S. 802 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the sixth day of January, two thousand and fifteen 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Girls Count Act of 2015’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress makes the following findings: 

(1) According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2013 

international figures, 1 person in 12, or close to 900,000,000 

people, is a girl or young woman age 10 through 24. 

(2) The Census Bureau’s data also illustrates that young 

people are the fastest growing segment of the population in 

developing countries. 

(3) Even though most countries do have birth registration 

laws, four out of ten babies born in 2012 were not registered 

worldwide. Moreover, an estimated 36 percent of children under 

the age of five worldwide (about 230,000,000 children) do not 

possess a birth certificate. 

(4) A nationally recognized proof of birth system is important to determining a child’s citizenship, nationality, place of 

birth, parentage, and age. Without such a system, a passport, 

driver’s license, or other identification card is difficult to obtain. 

The lack of such documentation can prevent girls and women 

from officially participating in and benefitting from the formal 

economic, legal, and political sectors in their countries. 

(5) The lack of birth registration among girls worldwide 

is particularly concerning as it can exacerbate the disproportionate vulnerability of women to trafficking, child marriage, 

and lack of access to health and education services. 

(6) A lack of birth registration among women and girls 

can also aggravate what, in many places, amounts to an already 

reduced ability to seek employment, participate in civil society, 

or purchase or inherit land and other assets. 

(7) Girls undertake much of the domestic labor needed 

for poor families to survive: carrying water, harvesting crops, 

tending livestock, caring for younger children, and doing chores. 

(8) Accurate assessments of access to education, poverty 

levels, and overall census activities are hampered by the lack 
S. 802—2 

of official information on women and girls. Without this rudimentary information, assessments of foreign assistance and 

domestic social welfare programs are difficult to gauge. 

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

in United States foreign assistance policies and programs, that 

their needs are addressed in the design, implementation, and 

evaluation of foreign assistance programs, and that women 

and girls have the opportunity to succeed, it is important that 

girls be counted and have access to birth certificates and other 

official documentation. 

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

It is the policy of the United States to— 

(1) encourage countries to support the rule of law and 

ensure girls and boys of all ages are able to fully participate 

in society, including by providing birth certifications and other 

official documentation; 

(2) enhance training and capacity-building in key developing countries, local nongovernmental organizations, and other 

civil society organizations, including faith-based organizations 

and organizations representing children and families in the 

design, implementation, and monitoring of programs under this 

Act, to effectively address the needs of birth registries in countries where girls are systematically undercounted; and 

(3) incorporate into the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programs measures to evaluate the impact 

that such policies and programs have on girls. 

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNTING OF GIRLS 

IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary and the Administrator are 

authorized to prioritize and advance ongoing efforts to— 

(1) support programs that will contribute to improved and 

sustainable Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems 

(CRVS) with a focus on birth registration; 

(2) support programs that build the capacity of developing 

countries’ national and local legal and policy frameworks to 

prevent discrimination against girls in gaining access to birth 

certificates, particularly where this may help prevent exploitation, violence, and other abuse; and 

(3) support programs and key ministries, including, 

interior, youth, and education ministries, to help increase property rights, social security, home ownership, land tenure security, inheritance rights, access to education, and economic and 

entrepreneurial opportunities, particularly for women and girls. 

(b) COORDINATION WITH MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The 

Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to coordinate with 

the World Bank, relevant United Nations agencies and programs, 

and other relevant organizations to encourage and work with countries to enact, implement, and enforce laws that specifically collect 

data on girls and establish registration programs to ensure girls 

are appropriately counted and have the opportunity to be active 

participants in the social, legal, and political sectors of society 

in their countries. 

(c) COORDINATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR AND CIVIL SOCIETY

ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to work with the United States, international, and local private 

sector and civil society organizations to advocate for the registration 
S. 802—3 

and documentation of all girls and boys in developing countries, 

in order to help prevent exploitation, violence, and other abuses 

and to help provide economic and social opportunities. 

SEC. 5. REPORT. 

The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in relevant 

evaluations and reports to Congress the following information: 

(1) To the extent practicable, a breakdown of United States 

foreign assistance beneficiaries by age, gender, marital status, 

location, and school enrollment status. 

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

foreign assistance benefits girls. 

(3) Specific information, as appropriate, on programs that 

address the particular needs of girls. 

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 

Administrator of the United States Agency for International 

Development. 

(2) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘foreign assistance’’ 

has the meaning given the term in section 634(b) of the Foreign 

Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2394(b)). 

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

of State. 

SEC. 7. SUNSET. 

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

date of the enactment of this Act. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.