I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5480 
To improve programs and activities relating to women’s entrepreneurship 
and economic empowerment that are carried out by the United States 
Agency for International Development, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 12, 2018 
Mr. ROYCE of California (for himself, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. 
FITZPATRICK, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. WAGNER, and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on For-
eign Affairs 
A BILL 
To improve programs and activities relating to women’s en-
trepreneurship and economic empowerment that are car-
ried out by the United States Agency for International 
Development, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Women’s Entrepre-
neurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Because women make up the majority of 
the world’s poor and gender inequalities prevail in 
incomes, wages, access to finance, ownership of as-
sets, and control over the allocation of resources, 
women’s entrepreneurship and economic empower-
ment is important to achieve inclusive economic 
growth at all levels of society. Research shows that 
when women exert greater influence over household 
finances, economic outcomes for families improve, 
and childhood survival rates, food security, and edu-
cational attainment increase. Women also tend to 
place a greater emphasis on household savings which 
improves families’ financial resiliency. 
(2) A 2016 report by the McKinsey Global In-
stitute estimated that achieving global gender parity 
in economic activity could add as much as $28 tril-
lion to annual global gross domestic product (GDP) 
by 2025. 
(3) Lack of access to financial services that ad-
dress gender-specific constraints impedes women’s 
economic inclusion. More than one billion women 
around the world are currently left out of the formal 
financial system, which in turn causes many women 
to rely on informal means of saving and borrowing 
that are riskier and less reliable. Among other con-
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sequences, this hampers the success of women entre-
preneurs, including those seeking to run or grow 
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The 
International Finance Corporation has estimated 
that 70 percent of women-owned SMEs in the for-
mal sector are unserved or underserved in terms of 
access to credit, amounting to a $285 billion credit 
gap. 
(4) Women’s economic empowerment is inex-
tricably linked to a myriad of other women’s human 
rights that are essential to their ability to thrive as 
economic actors across the lifecycle. This includes, 
but is not limited to, living lives free of violence and 
exploitation, achieving the highest possible standard 
of health and well-being, enjoying full legal and 
human rights such as access to registration, identi-
fication, and citizenship documents, benefitting from 
formal and informal education, and equal protection 
of and access to land and property rights, access to 
fundamental labor rights, policies to address dis-
proportionate care burdens, and business and man-
agement skills and leadership opportunities. 
(5) Discriminatory legal and regulatory systems 
and banking practices are hurdles to women’s access 
to capital and assets, including land, machinery, pro-
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duction facilities, technology, and human resources. 
Often, these barriers are connected to a woman’s 
marital status, which can determine whether she is 
able to inherit land or own property in her name. 
These constraints contribute to women frequently 
running smaller businesses, with fewer employees 
and lower asset values. 
(6) Savings groups primarily comprised of 
women are recognized as a vital entry point, espe-
cially for poor and very poor women, to formal fi-
nancial services and there is a high demand for such 
groups to protect and grow their savings with formal 
financial institutions. Evidence shows that, once 
linked to a bank, the average savings per member 
increases between 40 to 100 percent and the average 
profit per member doubles. Key to these outcomes is 
investing in financial literacy, business leadership 
training, and mentorship. 
(7) United States support for microenterprise 
and microfinance development programs, which seek 
to reduce poverty in low-income countries by giving 
small loans to small-scale entrepreneurs without col-
lateral, have been a useful mechanism to help fami-
lies weather economic shocks, but many microcredit 
borrowers largely remain in poverty. The vast major-
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ity of microcredit borrowers are women who would 
like to move up the economic ladder but are held 
back by binding constraints that create a ‘‘missing 
middle’’—large numbers of microenterprises, a 
handful of large firms or conglomerates, and very 
few SMEs in between, which are critical to driving 
economic growth in developing countries. 
(8) According to the World Bank, SMEs create 
4 out of 5 new positions in emerging markets but 
about half of formal SMEs don’t have access to for-
mal credit. The financing gap is even larger when 
micro and informal enterprises are taken into ac-
count. Overall, approximately 70 percent of all 
micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) 
in emerging markets lack access to credit. 
SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO IMPROVE GENDER POLICIES OF THE 
UNITED 
STATES 
AGENCY 
FOR 
INTER-
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION POLICY.—It shall 
be the development cooperation policy of the United 
States— 
(1) to reduce gender disparities in access to, 
control over, and benefit from economic, social, polit-
ical, and cultural resources, wealth, opportunities, 
and services; 
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(2) to strive to eliminate gender-based violence 
and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and 
communities through efforts to develop standards 
and capacity to reduce gender-based violence in the 
workplace and other places where women conduct 
work; 
(3) to support activities that secure private 
property rights and land tenure for women in devel-
oping countries, including legal frameworks to give 
women equal rights to own, register, use, profit 
from, and inherit land and property, legal literacy to 
exercise these rights, and capacity of law enforce-
ment and community leaders to enforce such rights; 
and 
(4) to increase the capability of women and 
girls to realize their rights, determine their life out-
comes, assume leadership roles, and influence deci-
sionmaking in households, communities, and soci-
eties. 
(b) ACTIONS.—In order to advance the policy de-
scribed in subsection (a), the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development shall ensure 
that— 
(1) strategies, projects, and activities of the 
Agency are shaped by a gender analysis and, when 
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applicable, use standard indicators to provide one 
measure of success of such strategies, projects, and 
activities; and 
(2) gender equality and female empowerment is 
integrated throughout the Agency’s Program Cycle 
and related processes for purposes of strategic plan-
ning, project design and implementation, and moni-
toring and evaluation. 
(c) GENDER ANALYSIS DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘gender analysis’’— 
(1) means a socio-economic analysis of available 
or gathered quantitative and qualitative information 
to identify, understand, and explain gaps between 
men and women which typically involves exam-
ining— 
(A) differences in the status of women and 
men and their differential access to and control 
over assets, resources, opportunities, and serv-
ices; 
(B) the influence of gender roles, struc-
tural barriers, and norms on the division of 
time between paid employment, unpaid work 
(including subsistence production and care for 
family members), and volunteer activities; 
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(C) the influence of gender roles, struc-
tural barriers, and norms on leadership roles 
and decisionmaking; constraints, opportunities, 
and entry points for narrowing gender gaps and 
empowering women; and 
(D) potential differential impacts of devel-
opment policies and programs on men and 
women, including unintended or negative con-
sequences; and 
(2) includes conclusions and recommendations 
to enable development policies and programs to nar-
row gender gaps and improve the lives of women and 
girls. 
SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR MICRO, SMALL 
AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES. 
(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Section 251 of the For-
eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘microenterprise’’ and in-
serting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized enter-
prise’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘and in the development’’ 
and inserting ‘‘, in the development’’; and 
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(C) by adding at the end before the period 
the following: ‘‘, and in the economic empower-
ment of the poor, especially women’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘microenterprise’’ and in-
serting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized enter-
prise’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end before the period 
the following: ‘‘, particularly those enterprises 
owned, managed, and controlled by women’’; 
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘microenter-
prises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium- 
sized enterprises’’; 
(4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘microenter-
prise’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized 
enterprise’’; 
(5) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘should continue’’ and in-
serting ‘‘should continue and be expanded’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘microenterprise and 
microfinance development assistance’’ and in-
serting ‘‘development assistance for micro, 
small and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 
(6) in paragraph (6)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘have been successful’’ and 
inserting ‘‘have had some success’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘microenterprise pro-
grams’’ and inserting ‘‘development assistance 
for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises’’; 
and 
(C) by striking ‘‘, such as countries in 
Latin America’’. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION; IMPLEMENTATION; TARGETED 
ASSISTANCE.—Section 252 of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211a) is amended as follows: 
(1) In subsection (a)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘credit, savings, and 
other services’’ and inserting ‘‘credit, in-
cluding the use of innovative credit scoring 
models, savings, financial technology, fi-
nancial literacy, insurance, property rights, 
and other services’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi-
croenterprise clients’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 
small and medium-sized enterprise cli-
ents’’; 
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(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘micro-
finance and microenterprise clients’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized enterprise 
clients, particularly those clients owned, man-
aged, and controlled by women’’; 
(C) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘microenterprises’’ and 
inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized 
enterprises’’; and 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘acquire United 
States goods and services,’’ after ‘‘United 
States markets,’’; 
(D) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi-
croenterprise institutions’’ and inserting 
‘‘financial intermediaries’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi-
croenterprise clients’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 
small and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 
(iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(E) in paragraph (4)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘microfinance and mi-
croenterprise clients and institutions’’ and 
inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium-sized 
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enterprises, financial intermediaries, and 
capital markets’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘the poor and very 
poor.’’ and inserting ‘‘the poor and very 
poor, especially women;’’; and 
(F) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) assistance for the purpose of promoting 
the economic empowerment of women, including 
through increased access to financial resources and 
improving property rights, inheritance rights, and 
other legal protections; and 
‘‘(6) assistance for the purpose of scaling up 
evidence-based graduation approaches, which include 
targeting the very poor and households in ultra-pov-
erty, consumption support, promotion of savings, 
skills training, and asset transfers.’’. 
