IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2153 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To support empowerment, economic security, and educational 

opportunities for adolescent girls around the world, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Keeping Girls in School Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Appropriate congressional committees defined. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 5. Secondary education for adolescent girls. 

Sec. 6. Global strategy requirement. 

Sec. 7. Transparency and reporting to Congress. 

6 SEC. 2. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE7 FINED. 

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com9 mittees’’ means— 

10 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

11 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep12 resentatives; and 

13 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

14 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

15 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

16 Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) Adolescence is a critical period in a girl’s 

18 life, when significant physical, emotional, and social 

19 changes shape her future. 

20 (2) Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable 

21 to HIV/AIDS, child, early and forced marriage, and 


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1 other forms of violence which are detrimental to 

2 their futures, as evidenced by the following statistics: 

3 (A) Each year, 380,000 adolescent girls 

4 and young women become newly infected with 

5 HIV, more than 1,000 every day, and comprise 

6 the fastest-growing demographic for new infec7 tions in sub-Saharan Africa. 

8 (B) Each year, 12,000,000 adolescent girls 

9 around the world are married before their 18th 

10 birthday, and more than 650,000,000 women 

11 alive today were married as children. 

12 (C) Child marriages often interrupt school13 ing, limit opportunities, and impact the phys14 ical, psychological and social well-being of such 

15 girls. If there is no reduction in child marriage, 

16 the global number of women married as chil17 dren is projected to increase by 150,000,000 by 

18 2030. 

19 (D) One-quarter to one-half of girls in de20 veloping countries become mothers before the 

21 age of 18, and girls under 15 are five times 

22 more likely to die during childbirth than women 

23 in their 20s. 

24 (3) Approximately 130,000,000 girls around the 

25 world are not in school, and millions more are failing 


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1 to acquire basic reading, writing, and numeracy 

2 skills. 

3 (4) Girls between the ages of 10 and 19 are 

4 three times more likely than boys to be kept out of 

5 school, particularly in countries affected by conflict. 

6 (5) Due to discriminatory gender norms and ex7 pectations, disparities in access to safe and quality 

8 education manifest early in a girl’s life and continue 

9 to become more pronounced throughout adolescence. 

10 (6) Girls living with disabilities are less likely to 

11 start school and transition to secondary school than 

12 boys living with disabilities and other children, and 

13 just 1 percent of women with disabilities are literate 

14 globally. 

15 (7) While two-thirds of all countries have 

16 achieved gender parity in primary education, only 40 

17 percent have achieved gender parity in secondary 

18 education. 

19 (8) Adolescent girls who remain in school are 

20 more likely to live longer, marry later, have healthier 

21 children, and, as adults, earn an income to support 

22 their families, thereby contributing to the economic 

23 advancement of communities and nations. 

24 (9) Since July 2015, more than 100 public-pri25 vate partnerships have been formed between the 


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1 United States Government and external partners to 

2 support innovative and community-led solutions in 

3 targeted countries, including Malawi and Tanzania, 

4 to ensure adolescent girls receive a quality edu5 cation. 

6 (10) The United States Global Strategy to Em7 power Adolescent Girls, published in March 2016, 

8 has brought together the Department of State, the 

9 United States Agency for International Develop10 ment, the Peace Corps, and the Millennium Chal11 lenge Corporation, as well as other agencies and pro12 grams such as the President’s Emergency Fund for 

13 AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), to address the range of 

14 challenges preventing adolescent girls from attaining 

15 an inclusive and equitable quality education leading 

16 to relevant learning outcomes. 

17 (11) According to the United States Global 

18 Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls, which is the 

19 first foreign policy document in the world solely 

20 dedicated to the rights and empowerment of girls 

21 globally, ‘‘[w]hile the Millennium Development Goals 

22 improved outcomes for girls in primary education, 

23 they also highlighted the need for a targeted focus 

24 on adolescents and young adults, particularly reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2153.RFS H2153

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1 garding the transition to and completion of sec2 ondary school’’. 

