I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5191 

To increase the United States financial and programmatic contributions to 

promote economic opportunities for women in developing countries. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2010 

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ELLISON, and Mr. KIRK) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To increase the United States financial and programmatic 

contributions to promote economic opportunities for 

women in developing countries. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to 

6 Thrive Act of 2010’’ or ‘‘GROWTH Act of 2010’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and statement of policy. 


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Sec. 3. Microenterprise development assistance for women in developing countries. 

Sec. 4. Support for women’s small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing 

countries. 

Sec. 5. Support for private property rights and land tenure security for women 

in developing countries. 

Sec. 6. Support for women’s access to employment in developing countries. 

Sec. 7. Trade benefits for women in developing countries. 

Sec. 8. Exchanges between United States entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs in developing countries. 

Sec. 9. Assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account. 

Sec. 10. Growth Fund. 

Sec. 11. Data collection. 

Sec. 12. Support for local, indigenous women’s organizations in developing 

countries. 

Sec. 13. Report. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Women around the world are especially vul4 nerable to poverty. They tend to work longer hours, 

5 are compensated less, and have less income stability 

6 and fewer economic opportunities than men. 

7 (2) Women’s share of the labor force is increas8 ing in almost all regions of the world. Women com9 prise more than 40 percent of the global labor force, 

10 including 63 percent of the labor force in sub-Saha11 ran Africa, 67 percent in East Asia, 59 percent in 

12 Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and 53 percent in 

13 Latin America and the Caribbean. About 250 million 

14 young women will enter the labor force worldwide 

15 between 2003 and 2015. 

16 (3) Women are more likely to work in informal 

17 employment relationships in poor countries com18 pared to men. In sub-Saharan Africa, 82 percent of 


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1 female non-agricultural workers are informally em2 ployed compared to 66 percent of men. Eighty-four 

3 percent of working women in South Asia and 64 

4 percent of women in Southeast Asia and the Pacific 

5 are engaged in vulnerable employment. Informal em6 ployment is characterized by lower wages and great7 er variability of earnings, less stability, absence of 

8 labor organization, and fewer social protections than 

9 formal employment. 

10 (4) Changes in the economy of a poor country 

11 affect women and men differently; women are dis12 proportionately affected by long-term recessions, cri13 ses, and economic restructuring and they often miss 

14 out on many of the benefits of economic growth. Ac15 cording to the United Nations, the current global 

16 economic crisis is expected to plunge 22 million 

17 women into unemployment and make secure, decent 

18 work particularly hard to find. 

19 (5) International trade can be an important tool 

20 of economic development and poverty reduction and 

21 its benefits should extend to all members of society, 

22 particularly the world’s poor women. 

23 (6) Promoting fair labor practices for women, 

24 and access to information, education, land, credit, 

25 physical capital, and social services is a means of reVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:43 May 01, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5191.IH H5191

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1 ducing poverty, ensuring food security, and boosting 

2 productivity and earnings for the economies of devel3 oping nations. For example, according to the World 

4 Bank, in sub-Saharan Africa, inequality between 

5 men and women in employment and education sup6 pressed annual per capita growth during the period 

7 1960–1992 by .8 percentage points per year. 

8 (7) Expanding economic opportunity for women 

9 in developing countries can have a positive effect on 

10 child nutrition, health, and education, as women 

11 often invest their income in their families. Increasing 

12 women’s income can also decrease women’s vulner13 ability to HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, and 

14 trafficking, and make them more resistant to the im15 pact of natural disasters. 

16 (8) Economic opportunities for women, includ17 ing microfinance and microenterprise development 

18 and the promotion of women’s small- and medium19 sized businesses, are a means of generating gainful, 

20 safe, and dignified employment for the poor. 

21 (9) Women play a vital, but often unrecognized, 

22 role in averting violence, resolving conflict, and re23 building economies in post-conflict societies. Women 

24 in conflict-affected areas face even greater challenges 

25 in accessing employment, training, property rights, 


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1 credit, and financial and non-financial resources for 

2 business development. Ensuring economic oppor3 tunity for women in conflict-affected areas plays a 

4 significant role in economic rehabilitation and con5 solidation of peace. 

