114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 802 

AN ACT 

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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†S 802 ES

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 benefit-
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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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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 faith-based organizations and organizations 

16 representing children and families in the design, im17 plementation, and monitoring of programs under 

18 this Act, to effectively address the needs of birth 

19 registries in countries where girls are systematically 

20 undercounted; and 

21 (3) incorporate into the design, implementation, 

22 and evaluation of policies and programs measures to 

23 evaluate the impact that such policies and programs 

24 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 in gaining access to birth certificates, particu14 larly where this may help prevent exploitation, vio15 lence, and other abuse; and 

16 (3) support programs and key ministries, in17 cluding, interior, youth, and education ministries, to 

18 help increase property rights, social security, home 

19 ownership, land tenure security, inheritance rights, 

20 access to education, and economic and entrepre21 neurial opportunities, particularly for women and 

22 girls. 

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. 

Passed the Senate May 23 (legislative day, May 22), 

2015. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 802 

AN ACT 

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 Inter-