3 (12) PEPFAR, through its DREAMS (Deter4 mined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, 

5 and Safe) Initiative, has worked to address a num6 ber of the specific barriers to education that adoles7 cent girls face. 

8 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that— 

10 (1) every child, regardless of place of birth, de11 serves an equal opportunity to access quality edu12 cation; 

13 (2) the United States has been a global leader 

14 in efforts to expand and improve educational oppor15 tunities for those who have been traditionally 

16 disenfranchised, particularly women and girls; 

17 (3) gains with respect to girls’ secondary edu18 cation and empowerment have been proven to cor19 relate strongly with progress in gender equality and 

20 women’s rights, as well as economic and social 

21 progress, and achieving gender equality should be a 

22 priority goal of United States foreign policy; 

23 (4) achieving gender parity in both access to 

24 and quality of educational opportunity contributes 

25 significantly to economic growth and development, 


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1 thereby lowering the risk for violence and instability; 

2 and 

3 (5) education is a lifesaving humanitarian inter4 vention that protects the lives, futures, and well5 being of girls. 

6 SEC. 5. SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator of the United 

8 States Agency for International Development may enter 

9 into acquisition, assistance, or results-based financing 

10 agreements, including agreements combining more than 

11 one such feature, for activities addressing the barriers de12 scribed in subsection (b) that adolescent girls face in ac13 cessing a quality secondary education. Such activities 

14 shall— 

15 (1) set outcome-based targets to demonstrate 

16 qualitative gains; 

17 (2) use existing United States Government 

18 strategies and frameworks relevant to international 

19 basic education and gender equality, including evi20 dence-based interventions, to— 

21 (A) integrate new technologies and ap22 proaches, including to establish or continue 

23 public-private partnerships or to pilot the use of 

24 development impact bonds (the results of which 

25 are verified by an independent evaluation); 


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1 (B) to the greatest extent possible, apply 

2 quasi-experimental and scientific, research3 based approaches; 

4 (C) promote inclusive, equitable and sus5 tainable educational achievement; and 

6 (D) support a responsible transition to 

7 education systems that are sustainably financed 

8 by domestic governments; and 

9 (3) ensure that schools provide safe and quality 

10 educational opportunities and create empowering en11 vironments, so that girls can enroll in and regularly 

12 attend school, successfully transition from primary 

13 to secondary school, and eventually graduate having 

14 achieved learning outcomes and positioned to make 

15 healthy transitions into adulthood. 

16 (b) SPECIFIC BARRIERS.—The barriers described in 

17 this subsection include— 

18 (1) harmful societal and cultural norms; 

19 (2) lack of safety at school or traveling to 

20 school, including harassment and other forms of 

21 physical, sexual, or psychological violence; 

22 (3) child, early, and forced marriage; 

23 (4) female genital mutilation; 

24 (5) distance from a secondary school; 


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1 (6) cost of secondary schooling, including fees, 

2 clothing, and supplies; 

3 (7) inadequate sanitation facilities and products 

4 available at secondary schools; 

5 (8) prioritization of boys’ secondary education; 

6 (9) poor nutrition; 

7 (10) early pregnancy and motherhood; 

8 (11) HIV infection; 

9 (12) disability; 

10 (13) discrimination based on religious or ethnic 

11 identity; and 

12 (14) heavy workload due to household tasks. 

13 (c) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Agency 

15 for International Development Senior Coordinator 

16 for International Basic Education Assistance, in co17 ordination with the United States Agency for Inter18 national Development Senior Coordinator for Gender 

19 Equality and Women’s Empowerment and the Am20 bassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the 

21 Department of State, shall be responsible for the 

22 oversight and coordination of all activities of the 

23 United States Government carried out under this 

24 section. 


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1 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF AGREEMENTS.—In the 

2 development of results-based financing agreements 

3 described in subsection (a), the Senior Coordinators 

4 shall consult with the United States Agency for 

5 International Development Innovation, Technology, 

6 and Research Hub or any successor center that is 

7 responsible for developing innovative tools and ap8 proaches to accelerate development impact. 

