Keeping Girls in School Act

Bill: 118-s-3535
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2023-12-14
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2023-12-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 3535 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 14, 2023 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Ms. Murkowski ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To support empowerment, economic security, and educational opportunities for adolescent girls around the world, and for other purposes.

1. Short title; table of contents (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the Keeping Girls in School Act . (b) Table of contents The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. Sec. 4. Secondary education for adolescent girls. Sec. 5. Global strategy requirement. Sec. 6. Transparency and reporting to Congress. 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) Administrator The term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. (2) Appropriate congressional committees the term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate ; (B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate ; (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives ; and (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives . (3) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of State. (4) USAID The term USAID means the United States Agency for International Development. 3. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) every child, regardless of gender or place of birth, deserves an equal opportunity to access quality education; (2) education is a key investment in— (A) the future, well-being, and prosperity of girls; and (B) the stability and productivity of their communities; (3) the United States has been a global leader in efforts to expand and improve access to quality basic education for all, particularly marginalized and vulnerable populations, including women and girls; (4) gains with respect to girls’ secondary education and empowerment have been proven to correlate strongly with progress in gender equality and women’s rights, a stated priority of United States foreign policy and national security; (5) achieving gender parity in both access to and quality of educational opportunity contributes significantly to economic growth and development, thereby lowering the risk for violence and instability; and (6) education is a lifesaving humanitarian intervention that protects the lives, futures, and well-being of girls. 4. Secondary education for adolescent girls (a) Authority (1) In general The Secretary and the Administrator shall— (A) promote access to quality education for girls globally; and (B) enter into agreements, including agreements across sectors, to address the barriers described in subsection (b) that adolescent girls face in accessing a quality secondary education, particularly in countries in which adolescent girls are significantly more likely to drop out of school than boys. (2) Requirements Activities carried out pursuant to paragraph (1) shall— (A) be informed by a context-specific, evidence-based analysis of the challenges that girls face, which inhibit girls from successfully transitioning to, remaining enrolled in, and completing secondary school; (B) ensure that integrated programs— (i) holistically support safe, inclusive, and quality educational opportunities; and (ii) create empowering environments to enable girls— (I) to enroll in and regularly attend school; (II) to successfully transition from primary to secondary school; and (III) to eventually graduate after achieving learning outcomes and being in a position to make healthy transitions into adulthood; and (C) seek to use United States Government strategies and frameworks relevant to international basic education, women’s and girls’ empowerment, and gender equality to integrate multi-sectoral, evidenced-based approaches to adolescent girls’ education and well-being. (b) Specific barriers The barriers described in this subsection are— (1) harmful social and cultural norms; (2) lack of safety at school or traveling to school and online, including harassment and other forms of physical, sexual, or psychological violence; (3) child, early, and forced marriage; (4) female genital mutilation; (5) distance from a secondary school; (6) cost of secondary schooling, including fees, clothing, and supplies; (7) inadequate sanitation facilities and products available at secondary schools; (8) prioritization of boys’ secondary education; (9) poor nutrition; (10) early pregnancy and motherhood; (11) HIV infection; (12) disability; (13) discrimination based on religious or ethnic identity; (14) heavy workload due to household tasks or care burdens; and (15) inequitable access to digital resources. (c) Acceptance of proposals or applications for awards Beginning not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall seek proposals or applications for awards to conduct the activities described in the agreements entered into pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B). (d) Monitoring and evaluation The Administrator shall seek to ensure that activities carried out pursuant to agreements referred to in subsection (a)(1)(B)— (1) employ rigorous monitoring and evaluation methodologies, including measurable goals, outcomes, and benchmarks, to ensure that such activities demonstrably— (A) improve adolescent girls' access to secondary education; (B) close the gap in gender parity for secondary education; and (C) improve the quality of girls' education; (2) disaggregate data collected and reported by age, gender, marital and motherhood status, disability, and urbanity, to the extent practicable and appropriate; and (3) use, to the extent possible, indicators and methodologies identified by the Interagency Working Group for the Strategy on International Basic Education. (e) Coordination and oversight (1) In general The Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, shall be responsible for the oversight and coordination of all activities of the United States Government carried out pursuant to this section, as appropriate. (2) Development of agreements In developing agreements described in subsection (a)(1)(B), the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, shall consult with representatives of Federal departments and agencies that are implementing the United States Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls. (3) Coordination requirements In carrying out the activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2), the Secretary and the Administrator shall coordinate with the Senior Coordinator for International Basic Education Assistance at USAID, the Youth Coordinator at USAID, the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at USAID, and the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State. (4) Coordination with other strategies Activities carried out pursuant to agreements described in subsection (a)(1)(B), shall be carried out in a manner that is consistent with— (A) the latest update of the United States Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls; and (B) the United States Government Strategy on International Basic Education, including its objective to expand access to quality basic education for all, particularly marginalized and vulnerable populations. 5. Global strategy requirement (a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State, the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at USAID, and the Senior Coordinator for International Basic Education Assistance at USAID, shall— (1) review and update a United States Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls, which includes a focus on girls’ access to quality, inclusive secondary education, and subsequent agency implementation plans; and (2) submit the updated strategy to the appropriate congressional committees. (b) 5-Year update of strategy Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees another update and revision of— (1) the United States Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls; and (2) the agency implementation plans for such strategy. (c) Consultation In reviewing and updating the strategy and implementation plans pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State, the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at USAID, and the Senior Coordinator for International Basic Education Assistance at USAID, shall consult with and provide meaningful opportunity for review with— (1) the heads of relevant Federal departments and agencies (or their designees); (2) the appropriate congressional committees; and (3) representatives of United States and international civil society and multilateral organizations with demonstrated experience and expertise in empowering adolescent girls and promoting gender equality in education, including local civil society organizations, faith-based organizations, to the extent possible, program participants. (d) Coordination In carrying out the activities described in his section, the Secretary and the Administrator shall coordinate with the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State, the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at USAID, the Senior Coordinator for International Basic Education Assistance at USAID, and the Youth Coordinator at USAID. 6. Transparency and reporting to Congress (a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of the submission of the strategy required under section 5, and biennially thereafter for 10 years, the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator, shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that describes— (1) the activities initiated pursuant to the authorities provided in this Act; and (2) the manner and extent to which such activities are monitored and evaluated, in accordance with section 4(d). (b) Availability Each report submitted pursuant to subsection (a) shall be made available on a text-based, searchable, and publicly available website of USAID.