I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5548 

To authorize assistance for women and girls in Iraq, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2006 

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mrs. DAVIS of 

California, and Mrs. MCCARTHY) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL 

To authorize assistance for women and girls in Iraq, 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 ‘‘Empowerment of Iraqi 

5 Women Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Saddam Hussein regime committed 

9 human rights atrocities against the citizens of Iraq. 


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1 (2) In the past, women in Iraq played impor2 tant roles in public and private industries, including 

3 the government. 

4 (3) Iraqi women currently are serving in the 

5 National Assembly, government ministries, and local 

6 governments. 

7 (4) The reconstruction of Iraq and the writing 

8 of the permanent Iraqi Constitution provide a 

9 unique opportunity to continue this success and to 

10 affirm women’s human rights under law. 

11 (5) For women to fully participate in Iraqi soci12 ety, they must have the guaranteed right to vote, the 

13 guaranteed right to run for office, guaranteed equal14 ity of opportunity, guaranteed equality in family law, 

15 guaranteed equal access to the civil courts, protec16 tion from gender-motivated violence, and guaranteed 

17 access to health care, education, and employment. 

18 (6) The United States, through its involvement 

19 in Iraq, must be actively working toward guaran20 teeing the full inclusion and participation of Iraqi 

21 women in the political and economic life of their 

22 country, and must continue to do so throughout the 

23 reconstruction process. 

24 (7) The United States must be actively working 

25 to ensure that the lives of Iraqi women are made 


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1 better, not worse, because of United States interven2 tion. 

3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF IRAQI WOMEN’S FUND. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 

5 United States Agency for International Development shall 

6 establish a fund for the purpose of assisting women and 

7 girls in Iraq in the areas of political, legal, and human 

8 rights, health care, education, training, security, and shel9 ter. 

10 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—The fund established 

11 under subsection (a) shall support the following activities: 

12 (1) Direct financial and programmatic assist13 ance to the Iraq Ministry of Women’s Affairs (here14 after in this section referred to as the ‘‘Ministry’’) 

15 to promote the strengthening of the Ministry as the 

16 Government of Iraq continues its transition to a 

17 long-term government structure. The Ministry may 

18 use such assistance to support activities such as the 

19 following: 

20 (A) Multiyear women-centered economic 

21 development programs, including programs to 

22 assist widows, female heads of household, 

23 women in rural areas, and disabled women. 

24 (B) Collaboration with the Iraq Ministry of 

25 Health to construct health infrastructure and 


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1 delivery of high-quality comprehensive health 

2 care programs, including primary, maternal, 

3 child, reproductive, and mental health care. 

4 (C) Programs to prevent trafficking in per5 sons, assist victims, and apprehend and pros6 ecute traffickers in persons. 

7 (D) Programs to prevent gender-motivated 

8 violence targeted at women, including domestic 

9 violence. 

10 (2) Collaboration with the Iraq Ministry of 

11 Education to construct women’s educational facili12 ties in Iraq and promote the education of Iraqi girls 

13 beyond primary school. 

14 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

16 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter17 national Development shall prepare and submit to Con18 gress a report that contains documentation of activities 

19 of the United States Agency for International Develop20 ment, the Iraq Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the Iraq Min21 istry of Health, and the Iraq Ministry of Education to im22 plement the requirements of this section. 

23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

25 $22,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, and 


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1 2009 and such sums as are necessary for each subsequent 

2 fiscal year. 

3 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO IRAQ. 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not less 

5 than 15 percent of the aggregate amount of economic and 

6 humanitarian assistance authorized to be made available 

7 to Iraq for each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, and 2009 

8 shall be made available for assistance directly to Iraqi-led 

9 local nongovernmental organizations, including not less 

10 than 5 percent of that 15 percent for Iraqi women-led or11 ganizations, with demonstrated experience in delivering 

12 services to Iraqi women and children to support their pro13 grammatic activities and organizational development. In 

14 recognition of the appreciating capacity of Iraqi-led local 

15 nongovernmental organizations, including Iraqi women-led 

16 organizations, an appropriate percentage of the aggregate 

17 amount of economic and humanitarian assistance author18 ized to be made available to Iraq for fiscal year 2010 and 

19 each subsequent fiscal year shall be made available for as20 sistance directly to Iraqi-led local nongovernmental organi21 zations, including Iraqi women-led organizations. 

22 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO UNITED STATES AC23 TIVITIES IN IRAQ. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Activities described in subsections 

25 (b) through (d) that are carried out by the United States 


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1 in Iraq shall comply with the applicable requirements con2 tained in such subsections. 

3 (b) GOVERNANCE OF IRAQ.—With respect to the gov4 ernance of Iraq, the applicable requirements are the fol5 lowing: 

6 (1) Include the perspectives and advice of Iraqi 

7 women’s organizations, networks, and leaders in 

8 United States policymaking related to the govern9 ance of Iraq. 

10 (2) Promote the achievement of 25 percent of 

11 the seats in the National Assembly to be held by 

12 Iraqi women to ensure that women’s full range of 

13 human rights are included and upheld in any con14 stitution or legal structures of Iraq. 

15 (3) Encourage the appointment of women to 

16 high level positions within Iraqi Ministries. 

17 (c) POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVEL18 OPMENT.—With respect to activities relating to post-con19 flict stability in Iraq, the applicable requirements are the 

20 following: 

21 (1) Encourage United States organizations that 

22 receive funds authorized by this Act to partner with 

23 or create Iraqi-led counterpart organizations and 

24 provide these organizations with significant financial 


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1 resources, technical assistance, and capacity build2 ing. 

3 (2) Increase women’s access to or ownership of 

4 productive assets such as land, water, agricultural 

5 inputs, credit, and property. 

6 (3) Provide long-term financial assistance for 

7 primary, secondary, higher, nontraditional, and voca8 tional education for Iraqi girls, women, boys, and 

9 men. 

10 (4) Integrate education and training programs 

11 for former combatants with economic development 

12 programs to encourage their reintegration into soci13 ety and to promote post-conflict stability. 

14 (d) IRAQI MILITARY AND POLICE.—With respect to 

15 training for military and police forces in Iraq, the applica16 ble requirements are the following: 

17 (1) Include training on the protection, rights, 

18 and the particular needs of women and emphasize 

19 that violations of women’s rights are intolerable and 

20 should be prosecuted. 

21 (2) Encourage such trainers who will carry out 

22 the activities in paragraph (1) to consult with wom23 en’s organizations in Iraq to ensure that training 

24 content and materials are adequate, appropriate, 

25 and comprehensive. 


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1 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President 

4 shall prepare and transmit to Congress a report that con5 tains documentation of activities of the United States to 

6 guarantee the rights of Iraqi women, including progress 

7 in implementing the requirements of section 5 and on the 

8 status of women’s rights in Iraq. All data in the report 

9 shall be disaggregated by gender. 

Æ 


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