6 (10) Given the important role of women in the 

7 economies of poor nations, poverty alleviation pro8 grams funded by the Government of the United 

9 States in poor countries should seek to enhance the 

10 level of economic opportunity available to women in 

11 those countries. 

12 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is, therefore, the 

13 policy of the United States to actively promote develop14 ment interventions that enhance economic opportunities 

15 for women, including programs and policies to— 

16 (1) promote women’s ability to start, grow, and 

17 sustain micro-, small-, or medium-sized business en18 terprises; 

19 (2) promote the rights of women to own, man20 age, and inherit property, including land, encourage 

21 adoption of laws and policies that support the rights 

22 of women to enforce these claims in administrative 

23 and judicial tribunals, and address conflicts with 

24 customary laws and practices to increase the secu25 rity of women’s tenure; 


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1 (3) increase women’s access to employment, en2 able women to access higher quality jobs with better 

3 remuneration and working conditions in both infor4 mal and formal employment, and improve the qual5 ity of jobs in sectors dominated by women by im6 proving the remuneration and working conditions of 

7 those jobs; and 

8 (4) bring the benefits of international trade pol9 icy to women in developing countries and ensure 

10 that trade policies and agreements adequately reflect 

11 the respective needs of poor women and men. 

12 SEC. 3. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 

13 FOR WOMEN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 

14 (a) AUTHORIZATION; IMPLEMENTATION; TARGETED

15 ASSISTANCE.— 

16 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 252(a) of the 

17 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

18 2211a(a)) is amended— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

20 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including 

21 specific activities to enhance the empowerment 

22 of women, such as leadership training, basic 

23 health and HIV/AIDS education, and literacy 

24 skills’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (i) by adding at the end before the 

2 semicolon the following: ‘‘, including 

3 women’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

5 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

6 (i) by adding at the end before the pe7 riod the following: ‘‘, including initiatives 

8 to eliminate legal and institutional barriers 

9 to women’s ownership of assets, access to 

10 credit information and communication 

11 technologies, and engagement in agricul12 tural and business activities within or out13 side of the home’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

15 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(5) microfinance and microenterprise develop19 ment programs that— 

20 ‘‘(A) specifically target women with respect 

21 to outreach and marketing; and 

22 ‘‘(B) provide products specifically to ad23 dress women’s assets, needs, and the barriers 

24 women encounter with respect to participation 

25 in enterprise and financial services.’’. 


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1 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Section 252(b)(2)(C) 

2 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

3 2211a(b)(2)(C)) is amended— 

4 (A) in clause (ii)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘microenterprise devel6 opment field’’ and inserting ‘‘microfinance 

7 and microenterprise development field’’; 

8 and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

10 (B) in clause (iii)— 

11 (i) by inserting after ‘‘competitive’’ 

12 the following: ‘‘, take into consideration 

13 the anticipated impact of the proposals on 

14 the empowerment of women and men, re15 spectively,’’; and 

16 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

17 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

19 clause: 

20 ‘‘(iv) give preference to proposals from 

21 providers of assistance that demonstrate 

22 the greatest knowledge of clients’ needs 

23 and capabilities, including proposals that 

24 ensure that women are involved in the deVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:43 May 01, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5191.IH H5191

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1 sign and implementation of services and 

2 programs.’’. 

3 (3) TARGETED ASSISTANCE.—Section 252(c) of 

4 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

5 2211a(c)) is amended in the first sentence by adding 

6 at the end before the period the following: ‘‘, par7 ticularly women’’. 

8 (b) MONITORING SYSTEM.—Section 253(b) of the 

9 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211b(b)) is 

10 amended in paragraph (1), by inserting after ‘‘perform11 ance goals for the assistance’’ the following: ‘‘on a sex12 disaggregated basis’’. 

