Afghan Women and Children Relief Act of 2001
PL 107-81 (S.1573), enacted 12/12/2001

PUBLIC LAW 107-81—DEC. 12, 2001 
115 STAT. 811 
Public Law 107-81 
107th Congress 
An Act 
To authorize the provision of educational and health care assistance to the women 
and children of Afghanistan. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
Tliis Act may be cited as the "Afghan Women and Children 
Relief Act of 2001". 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) In Afghanistan, Taliban restrictions on women's partici-
pation in society make it nearly impossible for women to exer-
cise their basic human rights. The Taliban restrictions on 
Afghan women's freedom of expression, association, and move-
ment deny women full participation in society and, con-
sequently, from effectively securing basic access to work, edu-
cation, and health care. 
(2) Afghanistan has one of the highest infant (165 of 1000) 
and child (257 of 1000) mortality rates in the world. 
(3) Only 5 percent of rural and 39 percent of urban Afghans 
have access to safe drinking water. 
(4) It is estimated that 42 percent of all deaths in Afghani-
stan are due to diarrheal diseases caused by contaminated 
food and water. 
(5) Over one-third of Afghan children under 5 years of 
age suffer from malnutrition, 85,000 of whom die annually. 
(6) Seventy percent of the health care system in Afghani-
stan is dependent on foreign assistance. 
(7) As of May 1998, only 20 percent of hospital medical 
and surgical beds dedicated to adults were available for women, 
and thousands of Afghan women and girls are routinely denied 
health care. 
(8) Women are forbidden to leave their homes without 
being escorted by a male relative. This prevents many women 
from seeking basic necessities like health care and food for 
their children. Doctors, virtually all of whom are male, are 
also not permitted to provide certain types of care not deemed 
appropriate by the Taliban. 
Dec. 12, 2001 
[S. 1573] 
Afghan Women 
and Children 
Relief Act of 
2001. 
22 u s e 2374 
note. 
89-194 O - 03 - 27 QL 3 Part 1 
115 STAT. 812 
PUBLIC LAW 107-81—DEC. 12, 2001 
President. 
Effective date. 
Reports. 
(9) Before the Taliban took control of Kabul, schools were 
coeducational, with women accounting for 70 percent of the 
teaching force. Women represented about 50 percent of the 
civil service corps, and 40 percent of the city's physicians were 
women. Today, the Taliban prohibits women from working as 
teachers, doctors, and in any other occupation. 
(10) The Taliban prohibit girls and women from attending 
school. In 1998, the Taliban ordered the closing of more than 
100 privately funded schools where thousands of young women 
and girls were receiving education and training in skills that 
would have helped them support themselves and their families. 
(11) Of the many tens of thousands of war widows in 
Afghanistan, many are forced to beg for food and to sell their 
possessions because they are not allowed to work. 
(12) Resistance movements courageously continue to edu-
cate Afghan girls in secrecy and in foreign countries against 
Taliban law. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the President is 
authorized, on such terms and conditions as the President may 
determine, to provide educational and health care assistance for 
the women and children living in Afghanistan and as refugees 
in neighboring countries. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—(1) In providing assistance under sub-
section (a), the President shall ensure that such assistance is pro-
vided in a manner that protects and promotes the human rights 
of all people in Afghanistan, utilizing indigenous institutions and 
nongovernmental organizations, especially women's organizations, 
to the extent possible. 
(2) Beginning 6 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, and at least annually for the 2 years thereafter, the Secretary 
of State shall submit a report to the Committee on Appropriations 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on International 
Relations of the House of Representatives describing the activities 
carried out under this Act and otherwise describing the condition 
and status of women and children in Afghanistan and the persons 
in refugee camps while United States aid is given to displaced 
Afghans. 
PUBLIC LAW 107-81—DEC. 12, 20G1 
115 STAT. 813 
(c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—^Funds made available under the 
2001 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery 
from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States (Public 
Law 107-38), shall be available to carry out this Act. 
Approved December 12, 2001. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 1573: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 147 (2001): 
Nov. 15, considered and passed Senate. 
Nov. 27, considered and passed House. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 37 (2001): 
Dec. 12, Presidential remarks.