II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1425 

To increase the United States financial and programmatic contributions to 

promote economic opportunities for women in developing countries. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2009 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. LANDRIEU, 

Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

JOHNSON, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To increase the United States financial and programmatic 

contributions to promote economic opportunities for 

women in developing countries. 

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 ‘‘Global Resources and Opportunities for Women To 

6 Thrive Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘GROWTH Act of 2009’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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Sec. 2. Findings and statement of purpose. 

Sec. 3. Microfinance and microenterprise development assistance for women in 

developing countries. 

Sec. 4. Support for women’s small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing 

countries. 

Sec. 5. Support for private property rights and land tenure security for women 

in developing countries. 

Sec. 6. Support for women’s access to employment in developing countries. 

Sec. 7. Trade benefits for women in developing countries. 

Sec. 8. Exchanges between United States entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs in developing countries. 

Sec. 9. Assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account. 

Sec. 10. GROWTH Fund. 

Sec. 11. Data collection. 

Sec. 12. Support for women’s organizations in developing countries. 

Sec. 13. Report. 

Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Women around the world are especially vul4 nerable to poverty. They tend to work longer hours, 

5 are compensated less, and have less income stability 

6 and fewer economic opportunities than men. 

7 (2) Women’s share of the labor force is increas8 ing in almost all regions of the world. Women com9 prise more than 40 percent of the global labor force 

10 as well as 40 percent of the labor force in eastern 

11 and southeastern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the 

12 Caribbean. Women comprise a third of the labor 

13 force in Central America and nearly a third of total 

14 employment in South Asia. About 250,000,000 

15 young women will enter the labor force worldwide 

16 before 2015. 


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1 (3) Women are more likely to work in informal 

2 employment relationships in poor countries com3 pared to men. In sub-Saharan Africa, 84 percent of 

4 women are employed informally compared to 71 per5 cent of men. In the Middle East, 44 percent of 

6 women are employed informally compared to 29 per7 cent of men. Informal employment is characterized 

8 by lower wages and greater variability of earnings, 

9 less stability, absence of labor organization, and 

10 fewer social protections than formal employment. 

11 (4) Changes in the economy of a poor country 

12 affect women and men differently. Women are dis13 proportionately affected by long-term recessions, cri14 ses, and economic restructuring and they often miss 

15 out on many of the benefits of growth. 

16 (5) International trade can be an important tool 

17 for economic development and poverty reduction. 

18 The benefits of international trade should extend to 

19 all members of society, particularly the world’s poor 

20 women. 

21 (6) Policies that promote fair labor practices for 

22 women, and access to information, education, land, 

23 credit, physical capital, and social services can be a 

24 means of reducing poverty, ensuring food security, 


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1 and boosting productivity and earnings for the 

2 economies of developing countries. 

3 (7) Expanding economic opportunity for women 

4 in developing countries can have a positive effect on 

5 child nutrition, health, and education, as women 

6 often invest their income in their families. Increasing 

7 women’s income can also decrease women’s vulner8 ability to HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, and 

9 trafficking, and make women more resistant to the 

10 impact of natural disasters. 

11 (8) Policies that promote economic opportuni12 ties for women, including microfinance and microen13 terprise development and the promotion of women’s 

14 small- and medium-sized businesses, can be a means 

15 of generating gainful, safe, and dignified employ16 ment for the poor. 

17 (9) Women play a vital, but often unrecognized, 

18 role in averting violence, resolving conflict, and re19 building economies in postconflict societies. Women 

20 in conflict-affected areas face even greater challenges 

21 than men do in accessing employment, training, 

22 property rights, credit, and financial and non23 financial resources for business development. Policies 

24 designed to ensure economic opportunity for women 


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1 in conflict-affected areas play a significant role in 

2 economic rehabilitation and consolidation of peace. 

3 (10) Given the important role of women in the 

4 economies of poor countries, poverty alleviation pro5 grams funded by the United States in poor countries 

6 should seek to enhance the level of economic oppor7 tunity available to women in those countries. 