13 (c) MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS.— 

14 Section 256(b)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

15 (22 U.S.C. 2212(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 

16 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, with an emphasis 

17 on clients who are women’’. 

18 (d) REPORT.— 

19 (1) CONTENTS.—Section 258(b) of the Foreign 

20 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214(b)) is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(12) An estimate of the potential global de24 mand for microfinance and microenterprise develop25 ment for women, determined in collaboration with 


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1 practitioners in a cost-effective manner, and a de2 scription of the Agency’s plan to help meet such de3 mand.’’. 

4 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Section 258 

5 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

6 2214) is amended— 

7 (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub8 section (d); and 

9 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

10 following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—All information 

12 in the report required by this section relating to bene13 ficiaries of assistance authorized by this title shall be 

14 disaggregated by sex to the maximum extent practicable.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR WOMEN’S SMALL- AND MEDIUM16 SIZED ENTERPRISES IN DEVELOPING COUN17 TRIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 

19 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

20 for International Development, shall— 

21 (1) where appropriate, carry out programs, 

22 projects, and activities for enterprise development 

23 for women in developing countries that meet the re24 quirements of subsection (b); and 


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1 (2) ensure that such programs, projects, and 

2 activities that are carried out pursuant to assistance 

3 provided under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 

4 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) meet the require5 ments of subsection (b). 

6 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements referred to 

7 in subsection (a) are the following: 

8 (1) In coordination with developing country 

9 governments and interested individuals and organi10 zations, encourage or enhance laws, regulations, en11 forcement, and other practices that promote access 

12 to banking and financial services for women-owned 

13 small- and medium-sized enterprises, and eliminate 

14 or reduce regulatory barriers that may exist in this 

15 regard. 

16 (2) Promote access to information and commu17 nication technologies (ICT) with training in ICT for 

18 women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises. 

19 (3) Provide training, through local associations 

20 of women-owned enterprises or nongovernmental or21 ganizations in recordkeeping, financial and personnel 

22 management, international trade, business planning, 

23 marketing, policy advocacy, leadership development, 

24 and other relevant areas. 


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1 (4) Provide resources to establish and enhance 

2 local, national, and international networks and asso3 ciations of women-owned small- and medium-sized 

4 enterprises. 

5 (5) Provide incentives for nongovernmental or6 ganizations and regulated financial intermediaries to 

7 develop products, services, and marketing and out8 reach strategies specifically designed to facilitate and 

9 promote women’s participation in small- and me10 dium-sized business development programs by ad11 dressing women’s assets, needs, and the barriers 

12 they face to participation in enterprise and financial 

13 services. 

14 (6) Seek to award contracts to qualified indige15 nous women-owned small- and medium-sized enter16 prises, including for post-conflict reconstruction and 

17 to facilitate employment of indigenous women, in18 cluding during post-conflict reconstruction in jobs 

19 not traditionally undertaken by women. 

20 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND 

21 LAND TENURE SECURITY FOR WOMEN IN DE22 VELOPING COUNTRIES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 

24 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

25 for International Development, shall— 


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1 (1) where appropriate, carry out programs, 

2 projects, and activities for the promotion of private 

3 property rights and land tenure security for women 

4 in developing countries that— 

5 (A) are implemented by local, indigenous 

6 nongovernmental and community-based organi7 zations dedicated to addressing the needs of 

8 women, including women’s organizations; and 

9 (B) otherwise meet the requirements of 

10 subsection (b); and 

11 (2) ensure that such programs, projects, and 

12 activities that are carried out pursuant to assistance 

13 provided under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 

14 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) meet the require15 ments of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 

16 (1). 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements referred to 

18 in subsection (a) are the following: 

19 (1) Advocate to amend and harmonize statutory 

20 and customary law to give women equal rights to 

21 own, use, and inherit property. 

22 (2) Promote legal literacy among women and 

23 men about property rights for women and how to ex24 ercise such rights. 


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1 (3) Assist women in making land claims and 

2 protecting women’s existing claims. 

