It is the sense of Congress that— 

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

18 girls in Afghanistan and their full participation in 

19 the reestablishment of democracy is essential to the 

20 reconstruction of a stable and democratic Afghani21 stan, and to achieve such a reconstruction, the 

22 United States Government must continue to commit 

23 resources to advance the rights of women through24 out Afghanistan; 


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1 (2) the United States Government should pro2 vide strong support for the Afghan Ministry of 

3 Women’s Affairs and the Afghan Independent 

4 Human Rights Commission, both of which were cre5 ated by the Agreement on Provisional Agreements in 

6 Afghanistan Pending the Establishment of Perma7 nent Governing Institutions, done in Bonn, Decem8 ber 5, 2001 (commonly known as the ‘‘Bonn Agree9 ment’’), to remedy past violations of women’s rights 

10 and human rights and to establish institutions and 

11 programs to ensure policies that advance such 

12 rights; 

13 (3) the United States Government should make 

14 it a priority to provide assistance to Afghan-led non15 governmental organizations, particularly Afghan 

16 women-led nonprofit organizations; and 

17 (4) grants and assistance to Afghanistan should 

18 be conditioned upon the Government of Afghanistan 

19 adhering to international standards for women’s 

20 rights and human rights, including the internation21 ally recognized right to freedom of thought, con22 science, and religion or belief. 

23 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. 

24 Section 103(a)(7) of the Afghanistan Freedom Sup25 port Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)) is amended— 


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

2 through (xii) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) to provide equipment, medical 

4 supplies, and other assistance to health 

5 care facilities for the purpose of reducing 

6 maternal and infant mortality and mor7 bidity; 

8 ‘‘(ii) to establish and expand pro9 grams to provide services to women and 

10 girls suffering from mental health prob11 lems, such as depression, anxiety, and 

12 posttraumatic stress disorder; 

13 ‘‘(iii) to expand immunization pro14 grams for women and children; 

15 ‘‘(iv) to protect and provide services to 

16 vulnerable populations, including widows, 

17 orphans, and women head of households; 

18 ‘‘(v) to establish primary and sec19 ondary schools for girls that include math20 ematics, science, and languages in their 

21 primary curriculum; 

22 ‘‘(vi) to expand technical and voca23 tional training programs to enable women 

24 to support themselves and their families; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) to maintain and expand adult 

2 literacy programs, including economic lit3 eracy programs that promote the well4 being of women and their families; 

5 ‘‘(viii) to provide special educational 

6 opportunities for girls whose schooling was 

7 ended by the Taliban and who now face 

8 obstacles to participating in the normal 

9 education system, such as girls who are 

10 now married and girls who are older than 

11 the normal age for their classes; 

12 ‘‘(ix) to disseminate information 

13 throughout Afghanistan on the rights of 

14 women and on international standards for 

15 human rights; 

16 ‘‘(x) to provide information and as17 sistance to enable women to exercise prop18 erty, inheritance, and voting rights, and to 

19 ensure equal access to the judicial system; 

20 ‘‘(xi) to provide legal assistance to 

21 women who have suffered violations of 

22 their rights; 

23 ‘‘(xii) to increase political and civil 

24 participation of women in all levels of soci25 ety, including the criminal justice system; 


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1 ‘‘(xiii) to provide information and 

2 training related to women’s rights and 

3 human rights to military, police, judicial, 

4 and legal personnel; 

5 ‘‘(xiv) to provide assistance to the 

6 Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Af7 ghan Independent Human Rights Commis8 sion for programs to advance the status of 

9 women; and 

10 ‘‘(xv) to develop and implement pro11 grams to protect women and girls against 

12 sexual and physical abuse, abduction, traf13 ficking, exploitation, and sex discrimina14 tion, including providing emergency shel15 ters for women and girls who face danger 

16 from violence.’’; and 

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

18 follows: 

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

20 of the fiscal years 2010 through 2012— 

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

22 appropriated to the President to be made 

23 available to the Afghan Ministry of Wom24 en’s Affairs for the administration and 

25 conduct of its programs; 


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

2 appropriated to the President to be made 

3 available to the Afghanistan Independent 

4 Human Rights Commission for the admin5 istration and conduct of its programs; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) $100,000,000 is authorized to 

7 be appropriated to the President for grants 

8 to Afghan women-led nonprofit organiza9 tions to support activities including the 

10 construction, establishment, and operation 

11 of schools for married girls and girls’ or12 phanages, vocational training and human 

13 rights education for women and girls, 

14 health care clinics for women and children, 

15 programs to strengthen Afghan women-led 

16 organizations and women’s leadership, and 

17 to provide monthly financial assistance to 

18 widows, orphans, and women head of 

19 households.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that, in providing assist22 ance under section 103(a)(7) of the Afghanistan Freedom 

23 Support Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)), as amended 

24 by section 4, the President should— 


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1 (1) condition the provision of such assistance on 

2 the recipient adhering to international standards for 

3 women’s rights and human rights; and 

4 (2) ensure that Afghan women-led nongovern5 mental organizations throughout Afghanistan receive 

6 grants without ethnic, religious, or any other dis7 crimination. 

Æ 


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