An act 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
PL 115-428 (S.3247), enacted 01/09/2019

132 STAT. 5509 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
Public Law 115–428 
115th Congress 
An Act 
To improve programs and activities relating to women’s entrepreneurship and eco-
nomic empowerment that are carried out by the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, 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 ‘‘Women’s Entrepreneurship and 
Economic Empowerment Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Because women make up the majority of the world’s 
poor and gender inequalities prevail in incomes, wages, access 
to finance, ownership of assets, 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. 
(2) Research shows that when women exert greater influ-
ence 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 family 
financial resiliency. 
(3) A 2016 report by the McKinsey Global Institute esti-
mated that achieving global gender parity in economic activity 
could add as much as $28,000,000,000,000 to annual global 
gross domestic product by 2025. 
(4) Lack of access to financial services that address gender- 
specific constraints impedes women’s economic inclusion. 
Roughly 1,000,000,000 women around the world are currently 
left out of the formal financial system, which causes many 
women to rely on informal means of saving and borrowing 
that are riskier and less reliable. 
(5) Among other consequences, this lack of access hampers 
the success of women entrepreneurs, including women who 
are seeking to run or grow small and medium-sized enterprises. 
The International Finance Corporation has estimated that 70 
percent of women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises 
in the formal sector are unserved or underserved in terms 
of access to financial services, resulting in a financing gap 
of $300,000,000,000 for women-owned small businesses. 
(6) Women’s economic empowerment is inextricably linked 
to a myriad of other women’s human rights that are essential 
22 USC 2151–2 
note. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
Women’s 
Entrepreneurship 
and Economic 
Empowerment 
Act of 2018. 
Jan. 9, 2019 
[S. 3247] 
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132 STAT. 5510 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
to their ability to thrive as economic actors across the lifecycle, 
including— 
(A) living lives free of violence and exploitation; 
(B) achieving the highest possible standard of health 
and well-being; 
(C) enjoying full legal and human rights, such as access 
to registration, identification, and citizenship documents; 
(D) benefitting from formal and informal education; 
(E) equal protection of and access to land and property 
rights; 
(F) access to fundamental labor rights; 
(G) policies to address disproportionate care burdens; 
and 
(H) business and management skills and leadership 
opportunities. 
(7) Discriminatory legal and regulatory systems and 
banking practices are obstacles to women’s access to capital 
and assets, including land, machinery, production facilities, 
technology, and human resources. These barriers are often 
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 run-
ning smaller businesses, with fewer employees and lower asset 
values. 
(8) Savings groups primarily comprised of women are recog-
nized as a vital entry point, especially for poor and very poor 
women, to formal financial services. There is a high demand 
for such groups to protect and grow the savings of women 
with formal financial institutions. 
(9) Evidence shows that, once a saving group is linked 
to a bank, the average savings per member increases between 
40 to 100 percent and the average profit per member doubles. 
Investing in financial literacy, business leadership training, 
and mentorship are key elements to these outcomes. 
(10) United States support for microenterprise and micro-
finance development programs, which seek to reduce poverty 
in low-income countries by giving small loans to small-scale 
entrepreneurs without collateral, have been a useful mechanism 
to help families weather economic shocks, but many microcredit 
borrowers largely remain in poverty. 
(11) The vast majority 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 small and medium-sized enter-
prises in between, which are critical to driving economic growth 
in developing countries. 
(12) According to the World Bank, small and medium- 
sized enterprises create 4 out of 5 new positions in emerging 
markets, but approximately 50 percent of formal small and 
medium-sized enterprises lack access to formal credit. The 
financing gap is even larger when micro and informal enter-
prises are taken into account. Overall, approximately 70 percent 
of all micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in emerging 
markets lack access to credit. 
