Title: Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act of 2018
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act of 2018
This bill directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to: (1) establish the Global Initiative to Reduce Fragility and Violence, related to reducing and addressing the causes of violence, violent conflict, and fragility, with a focus on 10 pilot countries to be determined by USAID; and (2) develop and submit to Congress an initial interagency implementing strategy which shall include individual pilot country plans.
The bill provides for initiative and pilot plan updates.
The Government Accountability Office shall review U.S. government activities in each pilot country.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5273 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5273

 To reduce global fragility and violence by improving the capacity of 
the United States to reduce and address the causes of violence, violent 
  conflict, and fragility in pilot countries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2018

  Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Smith of 
 Washington, Mr. Keating, and Mr. Cook) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reduce global fragility and violence by improving the capacity of 
the United States to reduce and address the causes of violence, violent 
  conflict, and fragility in pilot countries, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Global Fragility and Violence 
Reduction Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the United Nations, an unprecedented 66 
        million people around the world are currently forcibly 
        displaced from their homes. This is the highest level of global 
        displacement ever recorded.
            (2) According to the World Bank, violence and violent 
        conflict, rather than natural disasters, are now the leading 
        causes of displacement worldwide, driving 80 percent of 
        humanitarian needs. The Bank also notes that the same conflicts 
        have accounted for the majority of forcibly displaced persons 
        every year since 1991.
            (3) According to the World Health Organization, preventable 
        forms of violence kill at least 1.4 million people each year 
        and cause debilitating physical and mental harm to many others.
            (4) According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, 
        violence containment costs the global economy $14.3 trillion a 
        year, or 13.4 percent of the world's GDP. If violence were to 
        decrease uniformly across the world by just 10 percent, the 
        global economy would gain $1.43 trillion each year.
            (5) Violence and violent conflict underpin many of the 
        United States Government's key national security challenges. 
        Notably, violent conflicts allow for environments in which 
        terrorist organizations recruit and thrive, while the 
        combination of violence, corruption, poverty, poor governance, 
        and underdevelopment often enables transnational gangs and 
        criminal networks to wreak havoc and commit atrocities 
        worldwide.
            (6) According to new research by the University of Maryland 
        and University of Pittsburgh, exposure to violence increases 
        support for violence and violent extremism. Research 
        increasingly finds exposure to violence as a predictor of 
        future participation in violence, including violent extremism.
            (7) Since 2002, a body of research has emerged on failed or 
        fragile states. The World Bank defines a fragile state as a 
        low-income country characterized by weak state capacity, weak 
        state legitimacy, or both, leaving citizens vulnerable to a 
        range of shocks.
            (8) United States foreign policy and assistance efforts in 
        highly violent and fragile states remain governed by an 
        outdated patchwork of authorities that prioritize responding to 
        immediate needs rather than solving the problems that cause 
        them. United States Ambassadors, United States Agency for 
        International Development (USAID) Mission Directors, and 
        commanders of combatant commands do not have the policy 
        framework or tools they need to align United States policy or 
        assistance with an overarching, long-term strategy to reduce 
        and prevent global fragility and violence.
            (9) Lessons learned over the past 20 years, documented by 
        the 2013 Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction 
        Lessons Learned Study and the 2016 Fragility Study Group 
        report, show that effective, sustained United States efforts to 
        reduce violence and stabilize fragile and violence-affected 
        states require clearly defined goals and strategies, adequate 
        long-term funding, rigorous and iterative conflict analysis, 
        coordination across the United States Government, including 
        strong civil-military coordination, and integration with 
        national and sub-national partners, including local civil 
        society organizations, local justice systems, and local 
        governance structures.
            (10) United States National Security Strategies over the 
        past 15 years have regularly affirmed that the United States 
        has a national security interest in improving its capacity to 
        prevent, manage, and mitigate violence and violent conflicts in 
        order to mitigate the consequences of armed conflict, including 
        humanitarian disasters, terrorism, organized crime, increased 
        risk of mass atrocities, and reversed development.
            (11) According to the Small Arms Survey, the extent to 
        which the international community will be able to bring down 
        global levels of violence will depend largely on the actions 
        taken by states to implement more tangible multilateral 
        commitments to improve governance, promote inclusive 
        development, and protect human rights, among other things.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) ensure that all relevant United States Government 
        departments and agencies coordinate to achieve coherent, long-
        term goals for programs designed to reduce and address the 
        causes of violence, violent conflict, and fragility in fragile 
        and violence-affected countries, including when implementing 
        the Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Initiative 
        described in section 4;
            (2) seek to improve the global, regional, and local 
        coordination of relevant international and multilateral 
        development and donor organizations regarding efforts to reduce 
        and address the causes of violence, violent conflict, and 
        fragility in fragile and violence-affected countries, and, 
        where possible, align such efforts with multilateral goals and 
        indicators;
            (3) expand and enhance the effectiveness of foreign 
        assistance programs and activities that reduce and address the 
        causes of violence, violent conflict, and fragility in fragile 
        and violence-affected countries, including programs intended to 
        improve the indicators described in section 4(g);
            (4) support the research and development of effective 
        approaches to reduce and address the causes of violence, 
        violent conflict, and fragility in fragile and violence-
        affected countries; and
            (5) improve the monitoring, evaluation, learning, and 
        adaptation tools and authorities for relevant United States 
        Government departments and agencies working to reduce and 
        address the causes of violence, violent conflict, and fragility 
        in fragile and violence-affected countries.

