IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 715 

Calling on the United States and international donors to prioritize investments 

in children and youth in development and humanitarian assistance policies, programs, and activities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 

Ms. MACE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the United States and international donors to 

prioritize investments in children and youth in development and humanitarian assistance policies, programs, 

and activities. 

Whereas globally, 90 percent of the world’s young people live 

in the developing world; 

Whereas children and youth bear the disproportionate burdens of poverty, which have been exacerbated by the 

COVID–19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis; 

Whereas half of the world’s population is under the age of 

30 today, and thus engaging youth and emerging leaders 

is essential to achieving the United States most important foreign policy objectives; 


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Whereas the perspectives of children and youth are frequently 

not prioritized in foreign assistance responses; 

Whereas the world’s countries with the greatest population of 

young people are vulnerable to the influence of donors 

whose funding does not align with American values; 

Whereas research has demonstrated when countries invest in 

their young people, substantial benefits can result, including reduced reliance on foreign assistance from governments like the United States, and boost national economic growth and global economic stability; 

Whereas, according to the National Security Strategy, the 

United States should not ‘‘leave our future vulnerable to 

the whims of those who do not share our vision for a 

world that is free, open, prosperous, and secure.’’; 

Whereas harnessing the potential of children and youth can 

create prosperous, safe, educated, stable, and resilient 

families, communities, and countries as well as reduce dependency on donor assistance; 

Whereas in contrast, inaction has the potential to cost the 

global economy $21,000,000,000,000 in lost lifetime 

earnings of today’s student generation as a result of pandemic school closures, compounding inequality and shortfalls leading to skills mismatches, and persistently high 

levels of young people not in employment, education, or 

training (the youth NEET rate) that threaten gross domestic product and economic growth; 

Whereas United States foreign assistance approaches have already yielded strong returns for young people, as well as 

the American taxpayers; 

Whereas, since the year 2000 alone, United States foreign assistance has, for example, contributed to cutting global 


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maternal, infant, and child mortality rates in half and to 

cutting the number of children in child labor by onethird; 

Whereas, in fiscal year 2020 alone, United States development programs reached over 25,400,000 learners in 57 

countries, according to the United States Agency for 

International Development; 

Whereas because interventions for children and youth are 

spread across programs, agencies, and bureaus, tracking 

the return on United States investments is difficult; 

Whereas greater coordination within and across agencies is 

necessary to ensure that young people are supported, and 

United States taxpayer dollars are maximized; 

Whereas for example, the McGovern-Dole school feeding program coordinates across global food security, international education, and the water and sanitation sectors; 

and 

Whereas the program, which American farmers are at the 

heart of, has provided 5,500,000,000 school meals, supported more than 31,000,000 children and families in 48 

countries, and donated more than 1,300,000 tons of 

United States agricultural commodities: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) urges the Secretary of State to coordinate 

3 with all government agencies managing foreign as4 sistance to develop a strategy that directly addresses 

5 youth needs and youth engagement as was required 

6 in the bipartisan fiscal year 2022 State, Foreign OpVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Sep 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR715.IH HR715

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1 erations, and Related Programs (SFOPs) appropria2 tions bill; 

3 (2) calls upon the Department of State, the 

4 United States Agency for International Develop5 ment, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the 

6 United States Development Finance Corporation, 

7 and all other relevant agencies who support children 

8 and youth abroad to improve tracking and 

9 disaggregation of funding benefiting children and 

10 youth by— 

11 (A) compiling data that should be collected 

12 against dedicated indicators on an annual basis, 

13 and reported to the Office of United States 

14 Foreign Assistance Resources; and 

15 (B) ensuring that these indicators should 

16 include a common understanding of what con17 stitutes a ‘‘child’’ and a ‘‘youth’’ and develop 

18 more consistent approaches to track 

19 disaggregated data ongoing and disaggregating 

20 by age, sex, disability, etc.; 

21 (3) urges all agencies working abroad to im22 prove outcomes for children and youth to engage di23 rectly with young people as key stakeholders, and 

24 United States foreign assistance that targets, en25 gages, or otherwise reaches and impacts young peoVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:29 Sep 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR715.IH HR715

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1 ple, especially those most marginalized, should 

2 strengthen mechanisms and platforms, such as 

3 youth advisory councils, to facilitate the direct par4 ticipation of young people on issues affecting them 

5 most intimately; 

6 (4) urges relevant agencies to increase inter7 and intra-agency coordination mechanisms and fund8 ing responses to reimagine development and humani9 tarian assistance diplomacy, policies, programs, and 

10 activities, in order to ensure that the United States 

11 foreign assistance integrates multiple issues facing 

12 young people and is flexible for local needs, such ac13 tions would allow for more youth-led organizations 

14 to receive funding, and for greater multisectoral 

15 interventions that effectively account for the entirety 

16 of a young person’s life stages to support them and 

17 address their safety, education, health, nutrition and 

18 food security, economic participation, and civic en19 gagement; and 

20 (5) calls upon the leadership of relevant agen21 cies to review existing positions and structures in 

22 order to elevate children and youth in foreign assist23 ance across all agencies implementing work that im24 pacts them, including ways to better operationalize 

25 solutions led in both development and humanitarian 


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1 work that allows for meeting the needs of children 

2 and youth, including those living in crisis, conflict, 

3 and disaster-affected settings, which would require 

4 increased opportunities for collaboration across bu5 reaus, divisions, offices, and missions to address the 

6 needs of children and youth, including identifying 

7 any authorities or funding needed from Congress to 

8 increase the effectiveness of such efforts. 

Æ 


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