operatives, market research, and market develop-
ment. 
(3) Provide capacity building to women, includ-
ing poor women, to promote diversification of prod-
ucts and value-added processing. 
(4) Provide training to official government ne-
gotiators representing developing countries in order 
to enhance the ability of such negotiators to formu-
late trade policy and negotiate agreements that take 
into account the respective needs and priorities of a 
country’s poor women and men. 
(5) Provide training to local, indigenous wom-
en’s groups in developing countries in order to en-
hance their ability to collect information and data, 
formulate proposals, and inform and impact official 
government negotiators representing their country in 
international trade negotiations of the respective 
needs and priorities of a country’s poor women and 
men. 
SEC. 8. EXCHANGES BETWEEN UNITED STATES ENTRE-
PRENEURS AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN 
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 
(a) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.—The Secretary of 
Commerce shall, where appropriate, encourage United 
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States business participants on trade missions to devel-
oping countries to— 
(1) meet with representatives of women-owned 
small- and medium-sized enterprises in such coun-
tries; and 
(2) promote internship opportunities for women 
owners of small- and medium-sized businesses in 
such countries with United States businesses. 
(b) DEPARTMENT
OF STATE.—The Secretary of 
State shall promote exchange programs that offer rep-
resentatives of women-owned small- and medium-sized en-
terprises in developing countries an opportunity to learn 
skills appropriate to promoting entrepreneurship by work-
ing with business counterparts in the United States. 
SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE UNDER THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE 
ACCOUNT. 
The Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Chal-
lenge Corporation (MCC) shall seek to ensure that con-
tracts and employment opportunities resulting from assist-
ance provided by the MCC to the governments of devel-
oping countries be fairly and equitably distributed to 
qualified women-owned small and medium-sized enter-
prises and other civil society organizations led by women, 
including nongovernmental and community-based organi-
zations, including for infrastructure projects, and that 
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such projects facilitate employment of women in jobs not 
traditionally undertaken by women. 
SEC. 10. GROWTH FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, act-
ing through the Director of United States Foreign 
Assistance, shall establish the Global Resources and 
Opportunities for Women to Thrive (GROWTH) 
Fund (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Fund’’) for the purpose of enhancing economic op-
portunities for very poor, poor, and low-income 
women in developing countries with a focus on— 
(A) increasing women-owned enterprise de-
velopment; 
(B) increasing property rights for women; 
(C) increasing women’s access to financial 
services; 
(D) increasing women in leadership in im-
plementing organizations, such as indigenous 
nongovernmental 
organizations, 
community- 
based organizations, and regulated financial 
intermediaries; 
(E) improving women’s employment bene-
fits and conditions; and 
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(F) increasing women’s ability to benefit 
from global trade. 
(2) ROLE OF USAID MISSIONS.—The Fund shall 
be available to USAID missions to apply for addi-
tional funding to support specific additional activi-
ties that enhance women’s economic opportunities or 
to integrate gender into existing economic oppor-
tunity programs. 
(b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—The Fund shall be 
available to USAID missions to support— 
(1) activities described in title VI of part I of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211 
et seq.), as amended by section 3 of this Act; 
(2) activities described in sections 4 through 7 
of this Act; and 
(3) technical assistance and capacity-building to 
local, indigenous civil society, particularly to carry 
out activities that are covered under paragraphs (1) 
and (2), for— 
(A) local indigenous women’s organizations 
to the maximum extent practicable; and 
(B) nongovernmental organizations and 
regulated financial intermediaries that dem-
onstrate a commitment to gender equity in their 
leadership either through current practice or 
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through specific programs to increase the rep-
resentation of women in their governance and 
management. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000 
for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be nec-
essary for each of the fiscal years 2009 and 2010. 
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur-
suant to the authorization of appropriations under 
paragraph (1)— 
(A) are authorized to remain available 
until expended; and 
(B) are in addition to amounts otherwise 
available for such purposes. 
