II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1171 

To keep girls in school around the world, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2017 

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

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To keep girls in school around the world, 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 ‘‘Keeping Girls in 

5 School Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE7 FINED. 

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com9 mittees’’ means— 

10 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

11 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

2 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep3 resentatives. 

4 SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 

5 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to support 

6 empowerment, economic security, and educational oppor7 tunities for adolescent girls around the world. 

8 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find9 ings: 

10 (1) Adolescence is a critical period in a girl’s 

11 life, when significant physical, emotional, and social 

12 changes shape her future. 

13 (2) According to the United Nations Edu14 cational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 

15 (UNESCO), approximately 130,000,000 girls 

16 around the world are not in school and millions more 

17 are failing to acquire basic reading, writing, and 

18 numeracy skills. 

19 (3) Girls between the ages of 10 and 19 are 

20 three times more likely than boys to be kept out of 

21 school, particularly in countries affected by conflict. 

22 (4) Due to discriminatory gender norms and ex23 pectations, disparities in access to safe and quality 

24 education manifest early in a girl’s life and continue 

25 to become more pronounced throughout adolescence. 


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1 (5) Adolescent girls who are not in school are 

2 particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, child, early 

3 and forced marriage, and other forms of violence 

4 which are detrimental to their futures, as evidenced 

5 by the following statistics: 

6 (A) Each year, 380,000 adolescent girls 

7 and young women become newly infected with 

8 HIV, more than 1,000 every day, and comprise 

9 the fastest-growing demographic for new infec10 tions in sub-Saharan Africa. 

11 (B) Each year, 15,000,000 adolescent girls 

12 around the world are married before their 18th 

13 birthday, and more than 700,000,000 women 

14 alive today were married as children. 

15 (C) One-quarter to one-half of girls in de16 veloping countries become mothers before the 

17 age of 18, and girls under 15 are five times 

18 more likely to die during childbirth than women 

19 in their 20s. 

20 (6) While two-thirds of countries have achieved 

21 gender parity in primary education, only 40 percent 

22 have achieved gender parity in secondary education. 

23 (7) Adolescent girls who remain in school are 

24 more likely to live longer, marry later, have healthier 

25 children, and, as adults, earn an income to support 


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1 their families, thereby contributing to the economic 

2 advancement of communities and nations. 

3 (8) The United States Global Strategy to Em4 power Adolescent Girls has brought together the De5 partment of State, the United States Agency for 

6 International Development (USAID), the Peace 

7 Corps, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, 

8 as well as other agencies and programs such as the 

9 President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief 

10 (PEPFAR), to address the range of challenges pre11 venting adolescent girls from attaining an inclusive 

12 and equitable quality education leading to relevant 

13 learning outcomes. 

14 (9) Since July 2015, more than 100 public-pri15 vate partnerships have been formed between the 

16 United States Government and external partners to 

17 support innovative and community-led solutions in 

18 targeted countries, including Malawi and Tanzania, 

19 to ensure adolescent girls receive a quality edu20 cation. 

21 (10) PEPFAR, through its DREAMS (Deter22 mined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, 

23 and Safe) Initiative, has worked to address a num24 ber of the specific barriers to education that adoles25 cent girls face. 


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1 (11) According to the United States Global 

2 Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls, which is the 

3 first foreign policy document in the world solely 

4 dedicated to the rights and empowerment of girls 

5 globally, ‘‘[w]hile the Millennium Development Goals 

6 improved outcomes for girls in primary education, 

7 they also highlighted the need for a targeted focus 

8 on adolescents and young adults, particularly re9 garding the transition to and completion of sec10 ondary school’’. 

11 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that— 

13 (1) education is a human right, and girls of all 

14 ages deserve an education that is equal, in all as15 pects, to that of boys; 

16 (2) the United States has been a global leader 

17 in efforts to expand and improve educational oppor18 tunities for those who have been traditionally 

19 disenfranchised, particularly women and girls; 

20 (3) gains with respect to girls’ secondary edu21 cation and empowerment have been proven to cor22 relate strongly with progress in gender equality and 

23 women’s rights, as well as economic and social 

24 progress, and achieving gender equality should be a 

25 priority goal of United States foreign policy; 


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1 (4) achieving gender parity in both access to 

2 and quality of educational opportunity contributes 

3 significantly to economic growth and development, 

4 thereby lowering the risk for violence and instability; 

5 and 

6 (5) education is a lifesaving humanitarian inter7 vention that protects the lives, futures, and well8 being of girls. 

9 TITLE I—SECONDARY EDU10 CATION FOR ADOLESCENT 

11 GIRLS 

12 SEC. 101. ADOLESCENT GIRLS EDUCATION CHALLENGE 

13 FUND. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an Ado15 lescent Girls Education Challenge Fund from which funds 

16 may be made available for the Department of State, the 

17 United States Agency for International Development, and 

18 other Federal departments and agencies to work with ex19 ternal partners to implement innovative programs to en20 sure that adolescent girls enroll and succeed in school. 

