II 

Calendar No. 91 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 802 

To authorize the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United 

States Agency for International Development to provide assistance to 

support the rights of women and girls in developing countries, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 19, 2015 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COONS, and Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

MAY 21, 2015 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of State and the Administrator 

of the United States Agency for International Development to provide assistance to support the rights of 

women and girls in developing countries, 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 ‘‘Girls Count Act of 

3 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) According to the United States Census Bu7 reau’s 2013 international figures, 1 person in 12, or 

8 close to 900,000,000 people, is a girl or young 

9 woman age 10 through 24. 

10 (2) The Census Bureau’s data also illustrates 

11 that young people are the fastest growing segment 

12 of the population in developing countries. 

13 (3) Even though most countries do have birth 

14 registration laws, four out of ten babies born in 

15 2012 were not registered worldwide. Moreover, an 

16 estimated 36 percent of children under the age of 

17 five worldwide (about 230,000,000 children) do not 

18 possess a birth certificate. 

19 (4) A nationally recognized proof of birth sys20 tem is important to determining a child’s citizenship, 

21 nationality, place of birth, parentage, and age. With22 out such a system, a passport, driver’s license, or 

23 other identification card is difficult to obtain. The 

24 lack of such documentation can prevent girls and 

25 women from officially participating in and benefitVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 May 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S802.RS S802

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1 ting from the formal economic, legal, and political 

2 sectors in their countries. 

3 (5) The lack of birth registration among girls 

4 worldwide is particularly concerning as it can exacer5 bate the disproportionate vulnerability of women to 

6 trafficking, child marriage, and lack of access to 

7 health and education services. 

8 (6) A lack of birth registration among women 

9 and girls can also aggravate what, in many places, 

10 amounts to an already reduced ability to seek em11 ployment, participate in civil society, or purchase or 

12 inherit land and other assets. 

13 (7) Girls undertake much of the domestic labor 

14 needed for poor families to survive: carrying water, 

15 harvesting crops, tending livestock, caring for young16 er children, and doing chores. 

17 (8) Accurate assessments of access to edu18 cation, poverty levels, and overall census activities 

19 are hampered by the lack of official information on 

20 women and girls. Without this rudimentary informa21 tion, assessments of foreign assistance and domestic 

22 social welfare programs are difficult to gauge. 

23 (9) To help ensure that women and girls are 

24 considered in United States foreign assistance poli25 cies and programs, that their needs are addressed in 


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•S 802 RS

1 the design, implementation, and evaluation of for2 eign assistance programs, and that women and girls 

3 have the opportunity to succeed, it is important that 

4 girls be counted and have access to birth certificates 

5 and other official documentation. 

6 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States to— 

8 (1) encourage countries to support the rule of 

9 law and ensure girls and boys of all ages are able 

10 to fully participate in society, including by providing 

11 birth certifications and other official documentation; 

12 (2) enhance training and capacity-building in 

13 key developing countries, local nongovernmental or14 ganizations, and other civil society organizations, in15 cluding organizations representing children and fam16 ilies in the design, implementation, and monitoring 

17 of programs under this Act, to effectively address 

18 the needs of birth registries in countries where girls 

19 are systematically undercounted; and 

20 (3) incorporate into the design, implementation, 

21 and evaluation of policies and programs measures to 

22 evaluate the impact that such policies and programs 

23 have on girls. 


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1 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNT2 ING OF GIRLS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary and the Admin4 istrator are authorized to prioritize and advance ongoing 

5 efforts to— 

6 (1) support programs that will contribute to im7 proved and sustainable Civil Registration and Vital 

8 Statistics Systems (CRVS) with a focus on birth 

9 registration; 

10 (2) support programs that build the capacity of 

11 developing countries’ national and local legal and 

12 policy frameworks to prevent discrimination against 

13 girls; 

14 (3) support programs to help increase property 

15 rights, social security, home ownership, land tenure 

16 security, and inheritance rights, particularly for 

17 women; and 

18 (4) assist key ministries in the governments of 

19 key developing countries, including health, interior, 

20 youth, and education ministries, to ensure that girls 

21 and boys from poor households have equitable access 

22 to social programs. 

23 (b) COORDINATION WITH MULTILATERAL ORGANI24 ZATIONS.—The Secretary and the Administrator are au25 thorized to coordinate with the World Bank, relevant 

26 United Nations agencies and programs, and other relevant 


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1 organizations to encourage and work with countries to 

2 enact, implement, and enforce laws that specifically collect 

3 data on girls and establish registration programs to ensure 

4 girls are appropriately counted and have the opportunity 

5 to be active participants in the social, legal, and political 

6 sectors of society in their countries. 

7 (c) COORDINATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR AND

8 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary and the 

9 Administrator are authorized to work with the United 

10 States, international, and local private sector and civil so11 ciety organizations to advocate for the registration and 

12 documentation of all girls and boys in developing coun13 tries, in order to help prevent exploitation, violence, and 

14 other abuses and to help provide economic and social op15 portunities. 

16 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

17 The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in 

18 relevant evaluations and reports to Congress the following 

19 information: 

20 (1) To the extent practicable, a breakdown of 

21 United States foreign assistance beneficiaries by age, 

22 gender, marital status, location, and school enroll23 ment status. 

24 (2) A description, as appropriate, of how 

25 United States foreign assistance benefits girls. 


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1 (3) Specific information, as appropriate, on pro2 grams that address the particular needs of girls. 

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

7 States Agency for International Development. 

8 (2) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘foreign 

9 assistance’’ has the meaning given the term in sec10 tion 634(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

11 (22 U.S.C. 2394(b)). 

12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of State. 

14 SEC. 7. SUNSET. 

15 This Act shall expire on the date that is five years 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Girls Count Act of 

19 2015’’. 

