192 
(8) evaluate the impact of urbanization and 
general migration trends on water, sanitation, and 
housing; 
(9) utilize expertise within the United States 
Government by improving policy and program co-
ordination among relevant Federal agencies, includ-
ing the Department of State, the United States 
Agency for International Development, the Millen-
nium Challenge Corporation, the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, the United States Geo-
logical Survey, and the Environmental Protection 
Agency; and 
(10) strengthen strategic coordination with, 
build on the expertise of, and encourage contribu-
tions from, a wide variety of stakeholders, including 
partner governments, the private sector and non-
governmental organizations. 
SEC. 1604. ASSISTANCE FOR WATER, SANITATION AND 
HOUSING. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Administrator is author-
ized to use funds made available under section 1015 to 
further the goal and objectives of this chapter in partner 
countries. 
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(b) ACTIVITIES.—Assistance authorized under sub-
section (a) shall include the following: 
(1) EXPANDING ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER AND 
SANITATION.— 
(A) Assessing water, sanitation, and hy-
giene needs. 
(B) Developing additional, affordable, ac-
cessible, and reliable water supplies. 
(C) Expanding the coverage of existing 
water and sanitation systems to reach pre-
viously underserved populations. 
(D) Improving water and sanitation infra-
structure. 
(E) Increasing the safety, reliability, and 
sustainability of, and equity in access to, water 
supplies, sanitation infrastructure, and hygiene 
services. 
(F) Promoting more efficient and sustain-
able use of water supplies. 
(G) Fostering integrated river basin and 
watershed management. 
(H) Increasing awareness and use of 
healthy hygiene practices. 
(I) Building the capacity of partner coun-
tries to plan and manage water resources in an 
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efficient, transparent, inclusive and environ-
mentally sustainable manner. 
(J) Promoting international and regional 
cooperation to share technologies and best prac-
tices. 
(K) Mitigating conflict over water re-
sources. 
(L) Conducting research and developing 
technology to further the goal and objectives of 
this chapter. 
(2) EXPANDING ACCESS TO ADEQUATE HOUS-
ING.— 
(A) Assessing housing and infrastructure 
needs. 
(B) Upgrading existing housing to meet 
international humanitarian standards. 
(C) Incentivizing the construction of af-
fordable housing units. 
(D) Improving community infrastructure, 
such as sidewalks, drainage ditches, and public 
lighting. 
(E) Enhancing recognition and protection 
of legal rights to the ownership, lease and use 
of real property. 
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(F) Reducing gender and other discrimina-
tion in housing, property ownership, and munic-
ipal services. 
(G) Developing and enforcing reasonable 
housing and construction codes to protect low- 
income residents and buyers. 
(H) Encouraging the development and ex-
pansion of commercially oriented housing mar-
kets in partner countries, including home mort-
gage and insurance markets and financing for 
municipal infrastructure. 
(I) Building the capacity of partner coun-
tries for improved urban planning and manage-
ment. 
SEC. 1605. DEFINITIONS. 
In this chapter— 
(1) the term ‘‘adequate housing’’ means hous-
ing that meets international humanitarian standards 
and includes— 
(A) legal security of tenure; 
(B) availability of services, materials, fa-
cilities, and infrastructure; 
(C) affordability; 
(D) habitability; 
(E) accessibility; 
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(F) location; and 
(G) cultural adequacy; and 
(2) the term ‘‘living conditions’’ means the ade-
quacy of water, sanitation, and housing for human 
habitation. 
CHAPTER 7—FOSTERING GENDER 
EQUALITY 
SEC. 1701. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Women and girls are the majority of the 
world’s poor, unschooled, unhealthy, and underfed. 
(2) Women around the world often work under 
substandard conditions, for longer hours, and with 
lower compensation, less income stability and fewer 
economic opportunities than men. 
(3) Women are often excluded by law or prac-
tice from participating fully and equally in the polit-
ical, economic, and social life of their country. 
(4) Women own significantly less land than 
men and experience numerous barriers to ownership. 
Access to land and property rights offers women 
greater economic opportunity and security, greater 
protection from physical harm, better access to 
health, education, and financial services, and im-
proved social status. 
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(5) Displaced, refugee, and stateless women and 
girls in humanitarian emergencies, conflict settings, 
and natural disasters are at extreme risk of violence, 
exploitation and intimidation. 
(6) Violence against women dramatically im-
pedes progress in meeting global health goals, in-
cluding efforts to reduce maternal mortality and re-
verse the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
(7) Ensuring that women have the ability to ef-
fectively plan families is one of the keys to expand-
ing their economic opportunities. Yet hundreds of 
millions of women lack access to affordable, effec-
tive, and appropriate contraceptive methods and re-
productive health care, putting them at greater risk 
of unintended pregnancies and serious health com-
plications. 
(8) Studies have shown that investments in 
women and girls have broad multiplier effects, par-
ticularly in the areas of health and education, which 
over the long run can significantly improve the fu-
ture of communities and countries. 
