I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 912 
To ensure the protection of beneficiaries of United States humanitarian 
assistance. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 17, 2005 
Mr. DELAHUNT (for himself, Mr. DELAY, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, 
Mr. BLUNT, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. SMITH of New 
Jersey, Mr. PORTER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. CARDOZA, and 
Mr. POMEROY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on International Relations 
A BILL 
To ensure the protection of beneficiaries of United States 
humanitarian assistance. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Humanitarian Assist-
ance Code of Conduct Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE PROTECTION OF 
BENEFICIARIES OF HUMANITARIAN ASSIST-
ANCE. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—None of the funds made available 
for foreign operations, export financing, and related pro-
grams under the headings ‘‘Migration and Refugee Assist-
ance’’, ‘‘United States Emergency Refugee and Migration 
Assistance Fund’’, ‘‘International Disaster and Famine 
Assistance’’, or ‘‘Transition Initiatives’’ may be obligated 
to an organization that fails to adopt a code of conduct 
that provides for the protection of beneficiaries of assist-
ance under any such heading from sexual exploitation and 
abuse in humanitarian relief operations. 
(b) SIX CORE PRINCIPLES.—The code of conduct re-
ferred to in subsection (a) shall, to the maximum extent 
practicable, be consistent with the following six core prin-
ciples of the United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Com-
mittee Task Force on Protection From Sexual Exploi-
tation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises: 
(1) ‘‘Sexual exploitation and abuse by humani-
tarian workers constitute acts of gross misconduct 
and are therefore grounds for termination of employ-
ment.’’. 
(2) ‘‘Sexual activity with children (persons 
under the age of 18) is prohibited regardless of the
age of majority or age of consent locally. Mistaken 
belief regarding the age of a child is not a defense.’’. 
(3) ‘‘Exchange of money, employment, goods, or 
services for sex, including sexual favors or other 
forms of humiliating, degrading or exploitative be-
havior, is prohibited. This includes exchange of as-
sistance that is due to beneficiaries.’’. 
(4) ‘‘Sexual relationships between humanitarian 
workers and beneficiaries are strongly discouraged 
since they are based on inherently unequal power dy-
namics. Such relationships undermine the credibility 
and integrity of humanitarian aid work.’’. 
(5) ‘‘Where a humanitarian worker develops 
concerns or suspicions regarding sexual abuse or ex-
ploitation by a fellow worker, whether in the same 
agency or not, he or she must report such concerns 
via established agency reporting mechanisms.’’. 
(6) ‘‘Humanitarian agencies are obliged to cre-
ate and maintain an environment which prevents 
sexual exploitation and abuse and promotes the im-
plementation of their code of conduct. Managers at 
all levels have particular responsibilities to support 
and develop systems which maintain this environ-
ment.’’.
SEC. 3. REPORT. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
transmit to the Committee on Appropriations and the 
Committee on International Relations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations and 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a de-
tailed report on the implementation of this Act. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 
This Act— 
(1) takes effect 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act; and 
(2) applies to funds obligated after the effective 
date referred to in paragraph (1)— 
(A) for fiscal year 2005; and 
(B) any subsequent fiscal year. 
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