SEC. 4. GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO REDUCE FRAGILITY AND VIOLENCE.

    (a) Initiative.--The Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID), in coordination with the Secretary 
of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other relevant 
Federal agencies and departments, shall establish an interagency 
initiative to be referred to as the ``Global Initiative to Reduce 
Fragility and Violence'' relating to reducing and addressing the causes 
of violence, violent conflict, and fragility, with a focus on ten pilot 
countries.
    (b) Implementation Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID, in 
coordination with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and 
the heads of other relevant Federal agencies and departments, shall 
develop and submit to the appropriate congressional committees an 
initial interagency strategy for implementing the Global Initiative to 
Reduce Fragility and Violence required under subsection (a), including 
the following:
            (1) Descriptions of the organizational steps each relevant 
        Federal agency or department will take to improve strategic 
        planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and 
        coordination among and within such agencies and departments 
        under such initiative.
            (2) Descriptions of the initial goals, objectives, and role 
        of each relevant Federal agency or department under such 
        initiative.
            (3) Descriptions of the steps each relevant Federal agency 
        or department will take to improve coordination and 
        collaboration with international development organizations, 
        international donors, multilateral organizations, and the 
        private sector under such initiative.
            (4) Descriptions of potential areas of improved public and 
        private sector research and development, including from 
        academic, philanthropic, and civil society organizations, on 
        more effective approaches to reducing and preventing the causes 
        of violence, violent conflict, and fragility in fragile and 
        violence-affected countries.
            (5) Plans for regularly evaluating and updating on an 
        iterative basis the information described in this subsection.
    (c) Individual Pilot Country Plans.--The strategy required under 
subsection (b) shall contain an annex identifying the ten pilot 
countries designated pursuant to subsection (d), and for each such 
pilot country contain a mission-led, 10-year pilot country plan 
establishing initial goals, objectives, and plans of action for United 
States Government activities, including development, security, and 
other assistance activities that are relevant to reducing and 
addressing the causes of violence, violent conflict, and fragility, 
including the following:
            (1) Interagency plans for coordination and implementation 
        that define the appropriate role of each relevant Federal 
        agency or department and processes for coordinating among and 
        within such agencies and departments when carrying out each 
        such pilot country plan.
            (2) Interagency plans to ensure appropriate local actors, 
        including governance and civil society entities, and 
        organizations led by women, youth, and under-represented 
        communities have roles in developing, implementing, monitoring, 
        evaluating, and updating relevant aspects of each such pilot 
        country plan.
            (3) Clear, transparent, and measurable initial political, 
        diplomatic, security, and developmental benchmarks, timetables, 
        and performance metrics for each such pilot country, with a 
        focus on outcome metrics, including such metrics that capture 
        grievances and patterns that cause violence and, where 
        applicable, align with best practice indicators determined by 
        Sustainable Development Goal #16 and the OECD Development 
        Assistance Committee's Fragility Framework.
            (4) Interagency plans for monitoring and evaluation, 
        adaptive management, and iterative learning that provide for 
        regular and iterative policy and program adaptations based on 
        monitoring and evaluation findings and other evidence generated 
        in each such pilot country and across such pilot countries.
            (5) Descriptions of the available policy tools to reduce 
        and address the causes of violence, violent conflict, and 
        fragility in each such pilot country.
            (6) Descriptions of the resources and authorities that 
        would be required for each relevant Federal agency or 
        department to best implement each such pilot country plan, as 
        well as evidence-based iterative updates to such plans.
            (7) Descriptions of potential areas of improved partnership 
        between the United States Government and international 
        development organizations, relevant international donors, 
        multilateral organizations, and the private sector regarding 
        efforts to reduce and address the causes of violence, violent 
        conflict, and fragility in each such pilot country.
            (8) Plans for regularly evaluating and updating on an 
        iterative basis the plans described in this subsection.
    (d) Pilot Country Designation.--The Administrator of USAID, in 
coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, 
shall carry out the following actions:
            (1) Develop the list of candidate countries under 
        consideration for the initiative required under this section on 
        the basis of the following:
                    (A) Current levels of violence, violent conflict, 
                and fragility, as determined by empirical data, such as 
                the following, to the extent such data are available:
                            (i) Total levels of deaths due to violence 
                        and violence-related deaths per 100,000 
                        population in the candidate country under 
                        consideration.
                            (ii) Total levels of violent injuries and 
                        violence exposure levels in such country.
                            (iii) Violent injuries and violence 
                        exposure levels per 100,000 population in such 
                        country.
                            (iv) Levels of persons forcibly displaced, 
                        whether internally or internationally, due to 
