Title: A resolution supporting the goals of International Women's Day.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses support for International Women's Day and recognition that women's empowerment is inextricably linked to generating economic growth and self-reliance, sustainable peace and democracy, and inclusive security. The resolution also reaffirms the Senate's commitment to end discrimination and violence against women and to pursue policies that guarantee fundamental human rights for women worldwide.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 533 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 533

           Supporting the goals of International Women's Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2020

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Murphy, and Ms. Baldwin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Supporting the goals of International Women's Day.

Whereas, as of March 2020, there are approximately 3,764,000,000 women and girls 
        in the world;
Whereas women and girls around the world--

    (1) have fundamental human rights;

    (2) play a critical role in providing and caring for their families and 
driving positive change in their communities;

    (3) contribute substantially to food security, economic growth, the 
prevention and resolution of conflict, and the sustainability of peace and 
stability; and

    (4) must have meaningful opportunities to more fully participate in and 
lead the political, social, and economic lives of their communities;

Whereas the advancement and empowerment of women and girls around the world is a 
        foreign policy priority for the United States and is critical to the 
        achievement of global peace and prosperity;
Whereas 2020 marks the anniversary of significant milestones toward advancing 
        the human rights and equality of women and girls, including--

    (1) the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in the United States; and

    (2) the 20th anniversary of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, 
which was established through the unanimous adoption of United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1325 in October 2000;

Whereas the National Security Strategy of the United States, published in 
        December 2017--

    (1) declares that ``[s]ocieties that empower women to participate fully 
in civic and economic life are more prosperous and peaceful'';

    (2) supports ``efforts to advance women's equality, protect the rights 
of women and girls, and promote women and youth empowerment programs''; and

    (3) recognizes that ``governments that fail to treat women equally do 
not allow their societies to reach their potential'';

Whereas, on October 6, 2017, the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (22 
        U.S.C. 2152j et seq.) was enacted into law, which includes requirements 
        for a government-wide ``Women, Peace, and Security Strategy'' to promote 
        and strengthen the participation of women in peace negotiations and 
        conflict prevention overseas, enhanced training for relevant United 
        States Government personnel, and follow-up evaluations of the 
        effectiveness of the strategy;
Whereas the United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, dated June 
        2019, recognizes that--

    (1) the ``[s]ocial and political marginalization of women strongly 
correlates with the likelihood that a country will experience conflict'';

    (2) there is a ``tremendous amount of untapped potential among the 
world's women and girls to identify, recommend, and implement effective 
solutions to conflict'', and there are ``benefits derived from creating 
opportunities for women and girls to serve as agents of peace via 
political, economic, and social empowerment''; and

    (3) barriers to the meaningful participation of women and girls in 
conflict prevention and resolution efforts ``include under-representation 
in political leadership, pervasive violence against women and girls, and 
persistent inequality in many societies'';

Whereas, according to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the 
        Empowerment of Women (commonly referred to as ``UN Women''), peace 
        negotiations are more likely to end in a peace agreement when women and 
        women's groups play a meaningful role in the negotiation process;
Whereas, according to a study by the International Peace Institute, a peace 
        agreement is 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years if women 
        participate in the development of the peace agreement;
Whereas there are 83 national action plans relating to the empowerment of women 
        around the world, 11 regional action plans, and at least 9 additional 
        national action plans in development;
Whereas the joint strategy of the Department of State and the United States 
        Agency for International Development (USAID) entitled ``Department of 
        State & USAID Joint Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism'' and dated 
        May 2016--

    (1) notes that women can play a critical role in identifying and 
addressing drivers of violent extremism in their families, communities, and 
broader society; and

    (2) commits to supporting programs that engage women ``as key 
stakeholders in preventing and countering violent extremism in their 
communities'';

Whereas, according to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement 
        Affairs of the Department of State, the full and meaningful 
        participation of women in criminal justice professions and security 
        forces vastly enhances the effectiveness of the security forces;
Whereas, despite the contributions of women to society, hundreds of millions of 
        women and girls around the world continue to be denied the right to 
        participate freely in civic and economic life, lack fundamental legal 
        protections, and remain vulnerable to exploitation and abuse;
Whereas, every year, approximately 12,000,000 girls are married before they 
        reach the age of 18, which means that--

    (1) nearly 33,000 girls are married every day; or

    (2) nearly 23 girls are married every minute;