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132 STAT. 5511 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO IMPROVE THE INTERNATIONAL GENDER POLICY 
OF THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL 
DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) GENDER ANALYSIS DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘‘gender analysis’’— 
(1) means a socioeconomic analysis of available or gathered 
quantitative and qualitative information to identify, under-
stand, and explain gaps between men and women which typi-
cally involves examining— 
(A) differences in the status of women and men and 
their differential access to and control over assets, 
resources, education, opportunities, and services; 
(B) the influence of gender roles, structural barriers, 
and norms on the division of time between paid employ-
ment, unpaid work (including the subsistence production 
and care for family members), and volunteer activities; 
(C) the influence of gender roles, structural barriers, 
and norms on leadership roles and decision making; con-
straints, opportunities, and entry points for narrowing 
gender gaps and empowering women; and 
(D) potential differential impacts of development poli-
cies and programs on men and women, including unin-
tended or negative consequences; and 
(2) includes conclusions and recommendations to enable 
development policies and programs to narrow gender gaps and 
improve the lives of women and girls. 
(b) INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION POLICY.—It 
shall be the international development cooperation policy of the 
United States— 
(1) to reduce gender disparities with respect to economic, 
social, political, educational, and cultural resources, 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— 
(A) legal frameworks that give women equal rights 
to own, register, use, profit from, and inherit land and 
property; 
(B) improving legal literacy to enable women to exer-
cise the rights described in subparagraph (A); and 
(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. 
(c) ACTIONS.—In order to advance the policy described in sub-
section (b), the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development shall ensure that— 
22 USC 2151–2. 
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132 STAT. 5512 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
(1) strategies, projects, and activities of the Agency are 
shaped by a gender analysis; 
(2) standard indicators are used to assess such strategies, 
projects, and activities, if applicable; and 
(3) 
gender 
equality 
and 
female 
empowerment 
are 
integrated throughout the Agency’s program cycle and related 
processes for purposes of strategic planning, project design and 
implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. 
SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR MICRO, SMALL, AND MEDIUM- 
SIZED ENTERPRISES. 
(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Section 251 of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2211) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘microenterprise’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 
small, and medium-sized enterprises’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘and in the development’’ and inserting 
‘‘, in the development’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘, and in the economic empowerment 
of the poor, especially women’’ before the period at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘microenterprise’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, 
small, and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, particularly enterprises owned, man-
aged, and controlled by women’’ before the period at the 
end; 
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘microenterprises’’ and 
inserting ‘‘micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises’’; 
(4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘microenterprise’’ and 
inserting ‘‘micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise’’; 
(5) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘should continue’’ and inserting ‘‘should 
continue and be expanded’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘microenterprise and microfinance 
development assistance’’ and inserting ‘‘development assist-
ance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises’’; and 
(6) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘have been successful’’ and inserting 
‘‘have had some success’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘microenterprise programs should’’ and 
inserting ‘‘development assistance for micro, small, and 
medium-sized enterprises should’’; 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— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
‘‘credit, savings, and other services to microfinance and 
microenterprise clients’’ and inserting ‘‘credit, including the 
use of innovative credit scoring models, savings, financial 
technology, financial literacy, education, insurance, prop-
erty rights, and other services to micro, small, and medium- 
sized enterprise clients’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘microfinance and 
microenterprise clients’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small, and 
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132 STAT. 5513 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
medium-sized enterprise clients, particularly clients owned, 
managed, and controlled by women’’; 
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘microenterprises’’ 
and inserting ‘‘micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises’’; 
(D) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘microfinance and microenterprise 
institutions’’ and inserting ‘‘financial intermediaries’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘microfinance and microenterprise 
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 microenterprise 
clients and institutions’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small, 
and 
medium-sized 
enterprises, 
financial 
inter-
mediaries, 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, inherit-
ance 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-poverty, consumption support, pro-
motion of savings, financial literacy, skills training, and asset 
transfers.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by amending 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 financial markets, expand access 
to appropriate financial products and services, and support 
the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. 