8 (b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The purpose of this 

9 Act is to ensure that the policies of the United States ac10 tively promote development and economic opportunities 

11 for women, including programs and policies that— 

12 (1) promote women’s ability to start micro-, 

13 small-, or medium-sized business enterprises, and 

14 enable women to grow such enterprises, particularly 

15 from micro- to small-sized enterprises and from 

16 small- to medium-sized enterprises, or sustain cur17 rent business capacity; 

18 (2) promote the rights of women to own, man19 age, and inherit property, including land, encourage 

20 the adoption of laws and policies that support 

21 women in their efforts to enforce those rights in ad22 ministrative and judicial tribunals, and address con23 flicts with country-specific legal regimes or practices 

24 (often known as ‘‘customary law’’) to increase the 

25 ability of women to inherit and own real property; 


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1 (3) increase women’s access to employment, en2 able women to access higher quality jobs with better 

3 remuneration and working conditions in both infor4 mal and formal employment, and improve the qual5 ity of jobs in sectors dominated by women by im6 proving the remuneration and working conditions for 

7 those jobs; and 

8 (4) bring the benefits of international trade pol9 icy to women in developing countries and continue to 

10 ensure that trade policies and agreements adequately 

11 reflect the respective needs of poor women and men. 

12 SEC. 3. MICROFINANCE AND MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOP13 MENT ASSISTANCE FOR WOMEN IN DEVEL14 OPING COUNTRIES. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION; IMPLEMENTATION; TARGETED

16 ASSISTANCE.— 

17 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 252(a) of the 

18 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

19 2211a(a)) is amended— 

20 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

21 through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), 

22 respectively; 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘The President is’’ and in24 serting the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President is’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE FOR WOMEN IN DEVELOPING

3 COUNTRIES.—In providing assistance under para4 graph (1), the President shall pay special attention 

5 to the needs of women in developing countries, in6 cluding by— 

7 ‘‘(A) carrying out specific activities to en8 hance the empowerment of women in developing 

9 countries, such as providing leadership training, 

10 basic health and HIV/AIDS education, and as11 sistance with the development of literacy skills; 

12 ‘‘(B) carrying out initiatives to eliminate 

13 legal and institutional barriers to women’s own14 ership of assets, access to credit, access to in15 formation and communication technologies, and 

16 engagement in business activities within or out17 side of the home; 

18 ‘‘(C) providing assistance for capacity 

19 building for microfinance and microenterprise 

20 institutions to enable such institutions to better 

21 meet the credit, savings, insurance, and train22 ing needs of women who are microfinance and 

23 microenterprise clients; and 

24 ‘‘(D) carrying out microfinance and micro25 enterprise development programs that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) specifically target women with re2 spect to outreach and marketing; 

3 ‘‘(ii) provide products specifically de4 signed to address women’s assets and 

5 needs and the barriers women encounter 

6 with respect to participating in enterprise 

7 and financial services; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) promote women’s ability to grow 

9 micro-enterprises to small- and medium10 sized enterprises.’’. 

11 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Section 252(b)(2)(C) 

12 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

13 2211a(b)(2)(C)) is amended— 

14 (A) in clause (ii)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘microenterprise devel16 opment field’’ and inserting ‘‘microfinance 

17 and microenterprise development field’’; 

18 and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

20 (B) in clause (iii)— 

21 (i) by inserting after ‘‘competitive’’ 

22 the following: ‘‘, take into consideration 

23 the anticipated impact of the proposals on 

24 the empowerment of women and men,’’; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

2 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

4 clause: 

5 ‘‘(iv) give preference to proposals from 

6 providers of assistance that demonstrate 

7 the greatest knowledge of clients’ needs 

8 and capabilities, including proposals that 

9 ensure that women are involved in the de10 sign and implementation of services and 

11 programs.’’. 

12 (3) TARGETED ASSISTANCE.—Section 252(c) of 

13 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

14 2211a(c)) is amended— 

15 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting be16 fore the period the following: ‘‘and an effort 

17 shall be made to target such resources to 

18 women’’; and 

19 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

20 ‘‘2006’’ and inserting ‘‘2011’’. 

21 (b) MONITORING SYSTEM.—Section 253(b)(1) of the 

22 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211b(b)(1)) 

23 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The monitoring system shall include per2 formance goals for the assistance and shall express 

3 such goals, to the extent feasible— 

4 ‘‘(A) in an objective and quantifiable form; 

5 ‘‘(B) in a manner that describes the effects 

6 of such goals on women and men, respectively; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) in a manner that describes the num9 ber of women and the number of men bene10 fiting from the assistance.’’. 

