107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 102

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Encouraging the development of strategies to reduce hunger and poverty, and to promote free

market economies and democratic institutions, insub-Saharan Africa.

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 102

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Hun3 ger to Harvest: Decade of Support for Sub-Saharan Africa

4 Resolution’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 Congress finds the following:

7 (1) Despite some progress in recent years, sub8 Saharan Africa enters the new millennium with

9 many of the world’s poorest countries and is the one

10 region of the world where hunger is both pervasive

11 and increasing.

12 (2) Thirty-three of the world’s 41 poorest debt13 or countries are in sub-Saharan Africa and an esti14 mated 291,000,000 people, nearly one-half of sub15 Saharan Africa’s total population, currently live in

16 extreme poverty on less than $1 a day.

17 (3) One in three people in sub-Saharan Africa

18 is chronically undernourished, double the number of

19 three decades ago. One child out of seven dies before

20 the age of five, and one-half of these deaths are due

21 to malnutrition.

22 (4) Sub-Saharan Africa is the region in the

23 world most affected by infectious disease, accounting

24 for one-half of the deaths worldwide from HIV/

25 AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and several

26 other diseases.
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1 (5) Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70 percent

2 of adults, and 80 percent of children, living with the

3 HIV virus, and 75 percent of the people worldwide

4 who have died of AIDS lived in Africa.

5 (6) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has erased many

6 of the development gains of the past generation in

7 sub-Saharan Africa and now threatens to undermine

8 economic and social progress for the next genera9 tion, with life expectancy in parts of sub-Saharan

10 Africa having already decreased by 10–20 years as

11 a result of AIDS.

12 (7) Despite these immense challenges, the num13 ber of sub-Saharan African countries that are mov14 ing toward open economies and more accountable

15 governments has increased, and these countries are

16 beginning to achieve local solutions to their common

17 problems.

18 (8) To make lasting improvements in the lives

19 of their people, sub-Saharan Africa governments

20 need support as they act to solve conflicts, make

21 critical investments in human capacity and infra22 structure, combat corruption, reform their econo23 mies, stimulate trade and equitable economic

24 growth, and build democracy.
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1 (9) Despite sub-Saharan Africa’s enormous de2 velopment challenges, United States companies hold

3 approximately $12,800,000,000 in investments in

4 sub-Saharan Africa, greater than United States in5 vestments in either the Middle East or Eastern Eu6 rope, and total United States trade with sub-Saha7 ran Africa currently exceeds that with all of the

8 independent states of the former Soviet Union, in9 cluding the Russian Federation. This economic rela10 tionship could be put at risk unless additional public

11 and private resources are provided to combat poverty

12 and promote equitable economic growth in sub-Saha13 ran Africa.

14 (10) Bread for the World Institute calculates

15 that the goal of reducing world hunger by one-half

16 by 2015 is achievable through an increase of

17 $4,000,000,000 in annual funding from all donors

18 for poverty-focused development. If the United

19 States were to shoulder one-fourth of this aid bur20 den—approximately $1,000,000,000 a year—the

21 cost to each United States citizen would be one

22 penny per day.

23 (11) Failure to effectively address sub-Saharan

24 Africa’s development needs could result in greater

25 conflict and increased poverty, heightening the pros-
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1 pect of humanitarian intervention and potentially

2 threatening a wide range of United States interests

3 in sub-Saharan Africa.

4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

5 It is the sense of Congress that—

6 (1) the United States should declare ‘‘A Decade

7 of Support for Sub-Saharan Africa’’;

8 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of

9 adoption of this concurrent resolution, the President

10 should submit a report to Congress setting forth a

11 five-year strategy, and a ten-year strategy, to

12 achieve a reversal of current levels of hunger and

13 poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, including a commit14 ment to contribute an appropriate United States

15 share of increased bilateral and multilateral poverty16 focused resources for sub-Saharan Africa, with an

17 emphasis on—

18 (A) health, including efforts to prevent,

19 treat, and control HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, ma20 laria, and other diseases that contribute to mal21 nutrition and hunger, and to promote maternal

22 health and child survival;

23 (B) education, with an emphasis on equal

24 access to learning for girls and women;
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1 (C) agriculture, including strengthening

2 subsistence agriculture as well as the ability to

3 compete in global agricultural markets, and in4 vestment in infrastructure and rural develop5 ment;

6 (D) private sector and free market develop7 ment, to bring sub-Saharan Africa into the

8 global economy, enable people to purchase food,

9 and make health and education investments

10 sustainable;

11 (E) democratic institutions and the rule of

12 law, including strengthening civil society and

13 independent judiciaries;

14 (F) micro-finance development; and

15 (G) debt relief that provides incentives for

16 sub-Saharan African countries to invest in pov17 erty-focused development, and to expand demo18 cratic participation, free markets, trade, and in19 vestment;

20 (3) the President should work with the heads of

21 other donor countries and sub-Saharan African

22 countries, and with United States and sub-Saharan

23 African private and voluntary organizations and

24 other civic organizations, including faith-based orga-
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1 nizations, to implement the strategies described in

2 paragraph (2);

3 (4) Congress should undertake a multi-year

4 commitment to provide the resources to implement

5 those strategies; and

6 (5) 120 days after the date of adoption of this

7 concurrent resolution, and every year thereafter, the

8 Administrator of the United States Agency for

9 International Development, in consultation with the

10 heads of other appropriate Federal departments and

11 agencies, should submit to Congress a report on the

12 implementation of those strategies, including the ac13 tion taken under paragraph (3), describing—

14 (A) the results of the implementation of

15 those strategies as of the date of the report, in16 cluding the progress made and any setbacks

17 suffered;

18 (B) impediments to, and opportunities for,

19 future progress;

20 (C) proposed changes to those strategies, if

21 any; and

22 (D) the role and extent of cooperation of

23 the governments of sub-Saharan countries and

24 other donors, both public and private, in com-
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1 bating poverty and promoting equitable eco2 nomic development.

Passed the House of Representatives December 5,

2001.

Attest:

Clerk.