3 (4) Advocate for equitable land titling and reg4 istration for women. 

5 (c) AMENDMENT.—Section 103(b)(1) of the Foreign 

6 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151a(b)(1)) is amend7 ed by inserting after ‘‘establishment of more equitable and 

8 more secure land tenure arrangements’’ the following: ‘‘, 

9 especially for women’’. 

10 SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR WOMEN’S ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT 

11 IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 

12 The Secretary of State, acting through the Adminis13 trator of the United States Agency for International De14 velopment, shall, where appropriate, carry out the fol15 lowing: 

16 (1) Support activities to increase women’s ac17 cess to employment and to higher quality employ18 ment with better remuneration and working condi19 tions in developing countries, including access to in20 surance and other social safety nets, in informal and 

21 formal employment relative to core labor standards 

22 determined by the International Labor Organization. 

23 Such activities should include— 


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1 (A) public education efforts to inform poor 

2 women and men of their legal rights related to 

3 employment; 

4 (B) education and vocational training tai5 lored to enable poor women to access opportuni6 ties in potential growth sectors in their local 

7 economies and in jobs within the formal and in8 formal sectors where women are not tradition9 ally highly represented; 

10 (C) efforts to support self-employed poor 

11 women or wage workers to form or join inde12 pendent unions or other labor associations to 

13 increase their income and improve their work14 ing conditions; and 

15 (D) advocacy efforts to protect the rights 

16 of women in the workplace, including— 

17 (i) developing programs with the par18 ticipation of civil society to eliminate gen19 der-based violence; and 

20 (ii) providing capacity-building assist21 ance to women’s organizations to effec22 tively research and monitor labor rights 

23 conditions. 

24 (2) Provide assistance to governments and or25 ganizations in developing countries seeking to design 


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1 and implement laws, regulations, and programs to 

2 improve working conditions for women and to facili3 tate their entry into and advancement in the work4 place. 

5 SEC. 7. TRADE BENEFITS FOR WOMEN IN DEVELOPING 

6 COUNTRIES. 

7 In order to ensure that poor women in developing 

8 countries are able to benefit from international trade, the 

9 President, acting through the Secretary of State (acting 

10 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

11 for International Development) and the heads of other ap12 propriate departments and agencies of the Government of 

13 the United States, shall, where appropriate, carry out the 

14 following in developing countries: 

15 (1) Provide training and education to women in 

16 civil society, including through those organizations 

17 representing poor women, and to women-owned en18 terprises and associations of such enterprises, on 

19 how to respond to economic opportunities created by 

20 trade preference programs, trade agreements, or 

21 other policies creating market access, including 

22 training on United States market access require23 ments and procedures. 

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1 tion strategies, quality standards, formation of co2 operatives, market research, and market develop3 ment. 

4 (3) Provide capacity building to women, includ5 ing poor women, to promote diversification of prod6 ucts and value-added processing. 

7 (4) Provide training to official government ne8 gotiators representing developing countries in order 

9 to enhance the ability of such negotiators to formu10 late trade policy and negotiate agreements that take 

11 into account the respective needs and priorities of a 

12 country’s poor women and men. 

13 (5) Provide training to local, indigenous wom14 en’s groups in developing countries in order to en15 hance their ability to collect information and data, 

16 formulate proposals, and inform and impact official 

17 government negotiators representing their country in 

18 international trade negotiations of the respective 

19 needs and priorities of a country’s poor women and 

20 men. 

21 SEC. 8. EXCHANGES BETWEEN UNITED STATES ENTRE22 PRENEURS AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN 

23 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 

24 (a) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.—The Secretary of 

25 Commerce shall, where appropriate, encourage United 


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1 States business participants on trade missions to devel2 oping countries to— 

3 (1) meet with representatives of women-owned 

4 small- and medium-sized enterprises in such coun5 tries; and 

6 (2) promote internship opportunities for women 

7 owners of small- and medium-sized businesses in 

8 such countries with United States businesses. 

