Girls LEAD Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 634 To support and expand civic engagement and political leadership of adolescent girls around the world, and other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 9, 2021 Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To support and expand civic engagement and political leader- ship of adolescent girls around the world, and other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Girls Leadership, En- 4 gagement, Agency, and Development Act of 2021’’ or the 5 ‘‘Girls LEAD Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress makes the following findings: 8 (1) Inclusive democracy and governance are 9 fundamental objectives and critical foundations for 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 634 IS sustainable development and global peace. Pro- 1 motion of democracy, human rights, and governance 2 is a reflection of fundamental American values and 3 identity. 4 (2) Democracies score consistently higher than 5 nondemocracies on a broad range of socioeconomic 6 development indicators, including infant and child 7 mortality, life expectancy, primary school enrollment, 8 adult literacy, female youth literacy, female sec- 9 ondary school enrollment, and access to clean water. 10 (3) Women’s political participation results in 11 tangible gains for democracy, including greater re- 12 sponsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation 13 across party and ethnic lines, and more sustainable 14 peace, as emphasized in the Women, Peace, and Se- 15 curity Act (Public Law 115–68). 16 (4) Women in leadership positions are more 17 likely to resolve national crises without resorting to 18 violence, sustain peace agreements over longer peri- 19 ods of time, advocate for social issues that benefit 20 all, and allocate budgets to health and education. 21 (5) Despite comprising over 50 percent of the 22 world’s population, women are underrepresented at 23 all levels of public sector decision making. At the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 634 IS current rate of progress, it will take over 100 years 1 to achieve gender parity in political participation. 2 (6) Engaging adolescent girls more in civil and 3 political activities contributes to increased political 4 participation and women’s leadership around the 5 world over time. Adolescents who participate actively 6 in their community from early on are more likely to 7 become engaged citizens and voters, with higher lev- 8 els of ambition for future leadership positions in 9 both politics and the private sector. Their safe, 10 meaningful, and appropriate participation is key to 11 creating democratic societies with informed and en- 12 gaged citizens. 13 (7) Adolescence is a critical period in a girl’s 14 life, when significant physical, emotional, and social 15 changes shape her future. Adolescent girls are par- 16 ticularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other STDs 17 and STIs, child, early, and forced marriage, and 18 other forms of gender-based violence, including traf- 19 ficking in persons and sexual exploitation, harass- 20 ment, and assault, which are detrimental to their fu- 21 tures. 22 (8) School closures related to the COVID–19 23 pandemic have pushed nearly 743,000,000 girls 24 around the world out of school, on top of the ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 634 IS proximately 132,000,000 girls between the ages of 6 1 and 17 already out of school. 2 (9) The economic impacts of the COVID–19 3 crisis are projected to put an additional 2,500,000 4 girls at risk of child marriage between 2020 and 5 2025, in addition to the 12,000,000 adolescent girls 6 under 18 who will marry annually. The number one 7 cause of death for adolescent girls 15 to 19 years old 8 is childbirth, and 90 percent of births to adolescent 9 girls 15 to 19 occur within a marriage. 10 (10) Every 10 minutes, somewhere in the 11 world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence. 12 A girl’s risk of dying as a result of violence increases 13 from early to late adolescence. Violence is the second 14 leading cause of death among adolescent girls glob- 15 ally. Girls with disabilities may face up to 10 times 16 more violence than girls without disabilities. 17 (11) Empowering adolescent girls and young 18 women in childhood and as they transition to become 19 adults, investing in their leadership potential, and 20 ensuring there are established pathways to positions 21 of political leadership and civic engagement con- 22 tribute to ensuring a world where women can thrive 23 as political leaders and decisionmakers, in economic 24 spaces and across society as a whole. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 634 IS SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 1 It shall be the international development policy of the 2 United States to— 3 (1) promote and ensure that all adolescents 4 from the most marginalized populations, including 5 both girls and boys, are able to fully participate in 6 society, and are specifically able to exercise their 7 civil and political rights as agents of change in their 8 communities and countries; 9 (2) increase the capability of adolescents, par- 10 ticularly adolescent girls, in assuming leadership 11 roles, holding decisionmakers to account, and influ- 12 encing decision making at the household, commu- 13 nity, and societal levels; 14 (3) ensure meaningful engagement and con- 15 sultation with adolescents, particularly adolescent 16 girls, to ensure that United States foreign assistance 17 initiatives, including the planning, implementation, 18 and evaluation of projects, are effective and respon- 19 sive to this input with a focus on country and com- 20 munity ownership; 21 (4) ensure that consultation processes are 22 transparent, voluntary, inclusive, safe, respectful, 23 and responsive to structural barriers affecting ado- 24 lescent girls’ meaningful engagement; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 634 IS (5) actively work to decrease discrimination to- 1 wards, and the abuses of, the rights of adolescent 2 girls, particularly among the most vulnerable popu- 3 lations; and 4 (6) utilize evidence-based approaches and prac- 5 tices in developing such programs, including taking 6 into account the role of family, religious, and com- 7 munity leaders in creating supportive environments, 8 the identification of mentors and role models, and 9 the creation of safe spaces for adolescent girls. 10 SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO ENCOURAGE THE CIVIC AND POLIT- 11 ICAL PARTICIPATION OF ADOLESCENT 12 GIRLS. 