II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3535 

To support empowerment, economic security, and educational opportunities 

for adolescent girls around the world, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To support empowerment, economic security, and educational 

opportunities for adolescent girls 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Keeping Girls in School Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Secondary education for adolescent girls. 


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Sec. 5. Global strategy requirement. 

Sec. 6. Transparency and reporting to Congress. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

5 States Agency for International Development. 

6 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—the term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit8 tees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

10 the Senate; 

11 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

12 the Senate; 

13 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

14 the House of Representatives; and 

15 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

16 the House of Representatives. 

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of State. 

19 (4) USAID.—The term ‘‘USAID’’ means the 

20 United States Agency for International Develop21 ment. 

22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) every child, regardless of gender or place of 

2 birth, deserves an equal opportunity to access qual3 ity education; 

4 (2) education is a key investment in— 

5 (A) the future, well-being, and prosperity 

6 of girls; and 

7 (B) the stability and productivity of their 

8 communities; 

9 (3) the United States has been a global leader 

10 in efforts to expand and improve access to quality 

11 basic education for all, particularly marginalized and 

12 vulnerable populations, including women and girls; 

13 (4) gains with respect to girls’ secondary edu14 cation and empowerment have been proven to cor15 relate strongly with progress in gender equality and 

16 women’s rights, a stated priority of United States 

17 foreign policy and national security; 

18 (5) achieving gender parity in both access to 

19 and quality of educational opportunity contributes 

20 significantly to economic growth and development, 

21 thereby lowering the risk for violence and instability; 

22 and 

23 (6) education is a lifesaving humanitarian inter24 vention that protects the lives, futures, and well25 being of girls. 


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1 SEC. 4. SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Ad4 ministrator shall— 

5 (A) promote access to quality education for 

6 girls globally; and 

7 (B) enter into agreements, including agree8 ments across sectors, to address the barriers 

9 described in subsection (b) that adolescent girls 

10 face in accessing a quality secondary education, 

11 particularly in countries in which adolescent 

12 girls are significantly more likely to drop out of 

13 school than boys. 

14 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Activities carried out 

15 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall— 

16 (A) be informed by a context-specific, evi17 dence-based analysis of the challenges that girls 

18 face, which inhibit girls from successfully 

19 transitioning to, remaining enrolled in, and 

20 completing secondary school; 

21 (B) ensure that integrated programs— 

22 (i) holistically support safe, inclusive, 

23 and quality educational opportunities; and 

24 (ii) create empowering environments 

25 to enable girls— 


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1 (I) to enroll in and regularly at2 tend school; 

3 (II) to successfully transition 

4 from primary to secondary school; and 

5 (III) to eventually graduate after 

6 achieving learning outcomes and being 

7 in a position to make healthy transi8 tions into adulthood; and 

9 (C) seek to use United States Government 

10 strategies and frameworks relevant to inter11 national basic education, women’s and girls’ 

12 empowerment, and gender equality to integrate 

13 multi-sectoral, evidenced-based approaches to 

14 adolescent girls’ education and well-being. 

15 (b) SPECIFIC BARRIERS.—The barriers described in 

16 this subsection are— 

17 (1) harmful social and cultural norms; 

18 (2) lack of safety at school or traveling to 

19 school and online, including harassment and other 

20 forms of physical, sexual, or psychological violence; 

21 (3) child, early, and forced marriage; 

22 (4) female genital mutilation; 

23 (5) distance from a secondary school; 

24 (6) cost of secondary schooling, including fees, 

25 clothing, and supplies; 


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1 (7) inadequate sanitation facilities and products 

2 available at secondary schools; 

3 (8) prioritization of boys’ secondary education; 

4 (9) poor nutrition; 

5 (10) early pregnancy and motherhood; 

6 (11) HIV infection; 

7 (12) disability; 

8 (13) discrimination based on religious or ethnic 

9 identity; 

10 (14) heavy workload due to household tasks or 

11 care burdens; and 

12 (15) inequitable access to digital resources. 

13 (c) ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSALS OR APPLICATIONS

14 FOR AWARDS.—Beginning not later than 180 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

16 shall seek proposals or applications for awards to conduct 

17 the activities described in the agreements entered into pur18 suant to subsection (a)(1)(B). 

