114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5332 

AN ACT 

To ensure that the United States promotes the meaningful 

participation of women in mediation and negotiation 

processes seeking to prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent 

conflict. 

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 ‘‘Women, Peace, and 

3 Security Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Around the world, women remain under7 represented in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, 

8 and post-conflict peace building efforts. 

9 (2) Despite the historic under-representation of 

10 women in conflict resolution processes, women in 

11 conflict-affected regions have nevertheless achieved 

12 significant success in— 

13 (A) moderating violent extremism; 

14 (B) countering terrorism; 

15 (C) resolving disputes through nonviolent 

16 mediation and negotiation; and 

17 (D) stabilizing societies by enhancing the 

18 effectiveness of security services, peacekeeping 

19 efforts, institutions, and decision-making proc20 esses. 

21 (3) Research shows that— 

22 (A) peace negotiations are more likely to 

23 end in a peace agreement when women’s groups 

24 play an influential role in the negotiation proc25 ess; 
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1 (B) once reached, a peace agreement is 35 

2 percent more likely to last at least 15 years if 

3 women have participated in the negotiation 

4 process; and 

5 (C) when women meaningfully participate, 

6 peace negotiations are more likely to address 

7 the underlying causes of the conflict, leading to 

8 more sustainable outcomes. 

9 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that— 

11 (1) the meaningful participation of women in 

12 conflict prevention and conflict resolution processes 

13 helps to promote more inclusive and democratic soci14 eties and is critical to the long-term stability of 

15 countries and regions; 

16 (2) the political participation and leadership of 

17 women in fragile environments, particularly during 

18 democratic transitions, is critical to sustaining last19 ing democratic institutions; and 

20 (3) the United States should be a global leader 

21 in promoting the meaningful participation of women 

22 in conflict prevention, management, and resolution, 

23 and post-conflict relief and recovery efforts. 
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1 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 It shall be the policy of the United States to promote 

3 the meaningful participation of women in all aspects of 

4 conflict prevention, management, and resolution, and post5 conflict relief and recovery efforts, reinforced through dip6 lomatic efforts and programs that— 

7 (1) integrate the perspectives and interests of 

8 affected women into conflict-prevention activities and 

9 strategies; 

10 (2) encourage partner governments to adopt 

11 plans to improve the meaningful participation of 

12 women in peace and security processes and decision13 making institutions; 

14 (3) promote the physical safety, economic secu15 rity, and dignity of women and girls; 

16 (4) support the equal access of women to aid 

17 distribution mechanisms and services; 

18 (5) collect and analyze gender data for the pur19 pose of developing and enhancing early warning sys20 tems of conflict and violence; 

21 (6) adjust policies and programs to improve 

22 outcomes in gender equality and the empowerment 

23 of women; and 

24 (7) monitor, analyze, and evaluate the efforts 

25 related to each strategy submitted under section 5 

26 and the impact of such efforts. 
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1 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PROMOTE THE PAR2 TICIPATION OF WOMEN IN CONFLICT PRE3 VENTION AND PEACE BUILDING. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than October 1, 2017, 

5 October 1, 2022, and October 1, 2027, the President, in 

6 consultation with the heads of the relevant Federal depart7 ments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate con8 gressional committees and make publicly available a single 

9 government-wide strategy, to be known as the Women, 

10 Peace, and Security Strategy, that provides a detailed de11 scription of how the United States intends to fulfill the 

12 policy objectives in section 4. The strategy shall— 

13 (1) support and be aligned with plans developed 

14 by other countries to improve the meaningful partici15 pation of women in peace and security processes, 

16 conflict prevention, peace building, transitional proc17 esses, and decision-making institutions; and 

18 (2) include specific and measurable goals, 

19 benchmarks, performance metrics, timetables, and 

20 monitoring and evaluation plans, to ensure the ac21 countability and effectiveness of all policies and ini22 tiatives carried out under the strategy. 

23 (b) SPECIFIC PLANS FOR AGENCIES.—Each strategy 

24 under subsection (a) shall include a specific implementa25 tion plan from each of the relevant Federal departments 

26 and agencies that describes— 
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1 (1) the anticipated contributions of the depart2 ment or agency, including technical, financial, and 

3 in-kind contributions, to implement the strategy; and 

4 (2) the efforts of the department or agency to 

5 ensure that the policies and initiatives carried out 

6 pursuant to the strategy are designed to achieve 

7 maximum impact and long-term sustainability. 