Whereas, despite global progress, it is predicted that by 2030 more than 
        150,000,000 more girls will marry before reaching the age of 18, and 
        approximately 2,400,000 girls who are married before reaching the age of 
        18 are under the age of 15;
Whereas girls living in countries affected by conflict or other humanitarian 
        crises are often the most vulnerable to child marriage, and 9 of the 10 
        countries with the highest rates of child marriage are considered 
        fragile or extremely fragile;
Whereas, according to the International Labour Organization, 71 percent of the 
        estimated 40,300,000 victims of modern slavery in 2016 were women or 
        girls;
Whereas, according to the United Nation's Children's Fund (commonly referred to 
        as ``UNICEF'')--

    (1) approximately \1/4\ of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are 
victims of physical violence;

    (2) approximately 120,000,000 girls worldwide, slightly more than 1 in 
10, have experienced forced sexual acts; and

    (3) an estimated 1 in 3 women around the world has experienced some 
form of physical or sexual violence;

Whereas, according to the 2018 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and 
        Crime entitled ``Global Report on Trafficking in Persons'', 72 percent 
        of all detected trafficking victims are women or girls; 
Whereas, on August 10, 2012, the United States Government launched a strategy 
        entitled ``United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based 
        Violence Globally'', which is the first interagency strategy that--

    (1) addresses gender-based violence around the world;

    (2) advances the rights and status of women and girls;

    (3) promotes gender equality in United States foreign policy; and

    (4) works to bring about a world in which all individuals can pursue 
their aspirations without the threat of violence;

Whereas, in June 2016, the Department of State released an update to that 
        strategy, underscoring that ``[p]reventing and responding to gender-
        based violence is a cornerstone of the U.S. Government's commitment to 
        advancing human rights and promoting gender equality and the empowerment 
        of women and girls''; 
Whereas, despite the achievements of individual female leaders and evidence that 
        democracy and equality under the law form a mutually reinforcing 
        relationship in which higher levels of equality are strongly correlated 
        with the relative state of peace of a country, a healthier domestic 
        security environment, and lower levels of aggression toward other 
        countries--

    (1) women around the world remain vastly underrepresented in--

    G    (A) national and local legislatures and governments; and

    G    (B) other high-level positions; and

    (2) according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women account for only 
25 percent of national parliamentarians and 21 percent of government 
ministers;

Whereas the ability of women and girls to realize their full potential is 
        critical to the ability of a country to achieve strong and lasting 
        economic growth, self-reliance, and political and social stability;
Whereas the overall level of violence against women is a better predictor of the 
        peacefulness of a country, the compliance of a country with 
        international treaty obligations, and the relations of a country with 
        neighboring countries than indicators measuring the level of democracy, 
        level of wealth, or level of institutionalization of the country;
Whereas, although the United Nations Millennium Project reached the goal of 
        achieving gender parity in primary education in most countries in 2015, 
        more work remains to be done to achieve gender equality in primary and 
        secondary education, and particularly in secondary education worldwide 
        as gender gaps persist and widen, by addressing--

    (1) discriminatory practices;

    (2) harmful cultural and social norms;

    (3) inadequate sanitation facilities, including facilities to manage 
menstruation;

    (4) child, early, and forced marriage;

    (5) poverty;

    (6) early pregnancy and motherhood;

    (7) conflict and insecurity; and

    (8) other factors that favor boys or devalue girls' education;

Whereas, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
        Organization--

    (1) approximately 129,200,000 girls between the ages of 6 and 17 remain 
out of school;

    (2) girls living in countries affected by conflict are 2.5 times more 
likely to be out of school than boys;

    (3) girls are twice as likely as boys to never set foot in a classroom; 
and

    (4) up to 30 percent of girls who drop out of school do so because of 
adolescent pregnancy or child marriage;

Whereas women around the world face a variety of constraints that severely limit 
        their economic participation and productivity and remain 
        underrepresented in the labor force;
Whereas the economic empowerment of women is inextricably linked to a myriad of 
        other human rights that are essential to the ability of women to thrive 
        as economic actors, including--

    (1) living lives free of violence and exploitation;

    (2) achieving the highest possible standard of health and well-being;

    (3) enjoying full legal and human rights, such as access to 
registration, identification, and citizenship documents, and freedom of 
movement;

    (4) access to formal and informal education;

    (5) access to, and equal protection under, land and property rights;

    (6) access to fundamental labor rights;

    (7) the implementation of policies to address disproportionate care 
burdens; and

    (8) receiving business and management skills and leadership 
opportunities;

Whereas closing the global gender gap in labor markets could increase worldwide 
        gross domestic product by as much as $28,000,000,000,000 by 2025;
Whereas, pursuant to section 3(b) of the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic 
        Empowerment Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 2151-2(b)), it is the international 
        development cooperation policy of the United States--

    (1) to reduce gender disparities with respect to economic, social, 
political, educational, and cultural resources, as well as wealth, 
opportunities, and services;