13 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 15 of State and the Administrator of the United States Agen- 16 cy for International Development shall jointly submit, sep- 17 arate from or as part of other public strategies, to the 18 appropriate congressional committees and make publicly 19 available a single strategy on strengthening the participa- 20 tion of adolescents, particularly adolescent girls, in democ- 21 racy, human rights, and governance. The strategy shall 22 include a detailed description of how each agency’s democ- 23 racy and governance center intends to fulfill the policy ob- 24 jectives set forth in section 3. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 634 IS (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy submitted under sub- 1 section (a) shall include the following elements: 2 (1) A specific implementation plan from each of 3 the relevant Federal agencies that describes— 4 (A) the anticipated contributions of the 5 agency, including technical, financial, and in- 6 kind contributions, to implement the strategy; 7 and 8 (B) the efforts of the agency to ensure 9 that the policies and initiatives carried out pur- 10 suant to the strategy are designed to achieve 11 maximum impact and long-term sustainability. 12 (2) Strategic objectives and activities, including 13 social accountability, research, and learning, to ad- 14 vance the leadership, civic, and political engagement 15 of adolescents, particularly adolescent girls, includ- 16 ing a description of how such efforts will advance 17 gender equality and reduce the distinct barriers that 18 adolescent girls and boys each face, including the 19 most marginalized adolescents, to their civic partici- 20 pation in existing structures, institutions, and the 21 broader enabling environment. 22 (3) Metrics, benchmarks, and a monitoring, 23 evaluation, and learning plan to ensure the account- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 634 IS ability and effectiveness of all activities related to 1 the policy objectives set forth in section 3. 2 (4) An explanation of how such objectives and 3 activities will be aligned with existing United States 4 foreign assistance policies and strategies relevant to 5 promoting global gender equality and women’s and 6 girls’ empowerment. 7 (5) An explanation of how gender analysis has 8 informed the strategy and implementation plan, in- 9 cluding the strategic objectives and activities to ad- 10 vance the leadership, civic, and political engagement 11 of adolescents. 12 (6) Plans for consultations with civil society 13 that include girl-led and women’s organizations and 14 other local civil society in partner countries, United 15 States civil society, and other stakeholders to inform 16 the development and implementation of the strategy, 17 the creation of metrics, and the monitoring and eval- 18 uation of program interventions. 19 (c) CONSULTATION.—The strategy required under 20 subsection (a) shall be developed in consultation with civil 21 society in the United States and affected foreign countries, 22 including adolescent girls. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 634 IS SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 1 PROJECTS, PROGRAMS, AND ACTIVITIES. 2 The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 3 United States Agency for International Development shall 4 implement United States foreign assistance projects, pro- 5 grams, and activities designed to strengthen the participa- 6 tion of adolescents, particularly adolescent girls, in democ- 7 racy, human rights, and governance, including— 8 (1) increasing adolescent girls’ civic and polit- 9 ical knowledge and foundational skills, advocacy, 10 confidence, leadership and research skills, leadership 11 opportunities, intergenerational mentorship opportu- 12 nities, data and media literacy, and supporting their 13 meaningful political participation and engagement in 14 civil society and the public sphere; 15 (2) addressing barriers to adolescent girls’ and 16 women’s civic engagement and political participation, 17 and integrating engagement of men and boys, fami- 18 lies, community leaders, religious leaders, schools, 19 political bodies, government bodies, and other stake- 20 holders to improve the enabling environment for ad- 21 olescent girls’ civic and political participation; 22 (3) identifying and taking into account other 23 barriers to adolescent girls’ civic and political en- 24 gagement, including child, early and forced mar- 25 riage, access to quality primary and secondary edu- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 634 IS cation, unequal childcare responsibilities, gender- 1 based violence, early pregnancy and motherhood, ad- 2 olescent maternal mortality, mobility constraints, 3 malnourishment, displacement, lack of safe and reli- 4 able female sanitation and hygiene facilities, harmful 5 social norms, HIV infection, physical, communica- 6 tion, and attitudinal barriers faced by adolescent 7 girls with disabilities, and discrimination based on 8 religious or ethnic identity; 9 (4) integrating feedback from program partici- 10 pants into the monitoring, evaluation, and learning 11 processes of relevant United States departments or 12 agencies; 13 (5) supporting girl-led and girl-focused civil so- 14 ciety organizations with flexible, sustainable funding 15 and technical support; 16 (6) targeted efforts to increase work with part- 17 ner country governments, alongside local civil-society 18 organizations, and to build greater allyship among 19 men and boys for adolescent girls; 20 (7) ensuring age-appropriate and gender-sen- 21 sitive child-safeguarding provisions for all programs 22 that engage participants under the age of 18; and 23 (8) ensuring adolescents, particularly adolescent 24 girls, are provided opportunities and empowering en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S634.IS S634 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 634 IS vironments so that they successfully enter adulthood 1 with skills which empower their leadership within 2 their communities or governments. 3 SEC. 6. PRIORITIZATION OF SPENDING. 4 The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 5 United States Agency for International Development shall 6 prioritize foreign assistance funding made available for de- 7 mocracy, human rights, and governance programs in ac- 8 cordance with this Act. 9 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 11 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 12 the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 13 United States Agency for International Development shall 14 jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees 15 a report on progress made by relevant United States Gov- 16 ernment agencies towards increasing civic and political 17 participation of adolescent girls and boys around the 18 world, separate from or as part of other mandated public 19 reporting on efforts to advance [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]