SEC. 11. DATA COLLECTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 
through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, 
shall— 
(1) provide support for tracking indicators on 
women’s employment, property rights for women, 
women’s access to financial services, and women’s 
enterprise development, including microenterprises, 
in developing countries; and 
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(2) where practicable track all United States 
foreign assistance funds to local indigenous non-
governmental, community-based organizations, and 
regulated financial intermediaries in developing 
countries, including through subcontractors and 
grantees, disaggregated by the sex of the head of the 
organization, senior management, and composition 
of the boards of directors; 
(3) encourage United States statistical agencies 
in their work with statistical agencies in other coun-
tries to provide support to collect data on the share 
of women in wage and self-employment by type of 
employment; and 
(4) provide funding to the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) for technical assistance activities 
to developing countries and for the ILO to consoli-
date indicators into cross-country data sets. 
(b) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
Amounts made available to carry out section 10 of this 
Act are authorized to be made available to carry out this 
section. 
SEC. 12. SUPPORT FOR LOCAL, INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S OR-
GANIZATIONS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 102 of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151–1) is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a) by inserting after the 
ninth sentence the following new sentences: ‘‘Be-
cause men and women generally occupy different 
economic niches in poor countries, activities must 
address those differences in ways that enable both 
women and men to contribute to and benefit from 
development. Throughout the world, indigenous, 
local, nongovernmental and community-based organi-
zations and regulated financial intermediaries are es-
sential to addressing many of the development chal-
lenges facing countries and to creating stable, func-
tioning democracies. Investing in the capacity of 
such organizations and in their role in the develop-
ment process, including that of women’s organiza-
tions, shall be an important, cross-cutting objective 
of United States bilateral development assistance.’’; 
and 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 
the following new sentence: ‘‘The principles de-
scribed in this paragraph shall, among other 
strategies, be accomplished through partner-
ships with local, indigenous nongovernmental 
and community-based organizations and regu-
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lated financial intermediaries that represent the 
interests of poor women and poor men.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end 
the following new sentence: ‘‘Investing in the 
capacity and participation of local, indigenous 
nongovernmental and community-based organi-
zations dedicated to addressing the needs of 
women, especially women’s organizations, shall 
be an important strategy for achieving the prin-
ciple described in this paragraph’’. 
(b) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of State, acting 
through the Director of United States Foreign Assistance, 
shall, where appropriate— 
(1) improve the integration of capacity building 
and technical assistance activities for local, indige-
nous nongovernmental organizations and commu-
nity-based organizations in developing countries 
within project proposals that will include the partici-
pation of locally based partners, especially women’s 
organizations and other organizations leading wom-
en’s empowerment initiatives, to promote the long- 
term sustainability of projects; 
(2) provide information and training to local in-
digenous organizations focused on women’s em-
powerment, especially women’s organizations, in 
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countries in which USAID missions are located in 
order to— 
(A) provide technical assistance regarding 
availability of United States international as-
sistance procurement procedures; and 
(B) undertake culturally-appropriate out-
reach measures to contact such organizations; 
(3) encourage cooperating agencies, imple-
menting partners, and subcontractors, to the max-
imum extent practicable, to provide sub-grants to 
local indigenous organizations that focus on women’s 
empowerment, including women’s organizations and 
other organizations that may not have previously 
worked with the Government of the United States or 
one of its partners, in fulfilling project objectives; 
(4) work with local governments where appro-
priate to conduct outreach campaigns to formally 
register unofficial local nongovernmental and com-
munity-based organizations, especially women’s or-
ganizations; and 
(5) support efforts of indigenous organizations 
focused on women’s empowerment, especially wom-
en’s organizations, to network with other indigenous 
women’s groups to collectively access funding oppor-
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tunities to implement United States international as-
sistance programs. 
SEC. 13. REPORT. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than June 30, 
2009, the Secretary of State, acting through the Director 
of United States Foreign Assistance, shall submit to Con-
gress a report on the implementation of this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act. 
(b) UPDATE.—Not later than June 30, 2011, the 
Secretary of State, acting through the Director of United 
States Foreign Assistance, shall submit to Congress an 
update of the report required by subsection (a). 
(c) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC.—The report required 
by subsection (a) and the update required by subsection 
(b) shall be made available to the public on the Internet 
websites of the Department of State and the United States 
Agency for International Development. 
Æ 
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