9 (b) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

10 State shall promote exchange programs that offer rep11 resentatives of women-owned small- and medium-sized en12 terprises in developing countries an opportunity to learn 

13 skills appropriate to promoting entrepreneurship by work14 ing with business counterparts in the United States. 

15 SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE UNDER THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE 

16 ACCOUNT. 

17 The Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Chal18 lenge Corporation (MCC) shall seek to ensure that con19 tracts and employment opportunities resulting from assist20 ance provided by the MCC to the governments of devel21 oping countries are entered into or provided through a fair 

22 and equitable open competition process to ensure access 

23 by qualified women-owned small- and medium-sized enter24 prises and other civil society organizations led by women, 

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1 zations, including for infrastructure projects, and that 

2 such projects facilitate employment of women in jobs not 

3 traditionally undertaken by women. 

4 SEC. 10. GROWTH FUND. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, act7 ing through the Administrator of the United States 

8 Agency for International Development, shall estab9 lish the Global Resources and Opportunities for 

10 Women to Thrive (GROWTH) Fund (hereinafter in 

11 this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) for the pur12 pose of enhancing economic opportunities for very 

13 poor, poor, and low-income women in developing 

14 countries with a focus on— 

15 (A) increasing women-owned enterprise de16 velopment; 

17 (B) increasing property rights for women; 

18 (C) increasing women’s access to financial 

19 services; 

20 (D) increasing women in leadership in im21 plementing organizations, such as indigenous 

22 nongovernmental organizations, community23 based organizations, and regulated financial 

24 intermediaries; 


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1 (E) improving women’s employment bene2 fits and conditions; and 

3 (F) increasing women’s ability to benefit 

4 from global trade. 

5 (2) ROLE OF USAID MISSIONS.—The Fund shall 

6 be available to USAID missions to apply for addi7 tional funding to support specific additional activi8 ties that enhance women’s economic opportunities or 

9 to integrate gender into existing economic oppor10 tunity programs. 

11 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—The Fund shall be 

12 available to USAID missions to support— 

13 (1) activities described in title VI of part I of 

14 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211 

15 et seq.), as amended by section 3 of this Act; 

16 (2) activities described in sections 4 through 7 

17 of this Act; and 

18 (3) technical assistance and capacity-building to 

19 local, indigenous civil society, particularly to carry 

20 out activities that are covered under paragraphs (1) 

21 and (2), for— 

22 (A) local indigenous women’s organizations 

23 to the maximum extent practicable; and 

24 (B) nongovernmental organizations and 

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1 onstrate a commitment to gender equity in their 

2 leadership either through current practice or 

3 through specific programs to increase the rep4 resentation of women in their governance and 

5 management. 

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

8 appropriated to carry out this section such sums as 

9 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2011, 

10 2012, and 2013. 

11 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur12 suant to the authorization of appropriations under 

13 paragraph (1)— 

14 (A) are authorized to remain available 

15 until expended; and 

16 (B) are in addition to amounts otherwise 

17 available for such purposes. 

18 SEC. 11. DATA COLLECTION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 

20 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

21 for International Development, shall— 

22 (1) provide support for tracking indicators on 

23 women’s employment, property rights for women, 

24 women’s access to financial services, and women’s 


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1 enterprise development, including microenterprises, 

2 in developing countries; and 

3 (2) where practicable track all United States 

4 foreign assistance funds to local indigenous non5 governmental, community-based organizations, and 

6 regulated financial intermediaries in developing 

7 countries, including through subcontractors and 

8 grantees, disaggregated by the sex of the head of the 

9 organization, senior management, and composition 

10 of the boards of directors; 

11 (3) encourage United States statistical agencies 

12 in their work with statistical agencies in other coun13 tries to provide support to collect data on the share 

14 of women in wage and self-employment by type of 

15 employment; and 

16 (4) provide funding to the International Labor 

17 Organization (ILO) for technical assistance activities 

18 to developing countries and for the ILO to consoli19 date indicators into cross-country data sets. 