                        violence or violent conflict in such country.
                            (v) Total levels of gender-based violence 
                        and violence against children and youth in such 
                        country.
                            (vi) Prevalence of physical or sexual 
                        violence in the last 12 months in such country.
                            (vii) Levels of mortality due to armed 
                        group violence in such country.
                            (viii) Levels of citizen support for armed 
                        groups in such country.
                            (ix) Such country's ranking on select 
                        global fragility lists and select good 
                        governance indexes.
                            (x) Such country's ranking on select United 
                        States Government conflict and atrocity early 
                        warning watch lists.
                            (xi) Such country's vulnerability to 
                        current or future transnational threats.
                    (B) An assessment of the potential for United 
                States Government activities to reduce and address the 
                causes of violence, violent conflict, and fragility in 
                each candidate country under consideration, including 
                the capacity and commitment of relevant entities within 
                each such country to participate in the Global 
                Initiative to Reduce Fragility and Violence under this 
                section.
            (2) Organize such candidate countries under consideration 
        into the categories of ``Core Country'' and ``Prevention 
        Country'' such that--
                    (A) a candidate country shall be a Core Country for 
                purposes of pilot country selection where current 
                levels of violence, violent conflict, and fragility are 
                highest in the world, as determined by the data 
                specified in paragraph (1); and
                    (B) a candidate country shall be a Prevention 
                Country for purposes of pilot country selection where 
                current levels of violence, violent conflict, and 
                fragility are lower than such levels in a Core Country, 
                as determined by the data specified in paragraph (1), 
                but warning signs for future violence, violent 
                conflict, and fragility are significant and strategic 
                prevention efforts are likely to make a meaningful 
                difference in mitigating or preventing future violence, 
                violent conflict, and fragility.
            (3) Designate, on the basis of the criteria specified in 
        paragraph (1), 10 pilot countries, organized with not fewer 
        than three countries in each of the Core and Prevention 
        categories described in paragraph (2) and not more than four 
        countries in each geographic region, as determined by the 
        Department of State.
            (4) Consider when making designations pursuant to paragraph 
        (3) designating multiple countries in the same region if the 
        drivers of violence, violent conflict, and fragility are 
        transnational in such region.
    (e) Stakeholder Consultation.--In addition to the individuals 
specified in subsection (a), the initiative required under this section 
shall be developed in coordination with--
            (1) the United States Ambassador, USAID Mission Director, 
        geographic Combatant Commands, and relevant inter-agency 
        country teams in each applicable country; and
            (2) representatives of local civil society and national and 
        local governance entities, as well as relevant international 
        development organizations, multilateral organizations, donors, 
        and relevant private, academic, and philanthropic entities, as 
        appropriate.
    (f) Congressional Consultation.--The Administrator of USAID, in 
coordination with the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense (or 
their respective designees), shall provide briefings to the appropriate 
congressional committees not later than--
            (1) 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act 
        regarding the countries selected as pilot countries for the 
        initiative required under this section;
            (2) 90 days after such date of enactment regarding progress 
        on the individual pilot country plans under subsection (c); and
            (3) 30 days after submission of such initiative regarding 
        plans for implementing such initiative and such individual 
        pilot country plans.
    (g) Measuring Violence, Violent Conflict, and Fragility.--For the 
purposes of implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the effectiveness 
of the individual pilot country plans required under subsection (c), 
progress towards reducing and addressing the causes of violence, 
violent conflict, and fragility shall be measured by indicators 
established for each such pilot country by relevant inter-agency 
country teams in each such pilot country, informed by consultations 
with the stakeholders specified in subsection (e)(2). Such indicators 
shall be based on the data described in subsection (d)(1)(A), as 
appropriate, and updated regularly to account for any improvements in 
the available indicators and to include indicators for additional 
priority areas, such as:
            (1) Improving inclusive, transparent, and accountable power 
        structures, including effective, legitimate, and resilient 
        national and sub-national institutions.
            (2) Improving effective and respected conflict prevention, 
        mitigation, management, and resolution mechanisms.
            (3) Reducing levels of citizen support for violence, 
        violent extremism, and adversarial armed groups.
            (4) Ensuring strong foundations for plurality, non-
        discrimination, human rights, rule of law, and equal access to 
        justice.
            (5) Addressing political, social, economic, and 
        environmental vulnerabilities, grievances, and conflicts.
            (6) Ensuring inclusive economic development and enabling 
        business environments.
            (7) Improving resilience to transnational stresses and 
        shocks, including from organized crime and violent extremist 
        organizations.

SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION AND UPDATES OF PILOT COUNTRY PLANS.

    The Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID), the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, 
the heads of other relevant Federal agencies and departments, relevant 
United States Ambassadors, USAID Mission Directors, and other relevant 
individuals with responsibility over activities in each pilot country 
designated pursuant to section 4 shall ensure that--
            (1) the Global Initiative to Reduce Fragility and Violence 
        and each individual pilot country plan required under such 
        section are implemented and updated on a regular and iterative 
        basis;
            (2) such initiative and individual pilot country plans are 
        used to guide United States Government policy at a senior level 
        and are incorporated into relevant strategies and plans across 
        the United States Government and in each such pilot country;
            (3) detailed and iterative goals, objectives, and plans of 
        action are developed, implemented, updated, and coordinated 
        among and within each relevant Federal agency or department for 
        the duration of each such individual pilot country plan;
            (4) resources for all relevant activities in each such 
        pilot country are requested and utilized consistent with such 
        initiative and individual pilot country plans; and
            (5) the results of program monitoring and evaluation under 
        such initiative and individual pilot country plans are 
        regularly reviewed and utilized to determine continuation, 
        modification, or termination of future year programming and 
        that regular and iterative policy and program adaptations are 
        made to each such plan.

SEC. 6. BIENNIAL REPORTS AND CONGRESSIONAL CONSULTATION.

