SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Malala Yousafzai 
Scholarship Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) On October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafzai was 
shot in the head by Pakistani Taliban on her way 
home from school. 
(2) In late 2008, Malala began writing a blog 
for BBC Urdu under a pseudonym pressing the case 
for access to education for women and girls despite 
objections from the Pakistani Taliban. 
(3) Malala’s advocacy for the education of 
women and girls made her a target of the Taliban. 
(4) The Taliban called Malala’s efforts to high-
light the need for education for women and girls an 
‘‘obscenity’’. 
(5) On July 12, 2013, Malala celebrated her 
16th birthday by delivering a speech before the 
United Nations General Assembly in which she said, 
‘‘So let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, 
poverty, and terrorism. Let us pick up our books 
and our pens. They are the most powerful weapons. 
One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can 
change the world. Education is the only solution.’’.
(6) According to the United Nation’s 2012 
Education for All Global Monitoring Report, ‘‘Paki-
stan has the second largest number of children out 
of school [in the world]’’ and ‘‘nearly half of rural 
females have never been to school.’’. 
(7) According to the World Bank, ‘‘The benefits 
of women’s education go beyond higher productivity 
for 50 percent of the population. More educated 
women also tend to be healthier, participate more in 
the formal labor market, earn more income, have 
fewer children, and provide better health care and 
education to their children, all of which eventually 
improve the well-being of all individuals and lift 
households out of poverty. These benefits also trans-
mit across generations, as well as to their commu-
nities at large.’’. 
(8) According to United Nation’s 2012 Edu-
cation For All Global Monitoring Report, ‘‘education 
can make a big difference to women’s earnings. In 
Pakistan, women with a high level of literacy earned 
95 percent more than women with no literacy 
skills.’’. 
(9) In January 2010, Secretary of State Hillary 
Rodham Clinton stated, ‘‘We will open the doors of 
education to all citizens, but especially to girls and
women * * * We are doing all of these things be-
cause we have seen that when women and girls have 
the tools to stay healthy and the opportunity to con-
tribute to their families’’ well-being, they flourish 
and so do the people around them. 
(10) The United States provides critical foreign 
assistance to Pakistan’s education sector to improve 
access to and the quality of basic and higher edu-
cation. 
(11) The Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship 
Program administered by the United States Agency 
for International Development (USAID) awards 
scholarships to academically talented, financially 
needy Pakistani students from all regions, including 
remote areas of the country, to pursue bachelor’s or 
master’s degrees at participating Pakistani univer-
sities. 
(12) Fifty percent of the 974 Merit and Needs- 
Based Scholarships awarded during fiscal year 2013 
were awarded to Pakistani women. Historically, only 
25 percent of such scholarships have been awarded 
to women. Starting in the fall of 2013, USAID has 
committed to provide 50 percent of all scholarships 
to women.
(13) The United Nations declared July 12, 
2013, as ‘‘Malala Day’’—a global day of support for 
and recognition of Malala’s bravery and courage in 
promoting women’s education. 
(14) On October 10, 2014, Malala Yousafzai 
became the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for 
her ‘‘struggle against the suppression of children 
and young people and for the right of all children to 
education’’. 
(15) On December 10, 2012, the United Na-
tions and the Government of Pakistan launched the 
‘‘Malala Fund for Girls’ Education’’ to improve 
girls’ access to education worldwide, with Pakistan 
donating the first $10,000,000 to the Fund. 
(16) More than 1,000,000 people around the 
world have signed the United Nations Special Envoy 
for Global Education petition calling on the Govern-
ment of Pakistan to enroll every boy and girl in pri-
mary school. 
(17) Pakistani civil society organizations col-
lected almost 2,000,000 signatures from Pakistanis 
on a petition dedicated to Malala’s cause of edu-
cation for all. 
(18) Engagement with Pakistani diaspora com-
munities in the United States, who have unique per-
spectives, access, and opportunities to contribute to 
stability and economic growth in Pakistan, will be a 
critical element of a successful United States pro-
gram to promote greater access to education for 
women and girls. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) every individual should have the opportunity 
to pursue an education; 
(2) every individual, regardless of gender, 
should have the opportunity to pursue an education 
without fear of discrimination; 
(3) educational exchanges promote institutional 
linkages between the United States and Pakistan; 
and 
(4) recipients of scholarships referred to in sec-
tion 4 should commit to improving their local com-
munities. 
(b) CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR EDUCATIONAL INITIA-
TIVES IN PAKISTAN.—Congress encourages the Depart-
ment of State and the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development to continue their support for initia-
tives led by the Government of Pakistan and Pakistani 
civil society that promote education in Pakistan, especially 
education for women.
SEC. 4. MERIT AND NEEDS-BASED SCHOLARSHIP PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development (referred to 
in this Act as the ‘‘USAID Administrator’’) shall award 
at least 50 percent of the number of scholarships under 
the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program (re-
ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Program’’) to women for each 
of the calendar years 2014 through 2016. 
(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
(1) 
CRITERIA.—The 
scholarships 
available 
under subsection (a) may only be awarded in accord-
ance with other scholarship eligibility criteria already 
established by USAID. 
(2) ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES.—Scholarships au-
thorized under subsection (a) shall be awarded for a 
range of disciplines to improve the employability of 
graduates and to meet the needs of the scholarship 
recipients. 
(3) OTHER SCHOLARSHIPS.—The USAID Ad-
ministrator shall make every effort to award 50 per-
cent of the scholarships available under the Program 
to Pakistani women. 
(c) LEVERAGING INVESTMENT.—The USAID Ad-
ministrator shall, to the greatest extent practicable, con-
sult with and leverage investments by the Pakistani pri-
vate sector and Pakistani diaspora communities in the 
United States as part of USAID’s greater effort to im-
prove the quality of, expand access to, and ensure sustain-
ability of education programs in Pakistan. 
SEC. 5. ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The USAID Administrator shall 
designate appropriate USAID officials to brief the appro-
priate congressional committees, not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter for the next 3 years, on the implementation of 
section 4. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The briefing described in subsection 
(a) shall include, among other relevant information, for 
the most recently concluded fiscal year— 
(1) the total number of scholarships that were 
awarded through the Program, including a break-
down by gender; 
(2) the disciplines of study chosen by the schol-
arship recipients; 
(3) the percentage of the scholarships that were 
awarded to students seeking a bachelor’s degree or 
a master’s degree, respectively; 
(4) the percentage of scholarship recipients who 
voluntarily dropped out of school or were involun-
tarily pushed out of the program for failure to meet 
program requirements; and 
(5) the percentage of scholarship recipients who 
dropped out of school due to retaliation for seeking 
an education, to the extent that such information is 
available. 
Passed the House of Representatives November 19, 
2014. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3583 
AN ACT 
To expand the number of scholarships available to 
Pakistani women under the Merit and Needs- 
Based Scholarship Program.