(2) In subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
established within the Agency an office to support 
the Agency’s efforts to broaden and deepen local fi-
nancial markets, expand access to appropriate finan-
cial products and services, and support the develop-
ment of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. 
The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall 
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possess technical expertise and ability to offer lead-
ership in the field of financial sector development.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘USE OF CENTRAL 
FUNDING
MECHANISMS.—’’ and all 
that follows through ‘‘In order to en-
sure’’ and inserting ‘‘USE
OF
CEN-
TRAL
FUNDING
MECHANISMS.—In 
order to ensure’’; 
(II) by striking ‘‘the office shall’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘and 
other practitioners’’ and inserting 
‘‘the office shall provide coordination 
and support for field-implemented 
programs, including through targeted 
core support for micro, small and me-
dium-sized enterprises and local finan-
cial markets’’; and 
(III) by striking clause (ii); 
(ii) in subparagraph (C)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘, particularly by 
protecting the use and funding of 
local organizations in countries in 
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which the Agency invests,’’ after ‘‘and 
sustainability’’; and 
(II) by inserting ‘‘, especially 
women’’ after ‘‘the poor and very 
poor’’; and 
(C) by striking paragraph (3). 
(3) In subsection (c)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘all microenterprise re-
sources’’ and inserting ‘‘all micro, small and 
medium-sized enterprise resources’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘clients who are’’ and all 
that follows and inserting ‘‘activities that reach 
the very poor, and 50 percent of all small and 
medium-sized enterprise resources shall be tar-
geted to activities that reach enterprises owned, 
managed, and controlled by women.’’. 
(c) MONITORING SYSTEM.—Section 253(b) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211b(b)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, including 
goals on a gender disaggregated basis, such as im-
provements in employment, access to financial serv-
ices, enterprise development, earnings and control 
over income, and property and land rights,’’ after 
‘‘performance goals’’; 
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(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘include per-
formance indicators’’ and all that follows through 
‘‘the achievement’’ and inserting ‘‘incorporate Agen-
cy planning and reporting processes and indicators 
to measure or assess the achievement’’; and 
(3) by striking paragraph (4). 
(d) POVERTY MEASUREMENT METHODS.—Section 
254 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2211c) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 254. POVERTY MEASUREMENT METHODS. 
‘‘The Administrator of the Agency, in consultation 
with financial intermediaries and other appropriate orga-
nizations, should have in place at least one method for 
implementing partners to use to assess poverty levels of 
their current incoming or prospective clients.’’. 
(e) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—Section 255 of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211d) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘assistance for microenterprise 
development assistance’’ and inserting ‘‘development 
assistance for micro, small and medium-sized enter-
prises’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘and, to the extent applicable’’ 
and all that follows and inserting a period. 
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(f) MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS.— 
Section 256 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2212) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘MICRO-
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CREDITS’’ and in-
serting ‘‘DEVELOPMENT CREDITS FOR MICRO, 
SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘micro- 
and small enterprises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 
small and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘micro-
enterprises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and 
medium-sized enterprises’’; 
(3) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and other financial 
services’’ after ‘‘credit’’; 
(4) by striking ‘‘microenterprise households’’ 
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘micro, small 
and medium-sized enterprises and households’’; and 
(5) by striking ‘‘microfinance institutions’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘financial inter-
mediaries’’. 
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(g) UNITED STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACIL-
ITY.—Section 257 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2213) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking 
‘‘UNITED STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACIL-
ITY’’ and inserting ‘‘UNITED
STATES
MICRO, 
SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE LOAN 
FACILITY’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘United States Micro-
finance Loan Facility’’ and inserting ‘‘United 
States Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enter-
prise Loan Facility’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘United States-supported 
microfinance 
institutions’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘United 
States-supported 
financial 
inter-
mediaries’’; 
(3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘United 
States-supported microfinance institutions’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘United States-sup-
ported financial intermediaries’’; 
(4) by striking ‘‘microfinance institutions’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘financial inter-
mediaries’’. 
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(h) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Subsection (b) of sec-
tion 258 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2214) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—To the extent practicable, the re-
port should contain the following: 
‘‘(1) Information about assistance provided 
under section 252, including— 
‘‘(A) the amount of each grant or other 
form of assistance; 
‘‘(B) the name of each intermediary and 
implementing institution receiving assistance; 
‘‘(C) the name of each country receiving 
assistance; and 
‘‘(D) the methodology used to ensure com-
pliance with the targeted assistance require-
ments in subsection (c) of such section. 
