I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4097 

To require a report on the participation of Afghan women in negotiations 

and dialogue relating to the Afghan peace process and a strategy for 

post-conflict engagement by the United States in Afghanistan, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mr. KEATING (for himself, Mrs. WAGNER, Ms. FRANKEL, and Mr. WILSON

of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require a report on the participation of Afghan women 

in negotiations and dialogue relating to the Afghan peace 

process and a strategy for post-conflict engagement by 

the United States in Afghanistan, 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 ‘‘Afghan Women’s In5 clusion in Negotiations Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Women, Peace, and Security Act of 

2 2017 was signed into law on October 6, 2017, re3 quiring the United States Government to promote 

4 the meaningful participation of women in all aspects 

5 of overseas conflict prevention, management, and 

6 resolution, and postconflict relief and recovery ef7 forts. 

8 (2) The meaningful participation of women in 

9 peace negotiations has been shown to make resulting 

10 peace agreements 35 percent more likely to last, ac11 cording to the International Peace Institute, and 

12 their sustained engagement and leadership in con13 flict prevention and conflict resolution processes 

14 helps to promote more inclusive and democratic soci15 eties and is critical to the long-term stability of 

16 countries and regions. 

17 (3) The United States National Security Strat18 egy states, ‘‘governments that fail to treat women 

19 equally do not allow their societies to reach their po20 tential’’ and ‘‘societies that empower women to par21 ticipate fully in civic and economic life are more 

22 prosperous and peaceful’’. 

23 (4) Today, millions of Afghan women have 

24 voted in elections and women have a significant 

25 presence in the National Assembly, ministries, local 


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1 government, and the diplomatic corps including as 

2 Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United States. 

3 (5) According to the United States Institute of 

4 Peace, more than 68,000 Afghan women are em5 ployed in schools and universities, and at least 

6 10,000 women are doctors and health care profes7 sionals. 

8 (6) Afghan women entrepreneurs have invested 

9 an estimated $77 million in their businesses, cre10 ating 77,000 jobs for Afghans. 

11 (7) In 2015, Afghanistan approved a National 

12 Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security to in13 crease women’s participation in peace processes and 

14 the security sector as well as address issues around 

15 protection and relief and recovery services. 

16 (8) In 2018, Afghanistan reaffirmed its Law to 

17 Eliminate Violence Against Women. 

18 (9) Afghan women have advocated relentlessly 

19 for peace, equality, and basic rights under the 

20 Taliban, including by educating the next generation 

21 of Afghans in underground schools and successfully 

22 negotiating with the Taliban to reopen girls’ schools, 

23 release hostages, and prevent violence. 

24 (10) Afghan women participated in the 2001 

25 Bonn International Conference on Afghanistan, parVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097

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1 ticipated alongside then-President Karzai at the 

2 2010 National Consultative Peace Jirga on reconcili3 ation between the Afghan government and insurgent 

4 leaders, served on the country’s Provincial Peace 

5 Councils, and today serve on Afghanistan’s High 

6 Peace Council. 

7 (11) Through various coalitions, women have 

8 mobilized to demand an immediate ceasefire and 

9 their rightful seat at the table including through ral10 lies and consultations with communities across all of 

11 Afghanistan’s provinces, including a ‘‘Peace Consult12 ative Loya Jirga’’ which brought together politi13 cians, tribal elders, and other prominent leaders to 

14 decide on a common approach for peace talks with 

15 the Taliban. 

16 (12) Over the first seven rounds of bilateral 

17 talks between the United States and the Taliban, 

18 neither the Afghan Government nor Afghan women 

19 or civil society groups were permitted to participate 

20 in the negotiations. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that— 

23 (1) corresponding with the Women, Peace, and 

24 Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–68) and the 

25 U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, the 


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1 United States has a commitment to promoting the 

2 meaningful participation of women throughout the 

3 Afghan peace process; 

4 (2) representatives of Afghan women, youth, 

5 and other marginalized groups from rural and urban 

6 provinces and especially from those most affected by 

7 violence, should meaningfully participate and engage 

8 in all peace talks, implementation commissions, and 

9 other bodies if an agreement is reached, alongside 

10 the Government of Afghanistan, the Afghan political 

11 opposition, and the Taliban, and that their security 

12 must be protected throughout and their concerns 

13 prioritized in those respective agendas; 

14 (3) training and gender expertise should be 

15 made available to the United States mediators of the 

16 peace talks and all participating delegations, includ17 ing one or more gender advisors with expertise in 

18 structuring inclusive peace process and conflict me19 diation, and who have local language skills and me20 diation expertise to establish a safe communication 

21 channel for engagement with and training of a di22 verse range of Afghan women’s groups; 

23 (4) financial, technical, and logistical support, 

24 including security precautions for their protection, 

25 should be provided to women delegates to the talks, 


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1 mediators, peace builders, and stakeholders, enabling 

2 them to travel safely to and from the location of the 

3 peace talks and to meaningfully participate; and 

4 (5) a component of any international aid pack5 age that is awarded to Afghanistan as part of the 

6 peace process should be directed to programming fo7 cused on gender equality and women’s empower8 ment, including for efforts to ensure that implemen9 tation of the peace agreement is shaped by gender 

10 analysis, and that funds are made available as 

11 grants for local Afghan women-led and women’s em12 powerment organizations as well as for education 

13 and necessary services for women and girls. 

14 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall sub16 mit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

17 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela18 tions of the Senate not later than 30 days after the conclu19 sion of each round of negotiations relating to the Afghan 

20 peace process an unclassified report, which may contain 

21 a classified annex, relating to the peace process. 

22 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re23 quired by subsection (a) shall include information, in ac24 cordance with the requirements of the Women, Peace, and 

25 Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–68), on— 


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1 (1) the participation of Afghan women and the 

2 protection of their rights and gains; 

3 (2) the actions of the Department of State and 

4 other relevant Federal departments and agencies to 

5 advance the priorities described in section 3, includ6 ing United States efforts to consult with and train 

7 local women-led civil society organizations and to ad8 vocate for their inclusion and participation in na9 tional, provincial, and community-level peacebuild10 ing, conflict prevention, and post-conflict reconcili11 ation. 

12 SEC. 5. STRATEGY FOR POST-CONFLICT ENGAGEMENT BY 

13 THE UNITED STATES IN AFGHANISTAN. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con15 sultation with the Administrator of the United States 

16 Agency for International Development and other relevant 

17 Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the 

18 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa19 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen20 ate not later than 120 days after a final Afghan Reconcili21 ation Agreement is reached, a strategy for post-conflict 

22 engagement by the United States in Afghanistan to sup23 port the implementation of commitments for women and 

24 girls’ inclusion and empowerment in the Agreement, as 


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1 well as to protect and promote basic human rights in Af2 ghanistan, especially the human rights of women and girls. 

3 (b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—The Secretary of State 

4 shall seek to ensure that activities carried out under the 

5 strategy— 

6 (1) employ rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

7 methodologies, including ex-post evaluation, and gen8 der analysis as defined by the Women’s Entrepre9 neurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 

10 (Public Law 115–428) and required by the U.S. 

11 Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security; 

12 (2) disaggregate all data collected and reported 

13 by age, gender, marital and motherhood status, dis14 ability, and urbanity, to the extent practicable and 

15 appropriate; and 

16 (3) adhere to the Policy Guidance on Promoting 

17 Gender Equality of the Department of State and the 

18 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy 

19 of the United States Agency for International Devel20 opment. 

Æ 


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