II 

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 and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) According to the United States Census Bu2 reau’s 2013 international figures, 1 person in 12, or 

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

4 woman age 10 through 24. 

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

6 that young people are the fastest growing segment 

7 of the population in developing countries. 

8 (3) Even though most countries do have birth 

9 registration laws, four out of ten babies born in 

10 2012 were not registered worldwide. Moreover, an 

11 estimated 36 percent of children under the age of 

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

13 possess a birth certificate. 

14 (4) A nationally recognized proof of birth sys15 tem is important to determining a child’s citizenship, 

16 nationality, place of birth, parentage, and age. With17 out such a system, a passport, driver’s license, or 

18 other identification card is difficult to obtain. The 

19 lack of such documentation can prevent girls and 

20 women from officially participating in and benefit21 ting from the formal economic, legal, and political 

22 sectors in their countries. 

23 (5) The lack of birth registration among girls 

24 worldwide is particularly concerning as it can exacer25 bate the disproportionate vulnerability of women to 


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1 trafficking, child marriage, and lack of access to 

2 health and education services. 

3 (6) A lack of birth registration among women 

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

5 amounts to an already reduced ability to seek em6 ployment, participate in civil society, or purchase or 

7 inherit land and other assets. 

8 (7) Girls undertake much of the domestic labor 

9 needed for poor families to survive: carrying water, 

10 harvesting crops, tending livestock, caring for young11 er children, and doing chores. 

12 (8) Accurate assessments of access to edu13 cation, poverty levels, and overall census activities 

14 are hampered by the lack of official information on 

15 women and girls. Without this rudimentary informa16 tion, assessments of foreign assistance and domestic 

17 social welfare programs are difficult to gauge. 

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

19 considered in United States foreign assistance poli20 cies and programs, that their needs are addressed in 

21 the design, implementation, and evaluation of for22 eign assistance programs, and that women and girls 

23 have the opportunity to succeed, it is important that 

24 girls be counted and have access to birth certificates 

25 and other official documentation. 


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1 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 It is the policy of the United States to— 

3 (1) encourage countries to support the rule of 

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

5 to fully participate in society, including by providing 

6 birth certifications and other official documentation; 

7 (2) enhance training and capacity-building in 

8 key developing countries, local nongovernmental or9 ganizations, and other civil society organizations, in10 cluding organizations representing children and fam11 ilies in the design, implementation, and monitoring 

12 of programs under this Act, to effectively address 

13 the needs of birth registries in countries where girls 

14 are systematically undercounted; and 

15 (3) incorporate into the design, implementation, 

16 and evaluation of policies and programs measures to 

17 evaluate the impact that such policies and programs 

18 have on girls. 

19 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNT20 ING OF GIRLS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD. 

21 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary and the Admin22 istrator are authorized to prioritize and advance ongoing 

23 efforts to— 

24 (1) support programs that will contribute to im25 proved and sustainable Civil Registration and Vital 


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1 Statistics Systems (CRVS) with a focus on birth 

2 registration; 

3 (2) support programs that build the capacity of 

4 developing countries’ national and local legal and 

5 policy frameworks to prevent discrimination against 

6 girls; 

7 (3) support programs to help increase property 

8 rights, social security, home ownership, land tenure 

9 security, and inheritance rights, particularly for 

10 women; and 

11 (4) assist key ministries in the governments of 

12 key developing countries, including health, interior, 

13 youth, and education ministries, to ensure that girls 

14 and boys from poor households have equitable access 

15 to social programs. 

16 (b) COORDINATION WITH MULTILATERAL ORGANI17 ZATIONS.—The Secretary and the Administrator are au18 thorized to coordinate with the World Bank, relevant 

19 United Nations agencies and programs, and other relevant 

20 organizations to encourage and work with countries to 

21 enact, implement, and enforce laws that specifically collect 

22 data on girls and establish registration programs to ensure 

23 girls are appropriately counted and have the opportunity 

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

25 sectors of society in their countries. 


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1 (c) COORDINATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR AND

2 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary and the 

3 Administrator are authorized to work with the United 

4 States, international, and local private sector and civil so5 ciety organizations to advocate for the registration and 

6 documentation of all girls and boys in developing coun7 tries, in order to help prevent exploitation, violence, and 

8 other abuses and to help provide economic and social op9 portunities. 

10 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

11 The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in 

12 relevant evaluations and reports to Congress the following 

13 information: 

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

15 United States foreign assistance beneficiaries by age, 

16 gender, marital status, location, and school enroll17 ment status. 

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

19 United States foreign assistance benefits girls. 

20 (3) Specific information, as appropriate, on pro21 grams that address the particular needs of girls. 

22 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

3 States Agency for International Development. 

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

5 assistance’’ has the meaning given the term in sec6 tion 634(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

7 (22 U.S.C. 2394(b)). 

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

9 the Secretary of State. 

10 SEC. 7. SUNSET. 

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

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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