The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall possess 
technical expertise and ability to offer leadership in the field 
of financial sector development.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(B) USE OF CENTRAL FUNDING MECHANISMS.—In order 
to ensure that assistance under this title is distributed 
effectively and efficiently, the office shall provide coordina-
tion and support for field-implemented programs, including 
through targeted core support for micro, small, and 
medium-sized enterprises and local financial markets.’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (C), in the matter preceding 
clause (i)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘, particularly by protecting 
the use and funding of local organizations in coun-
tries in 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); and 
Coordination. 
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132 STAT. 5514 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
(3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection (a), 50 percent 
of all microenterprise resources’’ and all that follows and 
inserting the following: ‘‘subsection (a)— 
‘‘(1) 50 percent of all micro, small, and medium-sized enter-
prise resources shall be targeted to activities that reach the 
very poor; and 
‘‘(2) 50 percent of all small and medium-sized enterprise 
resources shall be targeted to activities that reach enterprises 
owned, managed, and controlled by women.’’. 
(c) MONITORING SYSTEM.—Section 253(b) of the Foreign Assist-
ance 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 improvements in employ-
ment, access to financial services, education, enterprise develop-
ment, earnings and control over income, and property and 
land rights,’’ after ‘‘performance goals’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘include performance 
indicators to be used in measuring or assessing the achieve-
ment’’ and inserting ‘‘incorporate Agency 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 For-
eign 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 organizations, should have 
in place at least 1 method for implementing partners to use to 
assess poverty levels of their current incoming or prospective cli-
ents.’’. 
(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 enterprises’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘and, to the extent applicable’’ and all that 
follows and inserting a period. 
(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 ‘‘MICROENTERPRISE 
DEVELOPMENT
CREDITS’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘DEVELOPMENT 
CREDITS
FOR
MICRO, SMALL, AND
MEDIUM-SIZED
ENTER-
PRISES’’; 
(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 ‘‘microenterprises’’ 
and inserting ‘‘micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
‘‘microenterprise households lacking full access to credit’’ 
and inserting ‘‘micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises 
and households lacking full access to credit and other finan-
cial services’’; and 
Consultation. 
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132 STAT. 5515 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
(B) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking ‘‘microfinance 
institutions’’ each place such term appears and inserting 
‘‘financial intermediaries’’; 
(4) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1), by striking ‘‘microfinance institutions’’ and inserting ‘‘finan-
cial intermediaries’’; and 
(5) in subsections (c) and (d), by striking ‘‘microenterprise 
households’’ each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘micro, 
small, and medium-sized enterprises and households’’. 
(g) UNITED STATES MICROFINANCE LOAN FACILITY.—Section 257 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2213) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ and inserting ‘‘Presi-
dent’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘United States-supported microfinance 
institutions’’ and inserting ‘‘United States-supported finan-
cial intermediaries’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘United States-sup-
ported microfinance institutions’’ each place such term 
appears and inserting ‘‘United States-supported financial 
intermediaries’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘microfinance institu-
tions’’ and inserting ‘‘financial intermediaries’’. 
(h) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Section 258(b) of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214(b)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—To the extent practicable, the report submitted 
under subsection (a) should contain the following: 
‘‘(1) Information about assistance provided under section 
252, including— 
‘‘(A) the amount of each grant or other form of assist-
ance; 
‘‘(B) the name and type of each intermediary and imple-
menting partner organization receiving assistance; 
‘‘(C) the name of each country receiving assistance; 
and 
‘‘(D) the methodology used to ensure compliance with 
the targeted assistance requirements under subsection (c) 
of such section. 
‘‘(2) The percentage of assistance provided under section 
252, disaggregated by income level, including for the very poor, 
and by gender. 
‘‘(3) The estimated number of individuals that received 
assistance under section 252, disaggregated by income level 
(or an appropriate proxy for income level, including for the 
very poor), by gender, and by type of assistance. 