    (2) to strive to eliminate gender-based violence and mitigate its 
harmful effects on individuals and communities, including through efforts 
to develop standards and capacity to reduce gender-based violence in the 
workplace and other places where women work;

    (3) to support activities that secure private property rights and land 
tenure for women in developing countries, including--

    G    (A) supporting legal frameworks that give women equal rights to 
own, register, use, profit from, and inherit land and property;

    G    (B) improving legal literacy to enable women to exercise the 
rights described in subparagraph (A); and

    G    (C) improving the capacity of law enforcement and community 
leaders to enforce such rights;

    (4) to increase the capability of women and girls to fully exercise 
their rights, determine their life outcomes, assume leadership roles, and 
influence decision making in households, communities, and societies; and

    (5) to improve the access of women and girls to education, particularly 
higher education opportunities in business, finance, and management, in 
order to enhance financial literacy and business development, management, 
and strategy skills;

Whereas, pursuant to National Security Presidential Memorandum 16, entitled 
        ``Promoting Women's Global Development and Prosperity'', ``It is the 
        policy of the United States to enhance the opportunity for women to 
        meaningfully participate in, contribute to, and benefit from economic 
        opportunities as individuals, workers, consumers, innovators, 
        entrepreneurs, and investors, so that they enjoy the same access, 
        rights, and opportunities as men to participate in, contribute to, 
        control, and benefit from economic activity.'';
Whereas, according to the World Health Organization, global maternal mortality 
        decreased by approximately 44 percent between 1990 and 2015, yet 
        approximately 830 women and girls continue to die from preventable 
        causes relating to pregnancy or childbirth each day, and 99 percent of 
        all maternal deaths occur in developing countries;
Whereas, according to the United Nations Population Fund, of the 830 women and 
        adolescent girls who die every day from preventable causes relating to 
        pregnancy and childbirth, 507 die each day in countries that are 
        considered fragile because of conflict or disaster, accounting for 
        approximately \3/5\ of all maternal deaths worldwide;
Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports 
        that women and girls comprise approximately \1/2\ of the 67,200,000 
        refugees and internally displaced or stateless individuals in the world;
Whereas women and girls in humanitarian emergencies, including those subject to 
        forced displacement, face increased and exacerbated vulnerabilities to--

    (1) gender-based violence, including, rape, child marriage, domestic 
violence, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation and assault;

    (2) disruptions in education and livelihood;

    (3) lack of access to comprehensive health services and information; 
and

    (4) food insecurity and malnutrition;

Whereas malnutrition poses a variety of threats to women and girls specifically, 
        as malnutrition can weaken their immune systems, making them more 
        susceptible to infections, and affects their capacity to survive 
        childbirth, and children born of malnourished women and girls are more 
        likely to have cognitive impairments and higher risk of disease 
        throughout their lives;
Whereas it is imperative--

    (1) to alleviate violence and discrimination against women and girls; 
and

    (2) to afford women and girls every opportunity to be full and 
productive members of their communities; and

Whereas March 8, 2020, is recognized as International Women's Day, a global 
        day--

    (1) to celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of 
women in the past, present, and future; and

    (2) to recognize the obstacles that women face in the struggle for 
equal rights and opportunities: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals of International Women's Day;
            (2) recognizes that the ability of women and girls to fully 
        access and enjoy fundamental human rights has intrinsic value 
        that affects their quality of life and ability to determine 
        their own futures;
            (3) recognizes that the empowerment of women and girls is 
        inextricably linked to the potential of a country to generate--
                    (A) economic growth and self-reliance;
                    (B) sustainable peace and democracy; and
                    (C) inclusive security;
            (4) recognizes and honors individuals in the United States 
        and around the world, including women human rights defenders, 
        girl activists, and civil society leaders, who have worked 
        throughout history to ensure that women and girls are 
        guaranteed equality and fundamental human rights;
            (5) recognizes the unique cultural, historical, and 
        religious differences throughout the world and urges the United 
        States Government to act with respect and understanding toward 
        legitimate differences when promoting any policies;
            (6) reaffirms the commitment--
                    (A) to end discrimination and violence against 
                women and girls;
                    (B) to ensure the safety, health, and welfare of 
                women and girls;
                    (C) to pursue policies that guarantee the 
                fundamental human rights of women and girls worldwide; 
                and
                    (D) to promote meaningful and significant 
                participation of women in every aspect of society and 
                community, including conflict prevention, protection, 
                peacemaking, and peacebuilding;
            (7) supports sustainable, measurable, and global 
        development that seeks to achieve gender equality and the 
        empowerment of women and girls; and
            (8) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
        International Women's Day with appropriate programs and 
        activities.
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