11 (c) MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS.— 

12 Section 256(b)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

13 (22 U.S.C. 2212(b)(2)) is amended by inserting before the 

14 semicolon the following: ‘‘, especially the needs of clients 

15 who are women’’. 

16 (d) ADDITIONAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

17 258 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

18 2214) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

20 following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(12) An estimate of the potential global de22 mand for microfinance and microenterprise develop23 ment for women, determined in collaboration with 

24 practitioners in a cost-effective manner, and a deVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:38 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1425.IS S1425

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1 scription of the Agency’s plan to help meet such de2 mand.’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub4 section (d); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol6 lowing new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—All information 

8 in the report required by this section relating to bene9 ficiaries of assistance authorized by this title shall be 

10 disaggregated by sex to the maximum extent practicable.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR WOMEN’S SMALL- AND MEDIUM12 SIZED ENTERPRISES IN DEVELOPING COUN13 TRIES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 

15 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

16 for International Development, shall— 

17 (1) where appropriate, carry out programs, 

18 projects, and activities that meet the requirements 

19 described in subsection (b) for enterprise develop20 ment for women in developing countries; and 

21 (2) ensure that any programs, projects, and ac22 tivities for enterprise development for women in de23 veloping countries that are carried out pursuant to 

24 assistance provided under part I of the Foreign AsVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:38 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1425.IS S1425

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1 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) meet 

2 the requirements described in subsection (b). 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—A program, project, or activity 

4 described in subsection (a) meets the requirements de5 scribed in this subsection if the program, project, or activ6 ity— 

7 (1) in coordination with the governments of de8 veloping countries and interested individuals and or9 ganizations, promotes the development or enhance10 ment of laws, regulations, or practices (including 

11 practices with respect to the enforcement of such 

12 laws or regulations) that improve access to banking 

13 and financial services for women-owned small- and 

14 medium-sized enterprises; 

15 (2) promotes access to information and commu16 nication technologies by providing training with re17 spect to such technologies for women-owned small18 and medium-sized enterprises; 

19 (3) provides training, through local associations 

20 of women-owned enterprises or nongovernmental or21 ganizations, with respect to recordkeeping, financial 

22 and personnel management, international trade, 

23 business planning, marketing, policy advocacy, lead24 ership development, and other areas relevant to run25 ning enterprises; 


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1 (4) provides resources to establish and enhance 

2 local, national, and international networks and asso3 ciations of women-owned small- and medium-sized 

4 enterprises; 

5 (5) provides incentives for nongovernmental or6 ganizations and financial service providers to develop 

7 products, services, and marketing and outreach 

8 strategies specifically designed to facilitate and pro9 mote women’s participation in development pro10 grams for small- and medium-sized businesses by 

11 addressing women’s assets and needs and the bar12 riers women face to participating in enterprise and 

13 financial services; and 

14 (6) seeks to award contracts to qualified small15 and medium-sized enterprises owned by women, par16 ticularly indigenous women, including— 

17 (A) for postconflict reconstruction; and 

18 (B) to facilitate employment of women, 

19 particularly indigenous women in jobs not tradi20 tionally undertaken by women. 


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1 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND 

2 LAND TENURE SECURITY FOR WOMEN IN DE3 VELOPING COUNTRIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 

5 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

6 for International Development, shall— 

7 (1) where appropriate, carry out programs, 

8 projects, and activities to promote private property 

9 rights and land tenure security for women in devel10 oping countries that— 

11 (A) are implemented by local, indigenous, 

12 nongovernmental, and community-based organi13 zations, especially women’s organizations, that 

14 are dedicated to addressing the needs of 

15 women; and 

16 (B) otherwise meet the requirements de17 scribed in subsection (b); and 

18 (2) ensure that any programs, projects, and ac19 tivities to promote private property rights and land 

20 tenure security for women in developing countries 

21 that are carried out pursuant to assistance provided 

22 under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

23 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.)— 

24 (A) are implemented by local, indigenous, 

25 nongovernmental, and community-based organi26 zations, especially women’s organizations, that 


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1 are dedicated to addressing the needs of 

2 women; and 

3 (B) otherwise meet the requirements de4 scribed in subsection (b). 