9 (3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER STRATE10 GIES.—Activities carried out under this section shall 

11 also be carried out in coordination with— 

12 (A) the United States Global Strategy to 

13 Empower Adolescent Girls described in section 

14 6; and 

15 (B) the United States Government Strat16 egy on International Basic Education, including 

17 its objective to expand access to quality basic 

18 education for all, particularly marginalized and 

19 vulnerable populations. 

20 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF SOLICITATIONS FOR AWARDS.— 

21 The Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter22 national Development shall seek to accept solicitations for 

23 one or more awards, pursuant to the authority in sub24 section (a), to conduct activities under this section beginVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2153.RFS H2153

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1 ning not later than 180 days after the date of the enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 (e) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The Adminis4 trator of the United States Agency for International De5 velopment shall seek to ensure that activities carried out 

6 under this section— 

7 (1) employ rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

8 methodologies, including ex-post evaluation, to en9 sure that such activities demonstrably close the gap 

10 in gender parity for secondary education and im11 prove the quality of education offered to adolescent 

12 girls; 

13 (2) disaggregate all data collected and reported 

14 by age, gender, marital and motherhood status, dis15 ability, and urbanity, to the extent practicable and 

16 appropriate; 

17 (3) adhere to the Policy Guidance on Promoting 

18 Gender Equality of the Department of State and the 

19 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy 

20 of the United States Agency for International Devel21 opment; and 

22 (4) use, to the extent possible, indicators and 

23 methodologies identified by the Interagency Working 

24 Group for the Strategy on International Basic Edu25 cation. 


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1 SEC. 6. GLOBAL STRATEGY REQUIREMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 5 years there4 after for not less than 10 years, the Ambassador-at-Large 

5 for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State, 

6 in consultation with the Senior Coordinator for Gender 

7 Equality and Women’s Empowerment and the Senior Co8 ordinator for International Basic Education Assistance at 

9 the United States Agency for International Development, 

10 shall— 

11 (1) review and update a United States global 

12 strategy to empower adolescent girls; 

13 (2) provide a meaningful opportunity for public 

14 review and consultation on the strategy; and 

15 (3) submit the strategy to the appropriate con16 gressional committees. 

17 (b) INITIAL STRATEGY.—For the purposes of this 

18 section, the ‘‘United States Global Strategy to Empower 

19 Adolescent Girls’’, published in March 2016, shall be 

20 deemed to fulfill the initial requirement under subsection 

21 (a). 

22 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In reviewing and 

23 updating the strategy under subsection (a), the Ambas24 sador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, the Senior Co25 ordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s EmpowerVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2153.RFS H2153

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1 ment, and the Senior Coordinator for International Basic 

2 Education Assistance shall, as appropriate, consult with— 

3 (1) the heads of relevant Federal departments 

4 and agencies their designees, as well as experts on 

5 adolescent girls, gender equality, and empowerment 

6 issues throughout the Federal Government; 

7 (2) the appropriate congressional committees; 

8 (3) representatives of United States civil society 

9 and multilateral organizations with demonstrated ex10 perience and expertise in empowering adolescent 

11 girls or promoting gender equality, including local 

12 civil society organizations and beneficiaries where 

13 possible; and 

14 (4) local organizations and beneficiaries in 

15 countries receiving assistance pursuant to the strat16 egy, including youth and adolescent girls’ organiza17 tions. 

18 SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter 

21 for 10 years until each activity initiated pursuant to the 

22 authorities under this Act has concluded, the Adminis23 trator of the United States Agency for International De24 velopment, in coordination with the Secretary of State, 


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1 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

2 a report describing— 

3 (1) the activities initiated under the authorities 

4 provided in this Act; and 

5 (2) the manner and extent to which such activi6 ties are monitored and evaluated, in accordance with 

7 section 5(e). 

8 (b) AVAILABILITY.—The report required by sub9 section (a) shall be made available on a text-based, search10 able, and publicly available website of the United States 

11 Agency for International Development. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 28, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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