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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3398 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3398

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 20, 2014

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
To authorize the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United 
 States Agency for International Development to provide assistance to 
support the rights of women and girls in developing countries, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Girls Count Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) According to the United States Census Bureau's 2013 
        international figures, 1 person in 12--or close to 900,000,000 
        people--is a girl or young woman age 10 through 24.
            (2) The data also asserts that young people are the fastest 
        growing segment of the population in developing countries.
            (3) Even though most countries do have birth registration 
        laws, nearly one-third of all children under the age of 5 
        worldwide have never had their births registered. Moreover, an 
        estimated 45 percent of children under the age of 5 worldwide 
        (about 290 million children) do not possess a birth 
        certificate.
            (4) A nationally recognized proof of birth is the key to 
        determining a child's citizenship, nationality, place of birth, 
        parentage and age, without which a passport, drivers license, 
        or national identification card are impossible to obtain. Those 
        who lack such documentation are often prevented from officially 
        participating in and benefitting from the formal economic, 
        legal, and political sectors in their countries.
            (5) The lack of birth registration among girls worldwide is 
        particularly concerning as it exacerbates their 
        disproportionate vulnerability to trafficking, child marriage, 
        and lack of access to health and education services.
            (6) A lack of birth registration among women and girls can 
        also aggravate what in many places amounts to an already 
        reduced ability to seek employment, participate in civil 
        society or purchase or inherit land and other assets.
            (7) Girls undertake much of the domestic labor needed for 
        poor families to survive: carrying water, harvesting crops, 
        tending livestock, caring for younger children, and doing 
        chores.
            (8) Accurate assessments of access to education, poverty 
        levels, and overall census activities are hampered by the lack 
        of official information on women and girls. Without this 
        rudimentary information, assessments of foreign assistance and 
        domestic social welfare programs cannot be accurately gauged.
            (9) To ensure that women and girls are fully integrated 
        into United States foreign assistance policies and programs, 
        that the specific needs of girls are, to the maximum extent 
        possible, addressed in the design, implementation, and 
        evaluation of development assistance programs, and that women 
        and girls have the power to affect the decisions that affect 
        their lives, all girls should be counted and have access to 
        birth certificates and other official documentation.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) encourage countries to uphold the Universal Declaration 
        of Human Rights and enact laws that ensure girls and boys of 
        all ages are full participants in society, including requiring 
        birth certifications and some type of national identity card to 
        ensure that all citizens, including girls, are counted;
            (2) enhance training and capacity-building to developing 
        countries, local nongovernmental organizations, and other civil 
        society organizations to effectively address the needs of birth 
        registries in countries where girls are undercounted;
            (3) include organizations representing children and 
        families in the design, implementation, and monitoring of 
        programs under this Act; and
            (4) mainstream into the design, implementation, and 
        evaluation of policies and programs at all levels an 
        understanding of the distinctive impact that such policies and 
        programs may have on girls.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNTING OF GIRLS IN THE 
              DEVELOPING WORLD.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary and the Administrator are 
authorized to--
            (1) support programs that will contribute to improved and 
        sustainable Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems 
        (CRVS) with a focus on birth registration as the first and most 
        important life event to be registered;
            (2) promote programs that build the capacity of developing 
        countries' national and local legal and policy frameworks to 
        prevent discrimination against girls;
            (3) support programs to help increase property rights, 
        social security, and home ownership, land tenure security, and 
        inheritance rights for women; and
            (4) assist key ministries in the governments of developing 
        countries, including health, interior, youth, and education 
        ministries, to ensure that girls from poor households obtain 
        equitable access to social programs.
    (b) Coordination With Multilateral Organizations.--The Secretary 
shall coordinate with the World Bank, relevant United Nations agencies 
and programs, and other relevant organizations to urge and work with 
countries to enact, implement, and enforce laws that specifically 
collect data on girls and establish registration and identification 
laws to ensure girls are active participants in the social, economic, 
legal and political sectors of society in their countries.
    (c) Coordination With Private Sector and Civil Society 
Organizations.--The Secretary and the Administrator should work with 
United States, international, and local private sector and civil 
society organizations to advocate for the registration and 
documentation of all girls and boys in developing countries to prevent 
exploitation, violence, and other abuses.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in relevant 
evaluations and reports to Congress the following information:
            (1) To the extent practicable, United States foreign 
        assistance and development assistance beneficiaries by age, 
        gender, marital status, location, and school enrollment status.
            (2) A description of how United States foreign assistance 
        and development assistance benefits girls.
            (3) Specific information on programs that address the 
        particular needs of girls.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development.
            (2) Foreign assistance.--The term ``foreign assistance'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 634(b) of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2394(b)).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of State.

SEC. 7. SUNSET.

    This Act shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 19, 2014.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.
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