I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5185 

To promote the empowerment of women in Afghanistan. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 25, 2006 

Mrs. MALONEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

A BILL 

To promote the empowerment of women in Afghanistan. 

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 2006’’. 

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, including the rights to work, to 

11 an education, to health care, and to move freely. 


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1 (2) Women who attempted to assert their rights 

2 under the Taliban regime were subjected to beatings 

3 and imprisonments, and many suffer from the long4 term consequences of such oppression. 

5 (3) Women in Afghanistan have one of the 

6 highest mortality rates in the world, with an esti7 mated 16,000 maternal deaths annually. 

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 80 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 Taliban and other militia groups. In recent 

18 months, there has been a significant increase in the 

19 number of attacks against girls’ schools in an at20 tempt to prevent women and girls from regaining 

21 their rights and freedoms. 

22 (6) The strengthening of institutions and non23 governmental organizations that are led by women in 

24 Afghanistan is essential to building civil society and 


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1 holding the Government of Afghanistan accountable 

2 for protecting women’s rights and human rights. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AF4 GHANISTAN. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

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

7 girls in Afghanistan and their full participation in 

8 the reestablishment of democracy are essential to the 

9 reconstruction of a stable and democratic Afghani10 stan, and to achieve such a reconstruction, the 

11 United States Government must commit resources to 

12 advance the rights of women throughout Afghani13 stan; 

14 (2) the United States Government should pro15 vide strong support for the Afghan Ministry of 

16 Women’s Affairs and the Afghan Independent 

17 Human Rights Commission, both of which were cre18 ated by the Agreement on Provisional Agreements in 

19 Afghanistan Pending the Establishment of Perma20 nent Governing Institutions, done in Bonn December 

21 5, 2001 (commonly known as the ‘‘Bonn Agree22 ment’’) to remedy past violations of women’s rights 

23 and human rights and to establish institutions and 

24 programs to ensure policies that advance such 

25 rights; 


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1 (3) the United States Government should make 

2 it a priority to provide assistance to Afghan-led non3 governmental organizations, particularly Afghan 

4 women-led nonprofit organizations; and 

5 (4) grants and assistance to Afghanistan shall 

6 be conditioned upon the Government of Afghanistan 

7 adhering to international standards for women’s 

8 rights and human rights. 

9 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. 

10 Section 103(a)(7) of the Afghanistan Freedom Sup11 port Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)) is amended— 

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

13 through (xii) and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) to provide equipment, medical 

15 supplies, and other assistance to health 

16 care facilities for the purpose of reducing 

17 maternal and infant mortality and mor18 bidity; 

19 ‘‘(ii) to expand immunization pro20 grams for women and children; 

21 ‘‘(iii) to establish and expand pro22 grams to provide services to women and 

23 girls suffering from posttraumatic stress 

24 disorder, depression, and mental illness; 


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

2 vulnerable populations, including widows, 

3 orphans, and women head of households; 

4 ‘‘(v) to establish primary and sec5 ondary schools for girls that include math6 ematics, science, and languages in their 

7 primary curriculum; 

8 ‘‘(vi) to expand technical and voca9 tional training programs to enable women 

10 to support themselves and their families; 

11 ‘‘(vii) to maintain and expand adult 

12 literacy programs, including economic lit13 eracy programs that promote the well14 being of women and their families; 

15 ‘‘(viii) to provide special educational 

16 opportunities for girls whose schooling was 

17 ended by the Taliban and who now face 

18 obstacles to participating in the normal 

19 education system, such as girls who are 

20 now married and girls who are older than 

21 the normal age for their classes; 

22 ‘‘(ix) to develop and implement pro23 grams to protect women and girls against 

24 sexual and physical abuse, abduction, traf25 ficking, exploitation, and sex discriminaVerDate Aug 31 2005 08:51 Apr 28, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5185.IH H5185

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1 tion in the delivery of humanitarian sup2 plies and services; 

3 ‘‘(x) to disseminate information 

4 throughout Afghanistan on the rights of 

5 women and on international standards for 

6 human rights; 

7 ‘‘(xi) to provide information and as8 sistance to enable women to exercise prop9 erty, inheritance, and voting rights, and to 

10 ensure equal access to the judicial system; 

11 ‘‘(xii) to support the work of women12 led and local nongovernmental organiza13 tions with demonstrated experience in de14 livering services to women and children in 

15 Afghanistan; 

16 ‘‘(xiii) to monitor and investigate vio17 lations of women’s rights and to provide 

18 legal assistance to women who have suf19 fered violations of their rights; 

20 ‘‘(xiv) to increase political and civil 

21 participation of women in all levels of soci22 ety, including the criminal justice system; 

23 ‘‘(xv) to provide information and 

24 training related to women’s rights and 


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1 human rights to military, police, and legal 

2 personnel; and 

3 ‘‘(xvi) to provide assistance to the 

4 Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Inde5 pendent Human Rights Commission for 

6 programs to advance the status of 

7 women.’’; and 

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

9 follows: 

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

11 of the fiscal years 2007 through 2009— 

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

13 appropriated to the President to be made 

14 available to the Afghan Ministry of Wom15 en’s Affairs for the administration and 

16 conduct of its programs; 

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

18 appropriated to the President to be made 

19 available to the Afghan Independent 

20 Human Rights Commission for the admin21 istration and conduct of its programs; and 

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

23 appropriated to the President for grants to 

24 Afghan women-led nonprofit organizations 

25 to support activities including the construcVerDate Aug 31 2005 08:51 Apr 28, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5185.IH H5185

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1 tion, establishment, and operation of 

2 schools for married girls and girls’ orphan3 ages, vocational training for women and 

4 girls, health care clinics for women and 

5 children, programs to strengthen Afghan 

6 women-led organizations and women’s 

7 leadership, and to provide monthly finan8 cial assistance to widows, orphans, and 

9 women head of households.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE. 

11 It is the sense of Congress that, in providing assist12 ance under section 103(a)(7) of the Afghanistan Freedom 

13 Support Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)), as amended 

14 by section 4, the President should— 

15 (1) condition the provision of such assistance on 

16 the recipient adhering to international standards for 

17 women’s rights and human rights; and 

18 (2) ensure that Afghan women-led nongovern19 mental organizations throughout Afghanistan with 

20 demonstrated experience in delivering services to Af21 ghan women and children receive grants without eth22 nic, religious, or any other discrimination. 

23 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

24 (a) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 


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1 months thereafter for 3 years, the Secretary of State and 

2 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter3 national Development shall jointly submit a report on the 

4 activities carried out under this Act to the Committee on 

5 Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations 

6 of the Senate and the Committee on International Rela7 tions and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

8 of Representatives. 

9 (b) CONTENT.—Each report submitted under sub10 section (a) shall include the amount of assistance provided 

11 under section 103(a)(7) of the Afghanistan Freedom Sup12 port Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7513(a)(7)), as amended by 

13 section 4, to— 

14 (1) the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs; 

15 (2) the Afghan Independent Human Rights 

16 Commission; and 

17 (3) Afghan women-led nonprofit organizations. 

Æ 


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