[115th Congress Public Law 442]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
PROTECTING GIRLS' ACCESS TO EDUCATION
IN VULNERABLE SETTINGS ACT
[[Page 132 STAT. 5590]]
Public Law 115-442
115th Congress
An Act
To enhance the transparency, improve the coordination, and intensify the
impact of assistance to support access to primary and secondary
education for displaced children and persons, including women and girls,
and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Jan. 14, 2019 - [S. 1580]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Protecting
Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. 22 USC 2151
note.>>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Girls' Access to Education
in Vulnerable Settings Act''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 22 USC 2151c-1 note.>> FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) As of June 2018, more than 68,000,000 people have been
displaced by disasters and conflicts around the world, the
highest number recorded since the end of World War II, of which
more than 25,000,000 people are refugees.
(2) More than half of the population of refugees are
children and, according to the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, nearly 4,000,000 school-aged refugee children lack
access to primary education.
(3) Education offers socioeconomic opportunities,
psychological stability, and physical protection for displaced
people, particularly for women and girls, who might otherwise be
vulnerable to severe forms of trafficking in persons (as such
term is defined in section 103(9) of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(9)), child marriage,
sexual exploitation, or economic disenfranchisement.
(4) Displaced children face considerable barriers to
accessing educational services and, because the duration of such
displacement is, on average, 26 years, such children may spend
the entirety of their childhood without access to such services.
(5) Despite the rising need for educational services, as of
2016, less than two percent of humanitarian aid was directed
toward educational services.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) it is critical to ensure that children, particularly
girls, displaced by conflicts overseas are able to access
educational services because such access can combat extremism
and reduce exploitation and poverty; and
[[Page 132 STAT. 5591]]
(2) the educational needs of vulnerable women and girls
should be considered in the design, implementation, and
evaluation of related United States foreign assistance policies
and programs.
SEC. 4. <<NOTE: 22 USC 2151c-1 note.>> STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) partner with and encourage other countries, public and
private multilateral institutions, and nongovernmental and civil
society organizations, including faith-based organizations and
organizations representing parents and children, to support
efforts to ensure that displaced children have access to safe
primary and secondary education;
(2) work with donors to enhance training and capacity-
building for the governments of countries hosting significant
numbers of displaced people to design, implement, and monitor
programs to effectively address barriers to such education; and
(3) <<NOTE: Coordination.>> coordinate with the governments
of countries hosting significant numbers of displaced people
to--
(A) promote the inclusion of displaced children into
the educational systems of such countries; and
(B) in circumstances in which such inclusion is
difficult, develop innovative approaches to providing
safe primary and secondary educational opportunities,
such as encouraging schools to permit children to be
educated by extending the hours of schooling or
expanding the number of teachers.
SEC. 5. <<NOTE: 22 USC 2151c-1.>> UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO
SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL SERVICES FOR DISPLACED
CHILDREN.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development are authorized to
prioritize and advance ongoing efforts to support programs that--
(1) provide safe primary and secondary education for
displaced children;
(2) build the capacity of institutions in countries hosting
displaced people to prevent discrimination against displaced
children, especially displaced girls, who seek access to such
education; and
(3) help increase the access of displaced children,
especially displaced girls, to educational, economic, and
entrepreneurial opportunities, including through the
governmental authorities responsible for educational or youth
services in such host countries.
(b) Coordination With Multilateral Organizations.--The Secretary and
the Administrator are authorized to coordinate with the World Bank,
appropriate agencies of the United Nations, and other relevant
multilateral organizations to work with governments in other countries
to collect relevant data, disaggregated by age and gender, on the
ability of displaced people to access education and participate in
economic activity, in order to improve the targeting, monitoring, and
evaluation of related assistance efforts.
(c) Coordination With Private Sector and Civil Society
Organizations.--The Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to
work with private sector and civil society organizations to promote safe
primary and secondary education for displaced children.
[[Page 132 STAT. 5592]]
SEC. 6. <<NOTE: 22 USC 2151c note.>> REPORT.
The Secretary and the Administrator shall include in the report
required under section 7 of the READ Act (division A of Public Law 115-
56; 22 U.S.C. 2151c note) a description of any primary or secondary
educational services supported by programs for natural or manmade
disaster relief or response that specifically address the needs of
displaced girls.
Approved January 14, 2019.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1580:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 164 (2018):
Dec. 12, considered and passed Senate.
Dec. 21, considered and passed House.
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