(9) Investments in women and girls can play a 
key role in reducing poverty, countering violent ex-
tremism, promoting stability, fostering tolerance and 
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reconciliation, and building strong and vibrant civil 
societies. 
(10) Increasing women’s access to economic op-
portunities is crucial to preventing and responding 
to domestic and sexual violence. 
(11) 
Fostering 
gender 
equality 
requires 
strengthening rules, practices, and institutions that 
protect the rights of women and men, girls and boys, 
as well as including them in the design, implementa-
tion, and monitoring of programs to reduce poverty 
and alleviate human suffering. 
(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States to— 
(1) invest in women and girls in partner coun-
tries as a matter of justice and human rights as well 
as to promote sustainable development and achieve 
internationally agreed development goals; 
(2) include women and the organizations that 
represent them in the design, implementation, and 
monitoring of programs under this title; 
(3) mainstream into the design, implementa-
tion, and evaluation of policies and programs at all 
levels an understanding of the distinctive impact 
that such policies and programs may have on women 
and girls, men and boys; and 
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(4) promote equal opportunities for all people, 
regardless of sex, to achieve their personal potential 
and maximize their contributions to the development 
of their families, communities, and countries. 
SEC. 1702. GOAL AND OBJECTIVES. 
(a) GOAL.—The goal of assistance under this chapter 
is to promote women’s empowerment, gender equality, and 
gender integration. 
(b) OBJECTIVES.—In furtherance of the goal of sub-
section (a), assistance under this chapter shall be designed 
to help partner countries achieve the following objectives: 
(1) Increasing educational, economic, and polit-
ical opportunities for women and girls. 
(2) Building the capacity of women and girls to 
participate fully in decisions that affect their lives. 
(3) Reducing legal and social barriers to wom-
en’s participation in economic activity and political 
processes. 
(4) 
Expanding 
the 
collection 
of 
sex- 
disaggregated data and the use of gender analysis. 
(5) Integrating gender considerations into all 
international development policies and programs, in-
cluding those carried out by all USAID bureaus, of-
fices, and missions. 
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SEC. 1703. GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR GENDER EQUALITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The strategy required under sec-
tion 1019 with respect to fostering gender equality shall 
be known as the ‘‘Global Strategy for Gender Equality’’. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The Global Strategy for Gender 
Equality shall include, in addition to the elements required 
under section 1019(b), plans for achieving the goal and 
objectives in section 1702. 
(c) GUIDELINES.—The Global Strategy for Gender 
Equality should— 
(1) be coordinated and integrated with the com-
prehensive international strategy to prevent and re-
spond to violence against women and girls, as re-
quired under section 3203, and with each sector 
strategy of development, as described in section 
1019; 
(2) include plans for preventing child marriage; 
(3) address the ways in which the exclusion of, 
and discrimination against, women hinders economic 
growth and heightens the risks of conflict and insta-
bility; 
(4) discuss exclusionary and discriminatory 
practices that are particularly harmful for the 
achievement of United States development goals and 
identify the countries in which such practices occur; 
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(5) include plans for hiring, training, deploying 
and retaining a diverse USAID workforce with ap-
propriate expertise and responsibility for promoting 
women’s empowerment, gender equality and gender 
integration around the world; 
(6) establish policy and guidance for integrating 
gender considerations into all other international de-
velopment strategies and programs; 
(7) ensure that the goal and objectives of this 
chapter are reflected in the USAID’s procurement 
regulations and procedures; and 
(8) build accountability for gender integration 
into monitoring and evaluation systems. 
(d) PREPARATION.—The Global Strategy for Equal-
ity shall be prepared by the Director of the Office of Gen-
der Equality and Women’s Empowerment, in coordination 
with the Policy, Planning and Learning Bureau and the 
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. 
SEC. 1704. ASSISTANCE FOR GENDER EQUALITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is authorized 
to use funds made available under section 1015 to further 
the goal and objectives of this chapter in partner coun-
tries. 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—Assistance authorized under sub-
section (a) shall include— 
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(1) integrating women into the political, social, 
and economic systems of partner countries; 
(2) developing laws, regulations, and policies 
that promote equal rights and prohibit discrimina-
tion in partner countries; 
(3) providing leadership and technical training 
that improves the capacity of women and girls in 
partner countries to participate fully in decisions 
that affect their lives; 
(4) enhancing the capacity of partner countries 
to undertake analysis of the specialized needs of 
women and girls in health, water, sanitation, hous-
ing, education, food, legal and financial services, and 
other sectors, and to develop policies and programs 
to meet those needs; 
(5) enhancing the capacity of partner countries 
to prevent and respond to violence against women 
and girls; and 
(6) research and innovation to improve the de-
sign, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation 
of United States foreign assistance for greater effec-
tiveness in promoting gender equality and reducing 
sexual and gender-based violence. 
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