5 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—A program, project, or activity 

6 described in subsection (a) meets the requirements de7 scribed in this subsection if the program, project, or activ8 ity— 

9 (1) advocates to amend and harmonize statu10 tory and other country-specific legal regimes or prac11 tices to give women equal rights to own, use, and in12 herit property; 

13 (2) promotes legal literacy among women and 

14 men about property rights for women and how to ex15 ercise such rights; 

16 (3) assists women in making land claims and 

17 protecting existing land claims; and 

18 (4) advocates for equitable land titling and reg19 istration for women. 

20 (c) AMENDMENT.—Section 103(b)(1) of the Foreign 

21 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151a(b)(1)) is amend22 ed by inserting ‘‘, especially for women’’ after ‘‘establish23 ment of more equitable and more secure land tenure ar24 rangements’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR WOMEN’S ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT 

2 IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 

3 The Secretary of State, acting through the Adminis4 trator of the United States Agency for International De5 velopment, shall, where appropriate— 

6 (1) support activities to increase the access of 

7 women in developing countries to employment and to 

8 higher quality employment, in informal and formal 

9 employment, with better remuneration, working con10 ditions, and benefits (including health insurance and 

11 other social safety nets) in accordance with the core 

12 labor standards of the International Labour Organi13 zation, including— 

14 (A) public education efforts to inform poor 

15 women and men of women’s legal rights related 

16 to employment; 

17 (B) education and vocational training tai18 lored to enable poor women to access job oppor19 tunities, whether for formal or informal employ20 ment, in— 

21 (i) sectors in their local economies 

22 with the potential for growth; and 

23 (ii) sectors in which women are not 

24 traditionally highly represented; 

25 (C) efforts to support self-employed poor 

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1 pendent unions or other labor associations to 

2 increase their incomes and improve their work3 ing conditions; and 

4 (D) advocacy efforts to protect the rights 

5 of women in the workplace, including— 

6 (i) developing programs with the par7 ticipation of civil society to eliminate gen8 der-based violence; and 

9 (ii) providing capacity-building assist10 ance to women’s organizations to effec11 tively research and monitor labor rights 

12 conditions; and 

13 (2) provide assistance to governments and non14 governmental organizations in developing countries 

15 seeking to design and implement laws, regulations, 

16 and programs to improve working conditions for 

17 women and to facilitate the entry into, and advance18 ment in, the workplace by women. 

19 SEC. 7. TRADE BENEFITS FOR WOMEN IN DEVELOPING 

20 COUNTRIES. 

21 In order to ensure that poor women in developing 

22 countries are able to benefit from international trade, the 

23 President, acting through the Secretary of State (acting 

24 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

25 for International Development) and the heads of other apVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:38 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1425.IS S1425

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1 propriate departments and agencies of the United States, 

2 shall, where appropriate, provide the following training 

3 and education in developing countries: 

4 (1) Training women in civil society organiza5 tions, including those organizations representing 

6 poor women, and women-owned enterprises and as7 sociations of such enterprises, on how to respond to 

8 economic opportunities created by trade preference 

9 programs, trade agreements, or other policies that 

10 create or facilitate market access. The training shall 

11 include information with respect to requirements and 

12 procedures for accessing the United States market. 

13 (2) Training women entrepreneurs, including 

14 microentrepreneurs, with respect to production strat15 egies, quality standards, formation of cooperatives, 

16 market research, and market development. 

17 (3) Teaching women, including poor women, to 

18 promote diversification of products and value-added 

19 processing. 

20 (4) Instructing negotiators officially rep21 resenting the governments of developing countries in 

22 international trade negotiations in order to enhance 

23 the ability of the negotiators to formulate trade pol24 icy and negotiate agreements that take into account 


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1 the respective needs and priorities of poor women 

2 and men in developing countries. 

3 (5) Educating local groups representing indige4 nous women in developing countries in order to en5 hance the ability of those groups to collect informa6 tion and data, formulate proposals, and inform and 

7 impact negotiators described in paragraph (4) with 

8 respect to the respective needs and priorities of poor 

9 women and men in developing countries. 

10 SEC. 8. EXCHANGES BETWEEN UNITED STATES ENTRE11 PRENEURS AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN 

12 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 

13 (a) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.—The Secretary of 

14 Commerce shall, where appropriate, encourage representa15 tives of United States businesses on trade missions to de16 veloping countries to— 

17 (1) meet with representatives of women-owned 

18 small- and medium-sized enterprises in such coun19 tries; and 

20 (2) promote internship opportunities for women 

21 owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises in 

22 such countries with United States businesses. 

