,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cehc ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,november #ba1 #bjac,ms4 ,ros-,lehtinen 7for herself1 ,ms4 ,granger1 and ,mrs4 ,lowey7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to expand the number of scholarships available to ,pakistani women under the ,merit and ,needs-,based ,scholarship ,program4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,malala ,yousafzai ,scholarship ,act4 #b4 ,findings 7a7 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,on ,october #i1 #bjab1 #ae-year-old ,malala ,yousafzai was shot in the head by ,taliban gunmen in ,pakistan on her way home from school4 7#b7 ,when ,malala was #aa years old1 she bravely stood up to the ,taliban and wrote a secret blog documenting their crackdown on women's rights and education in #bjji4 7#c7 ,malala's advocacy for women's education made her a target of the ,taliban4 7#d7 ,the ,taliban called ,malala's efforts to highlight the need for women's education an obscenity4 7#e7 ,on ,july #ab1 #bjac1 ,malala celebrated her #afth birthday by delivering a speech before the ,united ,nations ,general ,assembly in which she said1 ,so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy1 poverty1 and terrorism4 ,let us pick up our books and our pens4 ,they are the most powerful weapons4 ,one child1 one teacher1 one book1 and one pen can change the world4 ,education is the only solution44 7#f7 ,according to the ,united ,nation's #bjab ,education for ,all ,global ,monitoring ,report1 ,pakistan has the second largest number of children out of school in the world and nearly half of rural females have never been to school44 7#g7 ,according to a ,council on ,foreign ,relations report titled ,what ,works in ,girls' ,education1 ,a #ajj-;country study by the ,world ,bank shows that increasing the share of women with a secondary education by #a percent boosts annual per capita income growth by #j4c percentage points44 7#h7 ,according to the ,world ,bank1 ,the benefits of women's education go beyond higher productivity for #ej percent of the population4 ,more educated women also tend to be healthier1 participate more in the formal labor market1 earn more income1 have fewer children1 and provide better health care and education to their children1 all of which eventually improve the well-being of all individuals and lift households out of poverty4 ,these benefits also transmit across generations1 as well as to their communities at large44 7#i7 ,according to ,united ,nation's #bjab ,education ,for ,all ,global ,monitoring ,report1 education can make a big difference to women's earnings4 ,in ,pakistan1 women with a high level of literacy earned #ie percent more than women with no literacy skills44 7#aj7 ,in ,january #bjaj1 ,secretary of ,state ,hillary ,rodham ,clinton stated1 ,we will open the doors of education to all citizens1 but especially to girls and women ''' ,we are doing all of these things because we have seen that when women and girls have the tools to stay healthy and the opportunity to contribute to their families' well-being1 they flourish and so do the people around them44 7#aa7 ,the ,united ,states provides critical foreign assistance to ,pakistan's education sector to improve access to and the quality of basic and higher education4 7#ab7 ,the ,merit and ,needs-,based ,scholarship ,program administered by the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development awards scholarships to academically talented1 financially needy ,pakistani students from remote regions of the country to pursue bachelor's or master's degrees at participating ,pakistani universities4 7#ac7 ,fifty percent of the #igd ,merit and ,needs-,based ,scholarships awarded during fiscal year #bjac were awarded to ,pakistani women4 ,historically1 only #be percent of such scholarships have been awarded to women4 7#ad7 ,the ,united ,nations declared ,july #ab as ,malala ,day--a global day of support for and recognition of ,malala's bravery and courage in promoting women's education4 7#ae7 ,on ,december #aj1 #bjab1 the ,united ,nations and the ,government of ,pakistan launched the ,malala ,fund for ,girls' ,education to improve girls' access to education worldwide1 with ,pakistan donating the first #aj1jjj1jjj to the ,fund4 7#af7 ,more than #a1jjj1jjj people around the world have signed the ,united ,nations ,special ,envoy for ,global ,education petition calling on the ,government of ,pakistan to enroll every boy and girl in primary school4 7#ag7 ,pakistani civil society organizations collected almost #b1jjj1jjj signatures from ,pakistanis on a petition dedicated to ,malala's cause of education for all4 #c4 ,sense of ,congress 7a7 ,in general ,it is the sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7 every individual should have the opportunity to pursue an education2 7#b7 every individual1 regardless of gender1 should have the opportunity to pursue an education without fear of discrimination2 and 7#c7 educational exchanges promote institutional linkages between the ,united ,states and ,pakistan4 7b7 ,continued support for educational initiatives in ,pakistan ,congress encourages the ,department of ,state and the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development to continue their support for initiatives led by the ,government of ,pakistan and ,pakistani civil society that promote education in ,pakistan1 especially education for women4 #d4 ,merit and ,needs-,based ,scholarship ,program 7a7 ,expansion ,using funding made available under section #f1 the ,administrator of the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development 7referred to in this ,act as the ,,usaid ,administrator7 shall increase the number of scholarships to women under the ,merit and ,needs-,based ,scholarship ,program 7referred to in this ,act as the ,program7 during each of the calendar years #bjac through #bjae over the level awarded to women in calendar year #bjaa4 7b7 ,limitations 7#a7 ,criteria ,the additional scholarships available under subsection 7a7 may only be awarded in accordance with other scholarship eligibility criteria already established by ,,usaid4 7#b7 ,academic disciplines ,additional scholarships authorized under subsection 7a7 shall be awarded for a range of disciplines to improve the employability of graduates and to meet the needs of the scholarship recipients4 7#c7 ,other scholarships ,the ,,usaid ,administrator shall make every effort to award #ej percent of the scholarships available under the ,program to ,pakistani women4 #e4 ,annual congressional briefing 7a7 ,in general ,the ,,usaid ,administrator shall designate appropriate ,,usaid officials to brief the appropriate congressional committees1 not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act1 and annually thereafter for the next #c years1 on the implementation of section #d4 7b7 ,contents ,the briefing described in subsection 7a7 shall include1 among other relevant information1 for the most recently concluded fiscal year-- 7#a7 the total number of scholarships that were awarded through the ,program1 including a breakdown by gender2 7#b7 the disciplines of study chosen by the scholarship recipients2 7#c7 the percentage of the scholarships that were awarded to students seeking a bachelor's degree or a master's degree1 respectively2 and 7#d7 the percentage of scholarship recipients that voluntarily dropped out of school or were involuntarily pushed out of the program for failure to meet program requirements4 #f4 ,funding ,of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year #bjad pursuant to title ,i of the ,enhanced ,partnership with ,pakistan ,act of #bjji 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #hdaa et seq471 #c1jjj1jjj shall be made available for scholarships authorized under section #d7;a74