    (a) Biennial Reports.--Not later than two years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and every two years thereafter until full 
implementation of the 10-year individual pilot country plans required 
under section 4, the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID), in coordination with the Secretary 
of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other relevant 
Federal agencies and departments, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on progress made and lessons learned 
with respect to the Global Initiative to Reduce Fragility and Violence 
and each individual pilot country plan required under section 4, 
including--
            (1) descriptions of steps taken to incorporate such 
        initiative and such individual pilot country plans into 
        relevant strategies and plans that affect such pilot countries;
            (2) accountings of all funding received and obligated to 
        implement each such individual pilot country plan during the 
        past two years, as well as funding requested, planned, and 
        projected for the following two years;
            (3) descriptions of progress made towards the goals and 
        objectives established for each such individual pilot country, 
        including progress made towards achieving the specific targets, 
        metrics, and indicators described in section 4; and
            (4) descriptions of updates made during the past two years 
        to the goals, objectives, plans of action, and other elements 
        described in section 4(c) for each such individual pilot 
        country plan, as well as any changes made to programs based on 
        the results of monitoring and evaluation in accordance with 
        sections 4 and 5.
    (b) Congressional Consultation.--The Administrator of USAID, the 
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other 
relevant Federal agencies and departments shall jointly consult with 
the appropriate congressional committees not less often than annually 
regarding progress made on the initiative and individual pilot country 
plans required under section 4. The consultation requirement under this 
subsection shall terminate upon full implementation of the 10-year 
individual pilot country plans required under such section.

SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ASSISTANCE FOR THE GLOBAL FRAGILITY 
              AND VIOLENCE REDUCTION INITIATIVE.

    It is the sense of Congress that the President, together with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development 
(USAID), the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the 
heads of other relevant Federal agencies and departments, should--
            (1) support the creation of a ``Global Fragility and 
        Violence Reduction Fund'' to help support USAID and Department 
        of State activities under the Global Fragility and Violence 
        Reduction Initiative and individual pilot country plans 
        required under section 4;
            (2) work with Congress to provide funding that allows for 
        more adaptive program planning and implementation under such 
        initiative and individual pilot country plans, including 
        through exemptions from specific and minimum funding levels 
        when such exemptions would make programs better able to respond 
        to monitoring and evaluation or changed circumstances in 
        relevant countries;
            (3) work with Congress to provide funding that better 
        integrates conflict and violence reduction activities into 
        other program areas where appropriate; and
            (4) support the creation of a multilateral fund and other 
        international initiatives to improve global public and private 
        support for coordinating and funding efforts to reduce and 
        address the causes of violence, violent conflict, and 
        fragility.

SEC. 8. GAO REVIEW.

    (a) In General.--Not later than five years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct an independent review of all United States Government 
activities in each pilot country designated pursuant to section 4.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The review required under subsection 
(a) shall include the following:
            (1) An assessment of the extent to which United States 
        Government activities in each pilot country designated pursuant 
        to section 4 are being implemented in accordance with the 
        relevant individual pilot country plan required under such 
        section.
            (2) Descriptions of all activities that are being 
        implemented in accordance with each such individual pilot 
        country plan, including, with respect to each such activity, 
        the role of each relevant Federal agency or department, the 
        entities responsible for implementation, and the funding level.
            (3) Assessments of the processes and procedures for 
        coordinating among and within each relevant Federal agency or 
        department when implementing each such individual pilot country 
        plan.
            (4) Assessments of the monitoring and evaluation efforts 
        under each such individual pilot country plan, including 
        assessments of the progress made and lessons learned with 
        respect to each such plan, as well as any changes made to 
        activities based on the results of such monitoring and 
        evaluation.
            (5) Recommendations for changes necessary to better 
        implement United States Government activities in accordance 
        with such individual pilot country plans, as well as 
        recommendations for any changes to such plans.

SEC. 9. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

    The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committees on Foreign Relations, Armed Services, 
        and Appropriations of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, and 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
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