‘‘(2) The percentage of assistance provided 
under section 252 disaggregated by income level, in-
cluding for the very poor, and gender. 
‘‘(3) The estimated number of individuals that 
received assistance provided under section 252 
disaggregated by income level, including for the very 
poor, and gender, and by type of assistance, includ-
ing loans, training, and business development serv-
ices. 
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‘‘(4) The results of the monitoring system re-
quired under section 253. 
‘‘(5) Information about any method in place to 
assess poverty levels under section 254.’’. 
(i) DEFINITIONS.—Section 259 of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214a) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Committee 
on International Relations’’ and inserting ‘‘Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs’’; 
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘microenter-
prises’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small and medium- 
sized enterprises’’; 
(3) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘mi-
croenterprise institution’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 
small and medium-sized enterprise institution’’; 
and 
(B) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘mi-
croenterprise institution’’ and inserting ‘‘finan-
cial intermediary’’; 
(4) in paragraph (7) to read as follows: 
‘‘(7) MICRO, SMALL
AND
MEDIUM-SIZED
EN-
TERPRISE
INSTITUTION.—The term ‘micro, small 
and medium-sized enterprise institution’ means an 
entity that provides services, including finance, 
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training, or business development services, for micro, 
small and medium-sized enterprises in foreign coun-
tries.’’; 
(5) in paragraph (8) to read as follows: 
‘‘(8) FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘fi-
nancial intermediary’ means the entity that acts as 
the intermediary between parties in a financial 
transaction, such as a bank, credit union, investment 
fund, a village savings and loan group, or an institu-
tion that provides financial services to a micro, small 
or medium-sized enterprise.’’; 
(6) by striking paragraph (9); 
(7) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through 
(14) as paragraphs (9) through (13), respectively; 
(8) in paragraph (9) (as redesignated), by strik-
ing ‘‘of microenterprise development’’; 
(9) in paragraph (10) to read as follows: 
‘‘(10) PRACTITIONER INSTITUTION.—The term 
‘practitioner institution’ means a not-for-profit enti-
ty, financial intermediary, telecommunications firm 
with a mobile money platform, a village and savings 
loan group, or any other entity that provides services 
authorized under section 252 that benefits micro, 
small and medium-sized enterprise clients.’’; 
(10) in paragraph (12) (as redesignated)— 
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(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘UNITED 
STATES-SUPPORTED
MICROFINANCE
INSTITU-
TION’’ and inserting ‘‘UNITED
STATES-SUP-
PORTED FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘United States-supported 
microfinance institution’’ and inserting ‘‘United 
States-supported financial intermediary’’; 
(11) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (13) (as 
redesignated) to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) living below the International Poverty 
Line, as defined by the International Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-
national Development Association (collectively 
referred to as the ‘World Bank’).’’. 
(j) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
Title VI of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 is amended as follows: 
(1) In the title heading, by striking ‘‘MICRO-
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE’’ 
and inserting ‘‘DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 
FOR MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM–SIZED 
ENTERPRISES’’. 
(2) In the heading for subtitle C, by striking 
‘‘UNITED STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘UNITED STATES MICRO, SMALL AND 
MEDIUM-SIZED MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY’’. 
SEC. 5. REPORT AND BRIEFING BY UNITED STATES AGEN-
CY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development 
shall provide a briefing and submit to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 
on the implementation of this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act, including actions to improve the gender 
policies of the United States Agency for International De-
velopment pursuant to section 3. 
(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required 
under paragraph (1) shall be posted and made available 
on a text-based, searchable, and publicly available internet 
website. 
SEC. 6. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 
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on development assistance for micro, small and medium- 
sized enterprises administered by the United States Agen-
cy for International Development. 
(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re-
quired under subsection (a) shall include an assessment 
of the following: 
(1) What is known about the impact of such de-
velopment assistance on the economies of developing 
countries. 
(2) The extent to which such development as-
sistance is targeting women and the very poor, in-
cluding what is known about how such development 
assistance benefits women. 
(3) The extent to which the United States 
Agency for International Development has developed 
a methodology used to ensure compliance with the 
targeted assistance requirement in section 252(c) of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended by 
section 4 of this Act. 
(4) The monitoring system requirements in sec-
tion 253(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, 
as amended by section 4 of this Act, including the 
quality of such monitoring system. 
Æ 
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