IIB 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Girls Count Act of 

3 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) According to the United States Census Bu7 reau’s 2013 international figures, 1 person in 12— 

8 or close to 900,000,000 people—is a girl or young 

9 woman age 10 through 24. 

10 (2) The data also asserts that young people are 

11 the fastest growing segment of the population in de12 veloping countries. 

13 (3) Even though most countries do have birth 

14 registration laws, nearly one-third of all children 

15 under the age of 5 worldwide have never had their 

16 births registered. Moreover, an estimated 45 percent 

17 of children under the age of 5 worldwide (about 290 

18 million children) do not possess a birth certificate. 

19 (4) A nationally recognized proof of birth is the 

20 key to determining a child’s citizenship, nationality, 

21 place of birth, parentage and age, without which a 

22 passport, drivers license, or national identification 

23 card are impossible to obtain. Those who lack such 

24 documentation are often prevented from officially 

25 participating in and benefitting from the formal eco26 nomic, legal, and political sectors in their countries. 


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1 (5) The lack of birth registration among girls 

2 worldwide is particularly concerning as it exacer3 bates their disproportionate vulnerability to traf4 ficking, child marriage, and lack of access to health 

5 and education services. 

6 (6) A lack of birth registration among women 

7 and girls can also aggravate what in many places 

8 amounts to an already reduced ability to seek em9 ployment, participate in civil society or purchase or 

10 inherit land and other assets. 

11 (7) Girls undertake much of the domestic labor 

12 needed for poor families to survive: carrying water, 

13 harvesting crops, tending livestock, caring for young14 er children, and doing chores. 

15 (8) Accurate assessments of access to edu16 cation, poverty levels, and overall census activities 

17 are hampered by the lack of official information on 

18 women and girls. Without this rudimentary informa19 tion, assessments of foreign assistance and domestic 

20 social welfare programs cannot be accurately 

21 gauged. 

22 (9) To ensure that women and girls are fully in23 tegrated into United States foreign assistance poli24 cies and programs, that the specific needs of girls 

25 are, to the maximum extent possible, addressed in 


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1 the design, implementation, and evaluation of devel2 opment assistance programs, and that women and 

3 girls have the power to affect the decisions that af4 fect their lives, all girls should be counted and have 

5 access to birth certificates and other official docu6 mentation. 

7 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

8 It is the policy of the United States to— 

9 (1) encourage countries to uphold the Universal 

10 Declaration of Human Rights and enact laws that 

11 ensure girls and boys of all ages are full participants 

12 in society, including requiring birth certifications 

13 and some type of national identity card to ensure 

14 that all citizens, including girls, are counted; 

15 (2) enhance training and capacity-building to 

16 developing countries, local nongovernmental organi17 zations, and other civil society organizations to effec18 tively address the needs of birth registries in coun19 tries where girls are undercounted; 

20 (3) include organizations representing children 

21 and families in the design, implementation, and 

22 monitoring of programs under this Act; and 

23 (4) mainstream into the design, implementa24 tion, and evaluation of policies and programs at all 


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1 levels an understanding of the distinctive impact 

2 that such policies and programs may have on girls. 

3 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNT4 ING OF GIRLS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary and the Admin6 istrator are authorized to— 

7 (1) support programs that will contribute to im8 proved and sustainable Civil Registration and Vital 

9 Statistics Systems (CRVS) with a focus on birth 

10 registration as the first and most important life 

11 event to be registered; 

12 (2) promote programs that build the capacity of 

13 developing countries’ national and local legal and 

14 policy frameworks to prevent discrimination against 

15 girls; 

16 (3) support programs to help increase property 

17 rights, social security, and home ownership, land 

18 tenure security, and inheritance rights for women; 

19 and 

20 (4) assist key ministries in the governments of 

21 developing countries, including health, interior, 

22 youth, and education ministries, to ensure that girls 

23 from poor households obtain equitable access to so24 cial programs. 


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1 (b) COORDINATION WITH MULTILATERAL ORGANI2 ZATIONS.—The Secretary shall coordinate with the World 

3 Bank, relevant United Nations agencies and programs, 

4 and other relevant organizations to urge and work with 

5 countries to enact, implement, and enforce laws that spe6 cifically collect data on girls and establish registration and 

7 identification laws to ensure girls are active participants 

8 in the social, economic, legal and political sectors of society 

9 in their countries. 

10 (c) COORDINATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR AND

11 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary and the 

12 Administrator should work with United States, inter13 national, and local private sector and civil society organi14 zations to advocate for the registration and documentation 

15 of all girls and boys in developing countries to prevent ex16 ploitation, violence, and other abuses. 

17 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

18 The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in 

19 relevant evaluations and reports to Congress the following 

20 information: 

21 (1) To the extent practicable, United States 

22 foreign assistance and development assistance bene23 ficiaries by age, gender, marital status, location, and 

24 school enrollment status. 


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1 (2) A description of how United States foreign 

2 assistance and development assistance benefits girls. 

3 (3) Specific information on programs that ad4 dress the particular needs of girls. 

5 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

9 States Agency for International Development. 

10 (2) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘foreign 

11 assistance’’ has the meaning given the term in sec12 tion 634(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

13 (22 U.S.C. 2394(b)). 

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

15 the Secretary of State. 

16 SEC. 7. SUNSET. 

17 This Act shall expire on the date that is 5 years after 

18 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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