‘‘(4) The results of the monitoring system required under 
section 253. 
‘‘(5) Information about any method in place to assess pov-
erty levels under section 254.’’. 
(i) DEFINITIONS.—Section 259 of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2214a) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Committee on Inter-
national Relations of the House of Representatives’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives’’; 
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132 STAT. 5516 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘microenterprises’’ and 
inserting ‘‘micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises’’; 
(3) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘microenterprise 
institution’’ and inserting ‘‘micro, small, or medium-sized 
enterprise institution’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘microfinance 
institution’’ and inserting ‘‘financial intermediary’’; 
(4) by striking paragraphs (7) and (8) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(7) MICRO, SMALL, AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise 
institution’ means an entity that provides services, including 
finance, training, or business development services, for micro, 
small, and medium-sized enterprises in foreign countries. 
‘‘(8) FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘financial inter-
mediary’ 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 institution that provides financial services to a micro, 
small, or medium-sized enterprise.’’; 
(5) by striking paragraph (9); 
(6) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (14) as para-
graphs (9) through (13), respectively; 
(7) in paragraph (9), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘of micro-
enterprise development’’; 
(8) by amending paragraph (10), as redesignated, to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(10) PRACTITIONER INSTITUTION.—The term ‘practitioner 
institution’ means a not-for-profit entity, a financial inter-
mediary, an information and communications technology firm 
with a mobile money platform, a village and savings loan 
group, or any other entity that provides financial or business 
development services authorized under section 252 that benefits 
micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise clients.’’; 
(9) in paragraph (12), as redesignated— 
(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘UNITED 
STATES-SUPPORTED
MICROFINANCE
INSTITUTION’’ 
and 
inserting ‘‘UNITED
STATES-SUPPORTED
FINANCIAL
INTER-
MEDIARY’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘United States-supported microfinance 
institution’’ and inserting ‘‘United States-supported finan-
cial intermediary’’; and 
(10) in paragraph (13), as redesignated, by amending 
subparagraph (B) to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) living below the international poverty line (as 
defined by the International Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development and the International Development Associa-
tion (collectively referred to as the ‘World Bank’)).’’. 
(j) TECHNICAL
AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Title VI of 
chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2211 et seq.) is amended in the title heading by striking 
‘‘MICROENTERPRISE 
DEVELOPMENT 
ASSISTANCE’’ 
and 
inserting ‘‘DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR MICRO, SMALL, 
AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES’’. 
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132 STAT. 5517 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
SEC. 5. REPORT AND BRIEFING BY THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR 
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 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 a report to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate regarding the implementation of this Act and the amend-
ments made by this Act, including actions to improve the gender 
policies of the United States Agency for International Development 
pursuant to section 3. 
(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required under sub-
section (a) shall be posted and made available on a text-based, 
searchable, and publicly-available internet website. 
SEC. 6. REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate regarding development assistance for micro, 
small, and medium-sized enterprises administered by the United 
States Agency for International Development. 
(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report required under sub-
section (a) shall include an assessment of the following: 
(1) What is known about the impact of such development 
assistance on the economies of developing countries. 
(2) The extent to which such development assistance is 
targeting women and the very poor, including what is known 
about how such development assistance benefits women. 
(3) The extent to which the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development has developed a methodology to ensure 
compliance with the targeted assistance requirement under 
section 252(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended 
by section 4(b)(3), and the quality of such methodology. 
(4) The monitoring system required under section 253(b) 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended by section 
Assessment. 
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132 STAT. 5518 
PUBLIC LAW 115–428—JAN. 9, 2019 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 3247 (H.R. 5480): 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 115–718 (Comm. on Foreign Affairs) accompanying 
H.R. 5480. 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018): 
Dec. 19, considered and passed Senate. 
Dec. 21, considered and passed House. 
4(c), including the quality, appropriateness, and feasibility of 
such monitoring system. 
Approved January 9, 2019. 
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