8 (c) DEPARTMENT OF STATE IMPLEMENTATION.— 

9 Within each relevant bureau of the Department of State, 

10 the Secretary of State shall task the current Principal 

11 Deputy Assistant Secretary with the responsibility for the 

12 implementation of the strategy under subsection (a) and 

13 the specific implementation plan for the Department 

14 under subsection (b), with respect to the roles and respon15 sibilities of such bureau. The Principal Deputy Assistant 

16 Secretaries tasked with such responsibility shall meet, at 

17 least twice a year, to review the implementation of the 

18 strategy and the plan and to contribute to the report 

19 under section 8(b). 

20 (d) COORDINATION.—The President should promote 

21 the meaningful participation of women in conflict preven22 tion, in coordination and consultation with international 

23 partners, including multilateral organizations, stake24 holders, and other relevant international organizations, 
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1 particularly in situations in which the direct engagement 

2 of the United States is not appropriate or advisable. 

3 (e) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that the President, in implementing each strategy 

5 submitted under subsection (a), should— 

6 (1) provide technical assistance, training, and 

7 logistical support to female negotiators, mediators, 

8 peace builders, and stakeholders; 

9 (2) address security-related barriers to the 

10 meaningful participation of women; 

11 (3) increase the participation of women in exist12 ing programs funded by the United States Govern13 ment that provide training to foreign nationals re14 garding law enforcement, the rule of law, or profes15 sional military education; 

16 (4) support appropriate local organizations, es17 pecially women’s peace building organizations; 

18 (5) support the training, education, and mobili19 zation of men and boys as partners in support of the 

20 meaningful participation of women; 

21 (6) encourage the development of transitional 

22 justice and accountability mechanisms that are in23 clusive of the experiences and perspectives of women 

24 and girls; 
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1 (7) expand and apply gender analysis to im2 prove program design and targeting; and 

3 (8) conduct assessments that include the per4 spectives of women before implementing any new ini5 tiatives in support of peace negotiations, transitional 

6 justice and accountability, efforts to counter violent 

7 extremism, or security sector reform. 

8 SEC. 6. TRAINING REQUIREMENTS REGARDING THE PAR9 TICIPATION OF WOMEN IN CONFLICT PRE10 VENTION AND PEACE BUILDING. 

11 (a) FOREIGN SERVICE.—The Secretary of State, in 

12 conjunction with the Administrator of the United States 

13 Agency for International Development, shall ensure that 

14 all appropriate personnel (including special envoys, mem15 bers of mediation or negotiation teams, relevant members 

16 of the civil service or Foreign Service, and contractors) 

17 responsible for or deploying to countries or regions consid18 ered to be at risk of, undergoing, or emerging from violent 

19 conflict obtain training, as appropriate, in the following 

20 areas, each of which shall include a focus on women and 

21 ensuring meaningful participation by women: 

22 (1) Conflict prevention, mitigation, and resolu23 tion. 

24 (2) Protecting civilians from violence, exploi25 tation, and trafficking in persons. 
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1 (3) International human rights law and inter2 national humanitarian law. 

3 (b) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—The Secretary of 

4 Defense shall ensure that relevant personnel receive train5 ing, as appropriate, in the following areas: 

6 (1) Training in conflict prevention, peace proc7 esses, mitigation, resolution, and security initiatives 

8 that specifically addresses the importance of mean9 ingful participation by women. 

10 (2) Gender considerations and meaningful par11 ticipation by women, including training regarding— 

12 (A) international human rights law and 

13 international humanitarian law, as relevant; 

14 and 

15 (B) protecting civilians from violence, ex16 ploitation, and trafficking in persons. 

17 (3) Effective strategies and best practices for 

18 ensuring meaningful participation by women. 

19 SEC. 7. CONSULTATION AND COLLABORATION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 

21 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter22 national Development shall establish guidelines for over23 seas United States personnel of the Department or the 

24 Agency, as the case may be, to consult with stakeholders 

25 regarding United States efforts to— 
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1 (1) prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent conflict; 

2 and 

3 (2) enhance the success of mediation and nego4 tiation processes by ensuring the meaningful partici5 pation of women. 

