II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3151 

To establish the Office for Global Women’s Issues and the Women’s Development Advisor to facilitate interagency coordination and the integration 

of gender considerations into the strategies, programming, and associated 

outcomes of the Department of State and the United States Agency 

for International Development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22 (legislative day, MARCH 19), 2010 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. LUGAR) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish the Office for Global Women’s Issues and the 

Women’s Development Advisor to facilitate interagency 

coordination and the integration of gender considerations 

into the strategies, programming, and associated outcomes of the Department of State and the United States 

Agency for International Development, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Quality As3 sistance and Leadership and Improving Transparency for 

4 Women Act’’ or the ‘‘EQUALITY Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

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

7 (1) Women are vital to successful development. 

8 On January 6, 2010, Secretary of State Clinton 

9 stated, ‘‘Women and girls are one of the world’s 

10 greatest untapped resources. Investing in the poten11 tial of women to lift and lead their societies is one 

12 of the best investments we can make. . . . (S)tudies 

13 have shown when a woman receives even just one 

14 year of schooling, her children are less likely to die 

15 in infancy or suffer from illness or hunger, and more 

16 likely to go to school themselves.’’. 

17 (2) According to the World Bank— 

18 (A) investing in women and girls yields 

19 large social and economic returns, including 

20 breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty; 

21 and 

22 (B) societies that treat males and females 

23 more equally experience more rapid economic 

24 growth and poverty reduction than societies 

25 that discriminate based on gender. 


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1 (3) United Nations Millennium Development 

2 Goal 3 (MDG3) calls for redressing gender dispari3 ties and empowering women. According to the 

4 United Nations, women have more access to employment now than ever before; but they still earn 1 5 ⁄3

6 less than men. According to the World Bank, MDG3 

7 is the critical avenue through which several other 

8 goals are achievable, including— 

9 (A) universal primary education (MDG2); 

(B) a 2 10 ⁄3 reduction in the mortality rate 

11 among children younger than 5 years of age 

12 (MDG4); 

13 (C) improvements in maternal health 

14 (MDG5); and 

15 (D) a reduction in the likelihood of con16 tracting HIV/AIDS and other major diseases 

17 (MDG6). 

18 (4) Properly investing in women requires a 

19 cross-cutting, multi-sectoral approach. On October 8, 

20 2009, Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for 

21 Global Women’s Issues, stated ‘‘The major eco22 nomic, security, governance, and environmental chal23 lenges of our time cannot be solved without the par24 ticipation of women at all levels of society. Empow25 ering women is one of the most effective and positive 


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1 forces for improving conditions around the globe. In2 deed, no country can prosper if half its people are 

3 left behind.’’. 

4 (5) The Department of State and the United 

5 States Agency for International Development need 

6 stronger tools to create a comprehensive plan and 

7 approach to mainstreaming women in development. 

8 As of 2010, these efforts are only nascent. In his 

9 December 2, 2009, confirmation hearing before the 

10 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, 

11 USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah stated ‘‘I be12 lieve effective gender integration is often the dif13 ference between success and failure of a broad vari14 ety of development investments.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. OFFICE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established, in the 

18 Office of the Secretary of State, the Office for Glob19 al Women’s Issues (referred to in this section as the 

20 ‘‘Office’’). 

21 (2) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary of State may 

22 assign appropriate staff with relevant technical and 

23 operational expertise to the Office to carry out the 

24 purposes of this section. 


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1 (b) AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S

2 ISSUES.—The Office shall be headed by an Ambassador3 at-Large for Global Women’s Issues (referred to in this 

4 section as the ‘‘Ambassador’’), who— 

5 (1) shall be appointed by the President, by and 

6 with the advice and consent of the Senate; 

7 (2) shall report directly to the Secretary of 

8 State; and 

9 (3) shall have the rank and status of Ambas10 sador-at-Large. 

11 (c) DUTIES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Ambassador is author13 ized to— 

14 (A) coordinate and advise on activities, 

15 policies, programs, and funding of relevant bu16 reaus and offices of the Department of State, 

17 which relate to— 

18 (i) gender integration; 

19 (ii) women’s and girls’ economic, so20 cial and legal development, protection, im21 provement in role and status in societies; 

22 and 

23 (iii) prevention and response to vio24 lence against women and girls, including 

25 child and forced marriage; 


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1 (B) promote and advance the full integra2 tion of gender analysis into the programs, 

3 structures, processes, and capacities of the De4 partment of State and other Federal Govern5 ment agencies conducting international pro6 grams; 

7 (C) work with relevant offices within the 

8 Department of State to promote the collection, 

9 retention, and analysis of data on programs and 

10 activities of the Department— 

11 (i) to integrate gender into its policies 

12 and programs; 

13 (ii) regarding the protection and eco14 nomic, social, and legal development of 

15 women and girls; 

16 (iii) to improve the role and status of 

17 women and girls in societies; and 

18 (iv) to prevent and respond to violence 

19 against women and girls, including child 

20 and forced marriage; and 

21 (D) in coordination with relevant bureaus 

22 and offices of the Department of State, design 

23 support, and implement relevant activities and 

24 programs regarding international girls’ and 

25 women’s issues. 