20 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

21 Congress makes the following findings: 

22 (1) According to the United States Census Bu23 reau’s 2013 international figures, 1 person in 12, or 

24 close to 900,000,000 people, is a girl or young woman 

25 age 10 through 24. 


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•S 802 RS

1 (2) The Census Bureau’s data also illustrates 

2 that young people are the fastest growing segment of 

3 the population in developing countries. 

4 (3) Even though most countries do have birth 

5 registration laws, four out of ten babies born in 2012 

6 were not registered worldwide. Moreover, an estimated 

7 36 percent of children under the age of five worldwide 

8 (about 230,000,000 children) do not possess a birth 

9 certificate. 

10 (4) A nationally recognized proof of birth system 

11 is important to determining a child’s citizenship, na12 tionality, place of birth, parentage, and age. Without 

13 such a system, a passport, driver’s license, or other 

14 identification card is difficult to obtain. The lack of 

15 such documentation can prevent girls and women 

16 from officially participating in and benefitting from 

17 the formal economic, legal, and political sectors in 

18 their countries. 

19 (5) The lack of birth registration among girls 

20 worldwide is particularly concerning as it can exacer21 bate the disproportionate vulnerability of women to 

22 trafficking, child marriage, and lack of access to 

23 health and education services. 

24 (6) A lack of birth registration among women 

25 and girls can also aggravate what, in many places, 


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•S 802 RS

1 amounts to an already reduced ability to seek employ2 ment, participate in civil society, or purchase or in3 herit land and other assets. 

4 (7) Girls undertake much of the domestic labor 

5 needed for poor families to survive: carrying water, 

6 harvesting crops, tending livestock, caring for younger 

7 children, and doing chores. 

8 (8) Accurate assessments of access to education, 

9 poverty levels, and overall census activities are ham10 pered by the lack of official information on women 

11 and girls. Without this rudimentary information, as12 sessments of foreign assistance and domestic social 

13 welfare programs are difficult to gauge. 

14 (9) To help ensure that women and girls are con15 sidered in United States foreign assistance policies 

16 and programs, that their needs are addressed in the 

17 design, implementation, and evaluation of foreign as18 sistance programs, and that women and girls have the 

19 opportunity to succeed, it is important that girls be 

20 counted and have access to birth certificates and other 

21 official documentation. 

22 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

23 It is the policy of the United States to— 

24 (1) encourage countries to support the rule of 

25 law and ensure girls and boys of all ages are able to 


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•S 802 RS

1 fully participate in society, including by providing 

2 birth certifications and other official documentation; 

3 (2) enhance training and capacity-building in 

4 key developing countries, local nongovernmental orga5 nizations, and other civil society organizations, in6 cluding faith-based organizations and organizations 

7 representing children and families in the design, im8 plementation, and monitoring of programs under this 

9 Act, to effectively address the needs of birth registries 

10 in countries where girls are systematically under11 counted; and 

12 (3) incorporate into the design, implementation, 

13 and evaluation of policies and programs measures to 

14 evaluate the impact that such policies and programs 

15 have on girls. 

16 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNT17 ING OF GIRLS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary and the Admin19 istrator are authorized to prioritize and advance ongoing 

20 efforts to— 

21 (1) support programs that will contribute to im22 proved and sustainable Civil Registration and Vital 

23 Statistics Systems (CRVS) with a focus on birth reg24 istration; 


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1 (2) support programs that build the capacity of 

2 developing countries’ national and local legal and 

3 policy frameworks to prevent discrimination against 

4 girls in gaining access to birth certificates, particu5 larly where this may help prevent exploitation, vio6 lence, and other abuse; and 

7 (3) support programs and key ministries, in8 cluding, interior, youth, and education ministries, to 

9 help increase property rights, social security, home 

10 ownership, land tenure security, inheritance rights, 

11 access to education, and economic and entrepre12 neurial opportunities, particularly for women and 

13 girls. 

14 (b) COORDINATION WITH MULTILATERAL ORGANIZA15 TIONS.—The Secretary and the Administrator are author16 ized to coordinate with the World Bank, relevant United 

17 Nations agencies and programs, and other relevant organi18 zations to encourage and work with countries to enact, im19 plement, and enforce laws that specifically collect data on 

20 girls and establish registration programs to ensure girls are 

21 appropriately counted and have the opportunity to be active 

22 participants in the social, legal, and political sectors of soci23 ety in their countries. 

24 (c) COORDINATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR AND CIVIL

25 SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary and the AdminVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 May 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S802.RS S802

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1 istrator are authorized to work with the United States, 

2 international, and local private sector and civil society or3 ganizations to advocate for the registration and documenta4 tion of all girls and boys in developing countries, in order 

5 to help prevent exploitation, violence, and other abuses and 

6 to help provide economic and social opportunities. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

8 The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in 

9 relevant evaluations and reports to Congress the following 

10 information: 

11 (1) To the extent practicable, a breakdown of 

12 United States foreign assistance beneficiaries by age, 

13 gender, marital status, location, and school enroll14 ment status. 

15 (2) A description, as appropriate, of how United 

16 States foreign assistance benefits girls. 

17 (3) Specific information, as appropriate, on pro18 grams that address the particular needs of girls. 

19 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis22 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United States 

23 Agency for International Development. 

24 (2) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘foreign 

25 assistance’’ has the meaning given the term in section 


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1 634(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

2 U.S.C. 2394(b)). 

3 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of State. 

5 SEC. 7. SUNSET. 

6 This Act shall expire on the date that is five years after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 91 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 802 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of State and the Adminoping countries, and for other purposes. support the rights of women and girls in devel- national Development to provide assistance to istrator of the United States Agency for InterMAY 21, 2015 

Reported with an amendment 


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