6 (b) FREQUENCY AND SCOPE.—The consultations re7 quired under subsection (a) shall take place regularly and 

8 include a range and representative sample of stakeholders, 

9 including local women, youth, ethnic and religious minori10 ties, and other politically under-represented or 

11 marginalized populations. 

12 (c) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—The Sec13 retary of State should work with international, regional, 

14 national, and local organizations to increase the meaning15 ful participation of women in international peacekeeping 

16 operations, and should promote training that provides 

17 international peacekeeping personnel with the substantive 

18 knowledge and skills needed to ensure effective physical 

19 security and meaningful participation of women in conflict 

20 prevention and peace building. 

21 SEC. 8. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

22 (a) BRIEFING.—The Secretary of State, in conjunc23 tion with the Administrator of the United States Agency 

24 for International Development and the Secretary of De25 fense, shall brief the appropriate congressional commit-
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1 tees, not later than 1 year after the date of the first sub2 mission of a strategy required under section 5, on— 

3 (1) existing, enhanced, and newly established 

4 training carried out pursuant to section 6; and 

5 (2) the guidelines established for overseas 

6 United States personnel to engage in consultations 

7 with stakeholders, pursuant to section 7. 

8 (b) REPORT ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY

9 STRATEGY.—Not later than 2 years after the date of the 

10 submission of each strategy required under section 5, the 

11 President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

12 committees a report that— 

13 (1) summarizes and evaluates the implementa14 tion of such strategy and the impact of United 

15 States diplomatic efforts and foreign assistance pro16 grams, projects, and activities to promote the mean17 ingful participation of women; 

18 (2) describes the nature and extent of the co19 ordination among the relevant Federal departments 

20 and agencies on the implementation of such strat21 egy; 

22 (3) outlines the monitoring and evaluation 

23 tools, mechanisms, and common indicators to assess 

24 progress made on the policy objectives in section 4; 

25 and 
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1 (4) describes the existing, enhanced, and newly 

2 established training carried out pursuant to section 

3 6. 

4 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

10 Committee on Armed Services, and the Com11 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

13 Committee on Armed Services, and the Com14 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep15 resentatives. 

16 (2) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 

17 means non-governmental and private sector entities 

18 engaged in or affected by conflict prevention and 

19 stabilization, peace building, protection, security, 

20 transition initiatives, humanitarian response, or re21 lated efforts, including— 

22 (A) registered or non-registered nonprofit 

23 organizations, advocacy groups, business or 

24 trade associations, labor unions, cooperatives, 

25 credit unions, relief or development organiza-
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1 tions, community and faith-based organizations, 

2 philanthropic foundations, and tribal leaders or 

3 structures; 

4 (B) independent media, educational, or re5 search institutions; and 

6 (C) private enterprises, including inter7 national development firms, banks, and other fi8 nancial institutions, particularly small busi9 nesses and businesses owned by women or dis10 advantaged groups. 

11 (3) MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION.—The term 

12 ‘‘meaningful participation’’ means safe, genuine, and 

13 effective access to, and present and active involve14 ment in the full range of formal or informal proc15 esses related to negotiation or mediation with re16 spect to any efforts toward the following: 

17 (A) Conflict prevention. 

18 (B) Resolution or mitigation of, or transi19 tion from, violent conflict. 

20 (C) Peacekeeping and peace building. 

21 (D) Post-conflict reconstruction, transition 

22 initiatives, elections, and governance. 

23 (E) Humanitarian response and recovery. 
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1 (4) RELEVANT FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND

2 AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘relevant Federal depart3 ments and agencies’’ means— 

4 (A) the United States Agency for Inter5 national Development; 

6 (B) the Department of State; 

7 (C) the Department of Defense; 

8 (D) the Department of Homeland Security; 

9 and 

10 (E) any other department or agency speci11 fied by the President for purposes of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 15, 

2016. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5332 

AN ACT 

To ensure that the United States promotes the 

mitigate, or resolve violent conflict. and negotiation processes seeking to prevent, meaningful participation of women in mediation