H. Con. Res. 102
Agreed to March 8, 2002
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
Concurrent Resolution
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring),
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Hunger to
Harvest: Decade of Support for Sub-Saharan Africa Resolution’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Despite some progress in recent years, sub-Saharan
Africa enters the new millennium with many of the world’s
poorest countries and is the one region of the world where
hunger is both pervasive and increasing.
(2) Thirty-three of the world’s 41 poorest debtor countries
are in sub-Saharan Africa and an estimated 291,000,000 people,
nearly one-half of sub-Saharan Africa’s total population, cur-
rently live in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day.
(3) One in three people in sub-Saharan Africa is chronically
undernourished, double the number of three decades ago. One
child out of seven dies before the age of five, and one-half
of these deaths are due to malnutrition.
(4) Sub-Saharan Africa is the region in the world most
affected by infectious disease, accounting for one-half of the
deaths worldwide from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria,
cholera, and several other diseases.
(5) Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70 percent of adults,
and 80 percent of children, living with the HIV virus, and
75 percent of the people worldwide who have died of AIDS
lived in Africa.
(6) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has erased many of the
development gains of the past generation in sub-Saharan Africa
and now threatens to undermine economic and social progress
for the next generation, with life expectancy in parts of sub-
Saharan Africa having already decreased by 10–20 years as
a result of AIDS.
(7) Despite these immense challenges, the number of sub-
Saharan African countries that are moving toward open econo-
mies and more accountable governments has increased, and
these countries are beginning to achieve local solutions to their
common problems.
(8) To make lasting improvements in the lives of their
people, sub-Saharan Africa governments need support as they
act to solve conflicts, make critical investments in human
capacity and infrastructure, combat corruption, reform their
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economies, stimulate trade and equitable economic growth, and
build democracy.
(9) Despite sub-Saharan Africa’s enormous development
challenges, United States companies hold approximately
$12,800,000,000 in investments in sub-Saharan Africa, greater
than United States investments in either the Middle East or
Eastern Europe, and total United States trade with sub-Saha-
ran Africa currently exceeds that with all of the independent
states of the former Soviet Union, including the Russian Fed-
eration. This economic relationship could be put at risk unless
additional public and private resources are provided to combat
poverty and promote equitable economic growth in sub-Saharan
Africa.
(10) Bread for the World Institute calculates that the goal
of reducing world hunger by one-half by 2015 is achievable
through an increase of $4,000,000,000 in annual funding from
all donors for poverty-focused development. If the United States
were to shoulder one-fourth of this aid burden—approximately
$1,000,000,000 a year—the cost to each United States citizen
would be one penny per day.
(11) Failure to effectively address sub-Saharan Africa’s
development needs could result in greater conflict and increased
poverty, heightening the prospect of humanitarian intervention
and potentially threatening a wide range of United States
interests in sub-Saharan Africa.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the United States should declare ‘‘A Decade of Support
for Sub-Saharan Africa’’;
(2) not later than 90 days after the date of adoption of
this concurrent resolution, the President should submit a report
to Congress setting forth a five-year strategy, and a ten-year
strategy, to achieve a reversal of current levels of hunger and
poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, including a commitment to con-
tribute an appropriate United States share of increased
bilateral and multilateral poverty-focused resources for sub-
Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on—
(A) health, including efforts to prevent, treat, and con-
trol HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases
that contribute to malnutrition and hunger, and to promote
maternal health and child survival;
(B) education, with an emphasis on equal access to
learning for girls and women;
(C) agriculture, including strengthening subsistence
agriculture as well as the ability to compete in global
agricultural markets, and investment in infrastructure and
rural development;
(D) private sector and free market development, to
bring sub-Saharan Africa into the global economy, enable
people to purchase food, and make health and education
investments sustainable;
(E) democratic institutions and the rule of law,
including strengthening civil society and independent
judiciaries;
(F) micro-finance development; and
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(G) debt relief that provides incentives for sub-Saharan
African countries to invest in poverty-focused development,
and to expand democratic participation, free markets,
trade, and investment;
(3) the President should work with the heads of other
donor countries and sub-Saharan African countries, and with
United States and sub-Saharan African private and voluntary
organizations and other civic organizations, including faith-
based organizations, to implement the strategies described in
paragraph (2);
(4) Congress should undertake a multi-year commitment
to provide the resources to implement those strategies; and
(5) 120 days after the date of adoption of this concurrent
resolution, and every year thereafter, the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development, in con-
sultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal depart-
ments and agencies, should submit to Congress a report on
the implementation of those strategies, including the action
taken under paragraph (3), describing—
(A) the results of the implementation of those strategies
as of the date of the report, including the progress made
and any setbacks suffered;
(B) impediments to, and opportunities for, future
progress;
(C) proposed changes to those strategies, if any; and
(D) the role and extent of cooperation of the govern-
ments of sub-Saharan countries and other donors, both
public and private, in combating poverty and promoting
equitable economic development.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.