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1 (2) COORDINATING ROLE.—The Ambassador is 

2 authorized to— 

3 (A) advise and coordinate with relevant 

4 Executive Branch agencies engaged in inter5 national women’s policies and programs, includ6 ing the Department of Justice, the Department 

7 of Labor, the Department of Education, the 

8 Department of Health and Human Services, the 

9 Department of Agriculture, the Department of 

10 Defense, the Department of Commerce, the 

11 United States Agency for International Devel12 opment and the Millennium Challenge Corpora13 tion, on policies, programs, and funding of such 

14 agencies relating to women’s issues in their 

15 international programs and policies; and 

16 (B) work with relevant Executive Branch 

17 agencies described in subparagraph (A), to com18 pile and make public comprehensive information 

19 about United States Government international 

20 programs relating to— 

21 (i) the economic, social, and legal de22 velopment of women and girls; 

23 (ii) the protection of women and girls; 

24 (iii) the improvement of the role and 

25 status of women and girls in societies; 


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1 (iv) the prevention of and response to 

2 violence against women and girls, including 

3 child and forced marriage; and 

4 (v) the outcomes and effectiveness of 

5 such programs. 

6 (3) DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.—Subject to 

7 the direction of the President and the Secretary of 

8 State, the Ambassador is authorized to represent the 

9 United States in matters relevant to the status of 

10 women internationally. 

11 (d) INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.— 

12 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—The Ambassador is au13 thorized— 

14 (A) to provide advice and guidance, as ap15 propriate, to the Federal Government agencies 

16 described in subsection (c)(2)(A); and 

17 (B) on behalf of the Secretary of State, to 

18 convene periodic meetings with other Federal 

19 Government agencies to enhance and ensure ef20 fective coordination of policies, programs, and 

21 resources regarding critical issues related to 

22 international women’s status and development. 

23 (2) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of 

24 the Senate that the heads of relevant Federal Gov25 ernment agencies described in subsection (c)(2)(A) 


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1 should ensure effective implementation and coordina2 tion of all international women’s policies and pro3 grams by annually sharing information with the Of4 fice on programs described in subsection (c)(2)(B). 

5 (e) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 6 

6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

7 annually thereafter, the Ambassador shall brief Congress 

8 on the integration of gender considerations into its strate9 gies, programming, and associated outcomes, and inter10 agency cooperation. 

11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

13 required for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 2015 

14 to carry out the activities authorized under this section. 

15 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DE16 VELOPMENT WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT ADVI17 SOR. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established, within 

20 the United States Agency for International Develop21 ment (referred to in this section as ‘‘USAID’’), the 

22 Women’s Development Advisor (referred to in this 

23 section as the ‘‘Advisor’’), who shall— 

24 (A) be appointed by, and report directly to, 

25 the USAID Administrator; 


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1 (B) be highly qualified in the areas of 

2 international development and gender integra3 tion; and 

4 (C) participate in high level strategic pol5 icy, planning, operations, and evaluations 

6 throughout all regional and functional dis7 ciplines of USAID. 

8 (2) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Office of Women in 

9 International Development shall report directly to 

10 the Advisor. The USAID Administrator may assign 

11 additional staff with technical and operational exper12 tise as may be needed to assist the Advisor in car13 rying out the purposes of this section. 

14 (b) DUTIES.—The Advisor is authorized to— 

15 (1) coordinate USAID efforts to integrate gen16 der in foreign assistance design, strategy, and pro17 grams; 

18 (2) coordinate and consult with the Ambas19 sador; 

20 (3) inform the USAID Administrator of United 

21 States Government policies relating to gender, in22 cluding those disseminated by the Ambassador; 

23 (4) collect and make publicly available data and 

24 analysis on gender integration activities, women’s 

25 development, strategies for gender-based violence 


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1 prevention and response, in accordance with agency2 wide mechanisms for data collection, monitoring, 

3 and evaluation; and 

4 (5) provide recommendations to the Adminis5 trator. 

6 (c) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 6 

7 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

8 annually thereafter, the USAID Administrator or the Ad9 visor shall provide to Congress data collected under sub10 section (b)(5) on the integration of gender, women’s devel11 opment, and gender-based violence prevention and re12 sponse into its strategies, programming, and associated 

13 outcomes. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

16 necessary for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 2015 

17 to carry out the activities authorized under this section. 

18 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

19 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

21 General of the United States shall submit a report to the 

22 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

23 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa24 tives that provides a detailed accounting of all United 

25 States Government financial assistance— 


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1 (1) to further international economic, social, 

2 and legal development for women and girls; 

3 (2) to provide protection for women and girls; 

4 (3) to improve the role and status of women 

5 and girls in societies; 

6 (4) to prevent and respond to violence against 

7 women and girls, including child and forced mar8 riage; and 

9 (5) to address related issues. 

10 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub11 section (a) shall include— 

12 (1) a description and assessment of the pro13 grams authorized and funded to address the issues 

14 set forth in paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection 

15 (a); 

16 (2) an assessment of the coordination among 

17 Federal agencies involved in such programs, includ18 ing— 

19 (A) an examination of the internal coordi20 nation within such programs; and 

21 (B) the integration with the larger global 

22 health and development agenda of the United 

23 States; 

24 (3) an assessment of procurement policies and 

25 practices within such programs; 


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1 (4) an assessment of the impact of such efforts; 

2 and 

3 (5) recommendations for improving the coordi4 nation and outcomes of such programs and funding. 

Æ 


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