19 (d) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The Adminis20 trator shall seek to ensure that activities carried out pur21 suant to agreements referred to in subsection (a)(1)(B)— 

22 (1) employ rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

23 methodologies, including measurable goals, out24 comes, and benchmarks, to ensure that such activi25 ties demonstrably— 


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1 (A) improve adolescent girls’ access to sec2 ondary education; 

3 (B) close the gap in gender parity for sec4 ondary education; and 

5 (C) improve the quality of girls’ education; 

6 (2) disaggregate data collected and reported by 

7 age, gender, marital and motherhood status, dis8 ability, and urbanity, to the extent practicable and 

9 appropriate; and 

10 (3) use, to the extent possible, indicators and 

11 methodologies identified by the Interagency Working 

12 Group for the Strategy on International Basic Edu13 cation. 

14 (e) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina16 tion with the Administrator, shall be responsible for 

17 the oversight and coordination of all activities of the 

18 United States Government carried out pursuant to 

19 this section, as appropriate. 

20 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF AGREEMENTS.—In de21 veloping agreements described in subsection 

22 (a)(1)(B), the Secretary, in coordination with the 

23 Administrator, shall consult with representatives of 

24 Federal departments and agencies that are impleVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:21 Jan 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3535.IS S3535

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1 menting the United States Global Strategy to Em2 power Adolescent Girls. 

3 (3) COORDINATION REQUIREMENTS.—In car4 rying out the activities described in paragraphs (1) 

5 and (2), the Secretary and the Administrator shall 

6 coordinate with the Senior Coordinator for Inter7 national Basic Education Assistance at USAID, the 

8 Youth Coordinator at USAID, the Senior Coordi9 nator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empower10 ment at USAID, and the Ambassador-at-Large for 

11 Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State. 

12 (4) COORDINATION WITH OTHER STRATE13 GIES.—Activities carried out pursuant to agreements 

14 described in subsection (a)(1)(B), shall be carried 

15 out in a manner that is consistent with— 

16 (A) the latest update of the United States 

17 Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls; 

18 and 

19 (B) the United States Government Strat20 egy on International Basic Education, including 

21 its objective to expand access to quality basic 

22 education for all, particularly marginalized and 

23 vulnerable populations. 


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1 SEC. 5. GLOBAL STRATEGY REQUIREMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordi4 nation with the Administrator, the Ambassador-at-Large 

5 for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State, 

6 the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s 

7 Empowerment at USAID, and the Senior Coordinator for 

8 International Basic Education Assistance at USAID, 

9 shall— 

10 (1) review and update a United States Global 

11 Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls, which in12 cludes a focus on girls’ access to quality, inclusive 

13 secondary education, and subsequent agency imple14 mentation plans; and 

15 (2) submit the updated strategy to the appro16 priate congressional committees. 

17 (b) 5-YEAR UPDATE OF STRATEGY.—Not later than 

18 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

19 Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, shall 

20 submit to the appropriate congressional committees an21 other update and revision of— 

22 (1) the United States Global Strategy to Em23 power Adolescent Girls; and 

24 (2) the agency implementation plans for such 

25 strategy. 


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1 (c) CONSULTATION.—In reviewing and updating the 

2 strategy and implementation plans pursuant to subsection 

3 (a), the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, 

4 the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at 

5 the Department of State, the Senior Coordinator for Gen6 der Equality and Women’s Empowerment at USAID, and 

7 the Senior Coordinator for International Basic Education 

8 Assistance at USAID, shall consult with and provide 

9 meaningful opportunity for review with— 

10 (1) the heads of relevant Federal departments 

11 and agencies (or their designees); 

12 (2) the appropriate congressional committees; 

13 and 

14 (3) representatives of United States and inter15 national civil society and multilateral organizations 

16 with demonstrated experience and expertise in em17 powering adolescent girls and promoting gender 

18 equality in education, including local civil society or19 ganizations, faith-based organizations, to the extent 

20 possible, program participants. 

21 (d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the activities 

22 described in his section, the Secretary and the Adminis23 trator shall coordinate with the Ambassador-at-Large for 

24 Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State, the 

25 Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s 


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1 Empowerment at USAID, the Senior Coordinator for 

2 International Basic Education Assistance at USAID, and 

3 the Youth Coordinator at USAID. 

4 SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

6 date of the submission of the strategy required under sec7 tion 5, and biennially thereafter for 10 years, the Sec8 retary, in coordination with the Administrator, shall sub9 mit a report to the appropriate congressional committees 

10 that describes— 

11 (1) the activities initiated pursuant to the au12 thorities provided in this Act; and 

13 (2) the manner and extent to which such activi14 ties are monitored and evaluated, in accordance with 

15 section 4(d). 

16 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Each report submitted pursuant 

17 to subsection (a) shall be made available on a text-based, 

18 searchable, and publicly available website of USAID. 

Æ 


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