23 (b) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

24 State shall promote exchange programs that offer rep25 resentatives of women-owned small- and medium-sized enVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:38 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1425.IS S1425

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1 terprises in developing countries an opportunity to learn 

2 skills appropriate for promoting entrepreneurship by 

3 working with representatives of businesses in the United 

4 States. 

5 SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE UNDER THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE 

6 ACCOUNT. 

7 The Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Chal8 lenge Corporation shall seek to ensure that contracts and 

9 employment opportunities resulting from assistance pro10 vided by the Corporation to the governments of developing 

11 countries are fairly and equitably distributed to qualified 

12 women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises and 

13 other civil society organizations led by women, including 

14 nongovernmental and community-based organizations, for 

15 projects, including for infrastructure projects, that facili16 tate employment of women in jobs not traditionally under17 taken by women. 

18 SEC. 10. GROWTH FUND. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, act21 ing through the Administrator of the United States 

22 Agency for International Development, shall estab23 lish the Global Resources and Opportunities for 

24 Women to Thrive (GROWTH) Fund (in this section 

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1 hancing economic opportunities for very poor, poor, 

2 and low-income women in developing countries with 

3 a focus on— 

4 (A) increasing the development of women5 owned enterprises; 

6 (B) increasing property rights for women; 

7 (C) increasing women’s access to financial 

8 services; 

9 (D) increasing the number of women in 

10 leadership in implementing partner organiza11 tions (as defined in section 259(6) of the For12 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

13 2214a(6))), as well as financial service pro14 viders; 

15 (E) improving the employment benefits 

16 and conditions available to women; and 

17 (F) increasing the benefits of international 

18 trade available to women. 

19 (2) APPLICATION FOR FUNDS BY USAID MIS20 SIONS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—A mission of the 

22 United States Agency for International Devel23 opment may apply for funds from the Fund to 

24 support specific activities, in addition to activi25 ties already carried out by that mission, that 


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1 are described in subsection (b) and enhance 

2 economic opportunities for women in developing 

3 countries or integrate gender into economic op4 portunity programs. 

5 (B) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds 

6 provided to a mission of the United States 

7 Agency for International Development pursuant 

8 to subparagraph (A) shall supplement and not 

9 supplant other funds available to that mission. 

10 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—The activities de11 scribed in this subsection are— 

12 (1) activities described in title VI of part I of 

13 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211 

14 et seq.), as amended by section 3 of this Act; 

15 (2) activities described in sections 4 through 7 

16 of this Act; and 

17 (3) technical assistance to, and capacity build18 ing for, civil society organizations, particularly to 

19 carry out activities described in paragraphs (1) and 

20 (2), for— 

21 (A) local and indigenous women’s organi22 zations to the maximum extent practicable; and 

23 (B) local, indigenous, nongovernmental, 

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1 mitment to gender equity in the leadership of 

2 such organizations and intermediaries either 

3 through current practice or through specific 

4 programs to increase the representation of 

5 women in the governance and management of 

6 such organizations and intermediaries. 

7 SEC. 11. DATA COLLECTION. 

8 The Secretary of State, acting through the Adminis9 trator of the United States Agency for International De10 velopment, shall— 

11 (1) provide support for tracking indicators on 

12 women’s employment, property rights for women, 

13 women’s access to financial services, and women’s 

14 enterprise development, including microenterprises, 

15 in developing countries; 

16 (2) to the extent practicable, track all foreign 

17 assistance funds provided by the United States to 

18 local, indigenous, nongovernmental, community19 based organizations, and financial service providers 

20 in developing countries, including through sub21 contractors and grantees, disaggregated by the sex 

22 of the head of the organization, senior management, 

23 and composition of the boards of directors; 

24 (3) encourage agencies of the United States 

25 that collect statistical data to provide support to 


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1 agencies in developing countries that collect statis2 tical data to collect data on the share of women in 

3 wage work and self-employment, disaggregated by 

4 type of employment; and 

5 (4) provide funding to the International Labour 

6 Organization— 

7 (A) to carry out technical assistance activi8 ties in developing countries; and 

9 (B) to consolidate data indicators collected 

10 in different developing countries into cross11 country data sets. 