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 Amounts made available to carry out section 10 of this 

22 Act are authorized to be made available to carry out this 

23 section. 


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1 SEC. 12. SUPPORT FOR LOCAL, INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S OR2 GANIZATIONS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 102 of the Foreign As4 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151–1) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting after the 

6 ninth sentence the following new sentences: ‘‘Be7 cause men and women generally occupy different 

8 economic niches in poor countries, activities must 

9 address those differences in ways that enable both 

10 women and men to contribute to and benefit from 

11 development. Throughout the world, indigenous, 

12 local, nongovernmental and community-based organi13 zations and regulated financial intermediaries are es14 sential to addressing many of the development chal15 lenges facing countries and to creating stable, func16 tioning democracies. Investing in the capacity of 

17 such organizations and in their role in the develop18 ment process, including that of women’s organiza19 tions, shall be an important, cross-cutting objective 

20 of United States bilateral development assistance.’’; 

21 and 

22 (2) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

24 the following new sentence: ‘‘The principles de25 scribed in this paragraph shall, among other 

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1 ships with local, indigenous nongovernmental 

2 and community-based organizations and regu3 lated financial intermediaries that represent the 

4 interests of poor women and men.’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end 

6 the following new sentence: ‘‘Investing in the 

7 capacity and participation of local, indigenous 

8 nongovernmental and community-based organi9 zations dedicated to addressing the needs of 

10 women, especially women’s organizations, shall 

11 be an important strategy for achieving the prin12 ciple described in this paragraph’’. 

13 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of State, acting 

14 through the Administrator of the United States Agency 

15 for International Development, shall, where appropriate— 

16 (1) improve the integration of capacity building 

17 and technical assistance activities for local, indige18 nous nongovernmental organizations and commu19 nity-based organizations in developing countries 

20 within project proposals that will include the partici21 pation of locally based partners, especially women’s 

22 organizations and other organizations leading wom23 en’s empowerment initiatives, to promote the long24 term sustainability of projects; 


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1 (2) provide information and training to local in2 digenous organizations focused on women’s em3 powerment, especially women’s organizations, in 

4 countries in which USAID missions are located in 

5 order to— 

6 (A) provide technical assistance regarding 

7 availability of United States international as8 sistance procurement procedures; and 

9 (B) undertake culturally appropriate out10 reach measures to contact such organizations; 

11 (3) encourage cooperating agencies, imple12 menting partners, and subcontractors, to the max13 imum extent practicable, to provide sub-grants to 

14 local indigenous organizations that focus on women’s 

15 empowerment, including women’s organizations and 

16 other organizations that may not have previously 

17 worked with the Government of the United States or 

18 one of its partners, in fulfilling project objectives; 

19 (4) work with local governments where appro20 priate to conduct outreach campaigns to formally 

21 register unofficial local nongovernmental and com22 munity-based organizations, especially women’s or23 ganizations; and 

24 (5) support efforts of indigenous organizations 

25 focused on women’s empowerment, especially womVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:43 May 01, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5191.IH H5191

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26 

•HR 5191 IH

1 en’s organizations, to network with other indigenous 

2 women’s groups to collectively access funding oppor3 tunities to implement United States international as4 sistance programs. 

5 SEC. 13. REPORT. 

6 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than June 30, 

7 2012, the Secretary of State, acting through the Adminis8 trator of the United States Agency for International De9 velopment, shall submit to Congress a report on the imple10 mentation of this Act and the amendments made by this 

11 Act. 

12 (b) UPDATE.—Not later than June 30, 2014, the 

13 Secretary of State, acting through the Administrator of 

14 the United States Agency for International Development, 

15 shall submit to Congress an update of the report required 

16 by subsection (a). 

17 (c) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC.—The report required 

18 by subsection (a) and the update required by subsection 

19 (b) shall be made available to the public on the Internet 

20 websites of the Department of State and the United States 

21 Agency for International Development. 

Æ 


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