II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 229 

To empower women in Afghanistan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 13, 2009 

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

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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 one death for every 56 live births. 

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 79 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 the Taliban, other religious extremists, and 

18 militia groups within their communities. School girls 

19 and their teachers continue to face brutal attacks in 

20 an effort to prevent them from regaining their rights 

21 and freedoms. 

22 (6) According to the United States Commission 

23 on International Religious Freedom, the absence of 

24 clear protections for the right to freedom of religion 

25 or belief for individual Afghan citizens has resulted 


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1 in a growing number of criminal prosecutions and 

2 other official actions against individuals, including 

3 women, for exercising their basic rights. 

4 (7) The strengthening of institutions and other 

5 actors, such as nongovernmental organizations, in 

6 Afghanistan is essential to building a civil society 

7 and holding the Government of Afghanistan to its 

8 international obligations under the International 

9 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other 

10 international instruments to protect and ensure the 

11 rights of women. 

12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AF13 GHANISTAN. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that— 

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

16 girls in Afghanistan and their full participation in 

17 the reestablishment of democracy is essential to the 

18 reconstruction of a stable and democratic Afghani19 stan, and to achieve such a reconstruction, the 

20 United States Government must continue to commit 

21 resources to advance the rights of women through22 out Afghanistan; 

23 (2) the United States Government should pro24 vide strong support for the Afghan Ministry of 

25 Women’s Affairs and the Afghan Independent 


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1 Human Rights Commission, both of which were cre2 ated by the Agreement on Provisional Agreements in 

3 Afghanistan Pending the Establishment of Perma4 nent Governing Institutions, done in Bonn, Decem5 ber 5, 2001 (commonly known as the ‘‘Bonn Agree6 ment’’) to remedy past violations of women’s rights 

7 and human rights and to establish institutions and 

8 programs to ensure policies that advance such 

9 rights; 

10 (3) the United States Government should make 

11 it a priority to provide assistance to Afghan-led non12 governmental organizations, particularly Afghan 

13 women-led nonprofit organizations; and 

14 (4) grants and assistance to Afghanistan should 

15 be conditioned upon the Government of Afghanistan 

16 adhering to international standards for women’s 

17 rights and human rights, including the internation18 ally recognized right to freedom of thought, con19 science, and religion or belief. 

20 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. 

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

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

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

24 through (xii) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) to provide equipment, medical 

2 supplies, and other assistance to health 

3 care facilities for the purpose of reducing 

4 maternal and infant mortality and mor5 bidity; 

6 ‘‘(ii) to establish and expand pro7 grams to provide services to women and 

8 girls suffering from mental health prob9 lems, such as depression, anxiety, and 

10 posttraumatic stress disorder; 

11 ‘‘(iii) to expand immunization pro12 grams for women and children; 

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

14 vulnerable populations, including widows, 

15 orphans, and women heads of households; 

16 ‘‘(v) to establish primary and sec17 ondary schools for girls that include math18 ematics, science, and languages in their 

19 primary curriculum; 

20 ‘‘(vi) to expand technical and voca21 tional training programs to enable women 

22 to support themselves and their families; 

23 ‘‘(vii) to maintain and expand adult 

24 literacy programs, including economic litVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:25 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S229.IS S229

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1 eracy programs that promote the well2 being of women and their families; 

3 ‘‘(viii) to provide special educational 

4 opportunities for girls whose schooling was 

5 ended by the Taliban and who now face 

6 obstacles to participating in the normal 

7 education system, such as girls who are 

8 now married and girls who are older than 

9 the normal age for their classes; 

10 ‘‘(ix) to disseminate information 

11 throughout Afghanistan on the rights of 

12 women and on international standards for 

13 human rights; 

14 ‘‘(x) to provide information and as15 sistance to enable women to exercise prop16 erty, inheritance, and voting rights, and to 

17 ensure equal access to the judicial system; 

18 ‘‘(xi) to provide legal assistance to 

19 women who have suffered violations of 

20 their rights; 

21 ‘‘(xii) to increase political and civil 

22 participation of women in all levels of soci23 ety, including the criminal justice system; 

24 ‘‘(xiii) to provide information and 

25 training related to women’s rights and 


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1 human rights to military, police, judicial, 

2 and legal personnel; 

3 ‘‘(xiv) to provide assistance to the 

4 Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Af5 ghan Independent Human Rights Commis6 sion for programs to advance the status of 

7 women; and 

8 ‘‘(xv) to develop and implement pro9 grams to protect women and girls against 

10 sexual and physical abuse, abduction, traf11 ficking, exploitation, and sex discrimina12 tion, including providing emergency shel13 ters for women and girls who face danger 

14 from violence.’’; and 

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

16 follows: 

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

18 of the fiscal years 2010 through 2012— 

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

20 appropriated to the President to be made 

21 available to the Afghan Ministry of Wom22 en’s Affairs for the administration and 

23 conduct of its programs; 

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

25 appropriated to the President to be made 


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1 available to the Afghan Independent 

2 Human Rights Commission for the admin3 istration and conduct of its programs; and 

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

5 appropriated to the President for grants to 

6 Afghan women-led nonprofit organizations 

7 to support activities including the construc8 tion, establishment, and operation of 

9 schools for married girls and girls’ orphan10 ages, vocational training and human rights 

11 education for women and girls, health care 

12 clinics for women and children, programs 

13 to strengthen Afghan women-led organiza14 tions and women’s leadership, and to pro15 vide monthly financial assistance to wid16 ows, orphans, and women heads of house17 holds.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that, in providing assist20 ance under section 103(a)(7) of the Afghan Freedom Sup21 port Act (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)), as amended by section 

22 4, the President should— 

23 (1) condition the provision of such assistance on 

24 the recipient adhering to international standards for 

25 women’s rights and human rights; and 


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1 (2) ensure that Afghan women-led nongovern2 mental organizations throughout Afghanistan receive 

3 grants without ethnic, religious, or any other dis4 crimination. 

Æ 


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