12 SEC. 12. SUPPORT FOR WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS IN DE13 VELOPING COUNTRIES. 

14 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 102 of the Foreign As15 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151–1) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting after the 

17 ninth sentence the following new sentences: ‘‘Be18 cause men and women generally occupy different 

19 economic niches in poor countries, activities must 

20 address those differences in ways that enable both 

21 women and men to contribute to and benefit from 

22 development. Throughout the world, indigenous, 

23 local, nongovernmental and community-based organi24 zations, as well as financial service providers, are es25 sential to addressing many of the development chalVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:38 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1425.IS S1425

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1 lenges facing countries and to creating stable, func2 tioning democracies. Investing in the capacity of 

3 such organizations, including women’s organizations, 

4 and in their roles in the development process shall 

5 be an important, cross-cutting objective of United 

6 States bilateral development assistance.’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

9 the following new sentence: ‘‘The principles de10 scribed in this paragraph shall, among other 

11 strategies, be accomplished through partner12 ships with local, indigenous, nongovernmental, 

13 and community-based organizations, as well as 

14 financial service providers, that represent the 

15 interests of women.’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end 

17 the following new sentence: ‘‘Such participation 

18 and improvement shall be encouraged and pro19 moted by, among other strategies, investing in 

20 the capacity of and participation in local, indig21 enous, nongovernmental, and community-based 

22 organizations, especially women’s organizations, 

23 dedicated to addressing the needs of women.’’. 


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1 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of State, acting 

2 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

3 for International Development, shall, where appropriate— 

4 (1) ensure project proposals include capacity 

5 building and technical assistance for local, indige6 nous, nongovernmental, organizations and commu7 nity-based organizations dedicated to addressing the 

8 needs of women, especially women’s organizations, to 

9 promote the long-term sustainability of projects; 

10 (2) provide information and training to local, 

11 indigenous, nongovernmental, and community-based 

12 organizations, especially women’s organizations, fo13 cused on women’s empowerment in countries in 

14 which missions of the United States Agency for 

15 International Development are located in order to— 

16 (A) provide technical assistance with re17 spect to United States foreign assistance pro18 curement procedures; and 

19 (B) undertake culturally appropriate out20 reach measures to contact such organizations; 

21 (3) encourage recipients of United States tech22 nical and financial aid to the maximum extent prac23 ticable, to provide financial support to local, indige24 nous, nongovernmental, and community-based orga25 nizations that focus on women’s empowerment, inVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:38 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1425.IS S1425

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•S 1425 IS

1 cluding women’s organizations and other organiza2 tions that may not have previously worked with the 

3 United States or a partner of the United States, in 

4 fulfilling project objectives; 

5 (4) work with local governments to conduct out6 reach campaigns to register, as required by local 

7 laws and regulations, unofficial local, indigenous, 

8 nongovernmental, and community-based organiza9 tions, especially women’s organizations; and 

10 (5) support efforts of indigenous organizations, 

11 especially women’s organizations, focused on wom12 en’s empowerment to network with other indigenous 

13 women’s groups to collectively access funding oppor14 tunities to implement United States foreign assist15 ance programs. 

16 SEC. 13. REPORT. 

17 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than June 30, 

18 2011, the Secretary of State, acting through the Adminis19 trator of the United States Agency for International De20 velopment, shall submit to Congress a report on the imple21 mentation of this Act and the amendments made by this 

22 Act. 

23 (b) UPDATE.—Not later than June 30, 2012, the 

24 Secretary of State, acting through the Administrator of 

25 the United States Agency for International Development, 


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1 shall submit to Congress an update of the report required 

2 by subsection (a). 

3 (c) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC.—The report required 

4 by subsection (a) and the update required by subsection 

5 (b) shall be made available to the public on the Internet 

6 websites of the Department of State and the United States 

7 Agency for International Development. 

8 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro10 priated to the Secretary of State to carry out sections 10 

11 and 11— 

12 (1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

13 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

14 the fiscal years 2012 and 2013. 

15 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

16 to the authorization of appropriations under subsection 

17 (a)— 

18 (1) are authorized to remain available until ex19 pended; and 

20 (2) shall supplement and not supplant any 

21 other amounts available for the purposes described 

22 in sections 10 and 11. 

Æ 


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