21 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Programs initiated 

22 through the Fund may— 

23 (1) create strategic, focused, cross-sectoral, and 

24 results-oriented partnerships, including with adolesVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 May 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1171.IS S1171

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1 cent girls, to promote their education, economic se2 curity, and empowerment; 

3 (2) apply comprehensive scientific and research4 based approaches, aligned, where possible, with local 

5 development priorities, to support sustainable devel6 opment outcomes; 

7 (3) leverage additional resources from public, 

8 private, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations, in9 cluding those based inside partner countries, as well 

10 as institutions of higher education, United States 

11 and non-United States Government organizations, 

12 and international donor organization to ensure sus13 tainable finance and impact; and 

14 (4) ensure schools provide safe and quality edu15 cational opportunities so that girls can enroll in and 

16 regularly attend school, successfully transition from 

17 primary to secondary school, and eventually grad18 uate having achieved learning outcomes and posi19 tioned to make healthy transitions to adulthood. 

20 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated at least $35,000,000 for 

22 each fiscal year for the Fund established under this sec23 tion. 


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1 SEC. 102. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE EDUCATIONAL OPPOR2 TUNITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 

4 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter5 national Development, in coordination with other Federal 

6 departments and agencies, are authorized to initiate and 

7 advance programs that support educational opportunities 

8 for adolescent girls and which reduce specific barriers ado9 lescent girls face in attaining inclusive and equitable edu10 cational opportunities. 

11 (b) SPECIFIC BARRIERS.—In this subsection, the 

12 term ‘‘specific barriers’’ includes— 

13 (1) harmful societal and cultural norms; 

14 (2) distance from a secondary school; 

15 (3) safety at school or traveling to school; 

16 (4) cost of secondary schooling, including fees, 

17 clothing, and supplies; 

18 (5) inadequate sanitation facilities and products 

19 available at secondary schools; 

20 (6) prioritization of boys’ secondary education; 

21 (7) poor nutrition; 

22 (8) child, early, and forced marriage; 

23 (9) early pregnancy and motherhood; 

24 (10) female genital mutilation; 

25 (11) HIV infection; and 


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1 (12) discrimination based on religious or ethnic 

2 identity. 

3 (c) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.—The United 

4 States Agency for International Development Senior Coor5 dinator for International Basic Education Assistance, in 

6 coordination with the United States Agency for Inter7 national Development Senior Coordinator for Gender 

8 Equality and Women’s Empowerment and the Ambas9 sador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Depart10 ment of State, shall be responsible for the oversight and 

11 coordination of all resources and activities of the United 

12 States Government relating to promoting educational op13 portunities for adolescent girls. 

14 SEC. 103. MONITORING AND EVALUATION. 

15 The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 

16 United States Agency for International Development shall 

17 seek to determine that programs carried out under this 

18 Act— 

19 (1) employ rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

20 methodologies, including an ex post evaluation, to 

21 ensure programs and activities demonstrably close 

22 the gap in gender parity for secondary education 

23 and improve the quality of education offered to ado24 lescent girls; 


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1 (2) disaggregate all data collected and reported 

2 by age, gender, marital and motherhood status, and 

3 urbanity, to the extent practicable and appropriate; 

4 and 

5 (3) adhere to the Department of State’s Policy 

6 Guidance on Promoting Gender Equality and 

7 USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empower8 ment Policy. 

9 SEC. 104. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

10 Not later than March 31, 2018, and annually there11 after, the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

12 International Development, in coordination with the Sec13 retary of State, shall submit a report to the appropriate 

14 congressional committees that— 

15 (1) details programs initiated under this Act 

16 that address specific barriers to adolescent girls edu17 cation; and 

18 (2) describes the activities and partnerships of 

19 the Adolescent Girls Education Challenge Fund, as 

20 well as the outcomes and metrics used to measure 

21 its effectiveness. 

22 SEC. 105. SUNSET. 

23 The authorities under this title shall terminate upon 

24 certification by the Secretary of State to the appropriate 

25 congressional committees that gender parity in both qualVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 May 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1171.IS S1171

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1 ity of and access to secondary education for adolescent 

2 boys and girls has been achieved in the countries which 

3 receive United States development assistance. 

4 TITLE II—UNITED STATES GLOB5 AL STRATEGY TO EMPOWER 

6 ADOLESCENT GIRLS 

7 SEC. 201. GLOBAL STRATEGY REQUIREMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 5 years there10 after, the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s 

11 Issues at the Department of State (referred to in this title 

12 as the ‘‘Ambassador-at-Large’’), in consultation with the 

13 Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s 

14 Empowerment at the United States Agency for Inter15 national Development (referred to in this title as the ‘‘Sen16 ior Coordinator’’), shall— 

17 (1) develop or review and update a United 

18 States global strategy to empower adolescent girls; 

19 (2) submit the strategy to the appropriate con20 gressional committees; and 

21 (3) make the strategy and review publicly avail22 able on the Internet. 

23 (b) INITIAL STRATEGY.—For the purposes of this 

24 section, the ‘‘United States Global Strategy to Empower 


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1 Adolescent Girls’’, issued in March 2016, shall be deemed 

2 to fulfill the initial requirement under subsection (a). 

3 (c) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—In devel4 oping the strategy under subsection (a), the Ambassador5 at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall consult with— 

6 (1) the heads of relevant Federal agencies and 

7 their designees, as well as experts on adolescent 

8 girls, gender equality, and empowerment throughout 

9 Federal agencies; 

10 (2) the appropriate congressional committees; 

11 (3) representatives of civil society and multilat12 eral organizations with demonstrated experience and 

13 expertise in empowering adolescent girls or pro14 moting gender equality, including local civil society 

15 organizations and beneficiaries where possible; and 

16 (4) local organizations and beneficiaries, includ17 ing youth and adolescent girls’ organizations. 

Æ 


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