,,ii #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bgff ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,october #ca1 #bjai,ms4 ,collins 7for herself and ,mr4 ,cardin7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,a ,,bill ,to support and expand civic engagement and political leadership of adolescent girls around the world1 and other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,girls' ,leadership1 ,engagement1 ,agency1 and ,development ,act of #bjai or the ,girls ,,lead ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,inclusive democracy and governance are fundamental objectives and critical foundations for sustainable development and global peace4 ,promotion of democracy1 human rights1 and governance is a reflection of fundamental ,american values and identity4 7#b7 ,democracies score consistently higher than nondemocracies on a broad range of socioeconomic development indicators1 including infant and child mortality1 life expectancy1 primary school enrollment1 adult literacy1 female youth literacy1 female secondary school enrollment1 and access to clean water4 7#c7 ,women's political participation results in tangible gains for democracy1 including greater responsiveness to citizen needs1 increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines1 and more sustainable peace4 7#d7 ,women in leadership positions are more likely to resolve national crises without resorting to violence1 sustain peace agreements over longer periods of time1 advocate for social issues that benefit all1 and allocate budgets to health and education4 7#e7 ,despite comprising over #ej percent of the world's population1 women are underrepresented at all levels of public sector decision making4 ,at the current rate of progress1 it will take over #ajj years to achieve gender parity in political participation4 7#f7 ,engaging adolescent girls more in civil and political activities contributes to increased political participation and women's leadership around the world over time4 ,adolescents who participate actively in their community from early on are more likely to become engaged citizens and voters1 with higher levels of ambition for future leadership positions in both politics and the private sector4 ,their safe1 meaningful1 and appropriate participation is key to creating democratic societies with informed and engaged citizens4 7#g7 ,adolescence is a critical period in a girl's life1 when significant physical1 emotional1 and social changes shape her future4 ,adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to ,,hiv_/,,aids1 child1 early1 and forced marriage1 and other forms of gender-based violence1 including sexual exploitation1 harassment1 and assault1 which are detrimental to their futures4 7#h7 ,approximately #acb1jjj1jjj adolescent girls between the ages of #f-ag are out of school4 ,united ,nations data revealed an increase of over six percent in the number of adolescent girls not in primary school1 in just one year1 from #cb1jjj1jjj in #bjae to #cd1jjj1jjj in #bjaf4 7#i7 ,by #bjcj1 over #aej1jjj1jjj more adolescent girls will marry as children4 ,despite global progress1 #ab1jjj1jjj adolescent girls under #ah will marry annually4 ,the number one cause of death for adolescent girls #ae-ai years old is childbirth1 and #ij percent of births to adolescent girls #ae-ai occur within a marriage4 7#aj7 ,every #aj minutes1 somewhere in the world1 an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence4 ,a girl's risk of dying as a result of violence increases from early to late adolescence4 ,violence is the second leading cause of death among adolescent girls globally4 7#aa7 ,empowering adolescent girls and young women in childhood and as they transition to become adults1 investing in their leadership potential1 and ensuring there are established pathways to positions of political leadership and civic engagement contribute to ensuring a world where women can thrive as political leaders and decisionmakers1 in economic spaces and across society as a whole4 #c4 ,statement of policy ,it shall be the international development policy of the ,united ,states to-- 7#a7 promote and ensure that all adolescents from the most marginalized populations1 including both girls and boys1 are able to fully participate in society1 and are specifically able to exercise their civil and political rights as agents of change in their communities and countries2 7#b7 increase the capability of adolescents1 particularly adolescent girls1 in assuming leadership roles1 holding decisionmakers to account1 and influencing decision making at the household1 community1 and societal levels2 7#c7 ensure meaningful engagement and consultation with adolescents1 particularly adolescent girls1 to ensure that ,united ,states foreign assistance initiatives1 including the planning1 implementation1 and evaluation of projects1 are effective and responsive to this input with a focus on country and community ownership2 7#d7 ensure that consultation processes are transparent1 voluntary1 inclusive1 safe1 respectful1 and responsive to structural barriers affecting adolescent girls' meaningful engagement2 7#e7 actively work to decrease discrimination towards1 and the abuses of1 the rights of adolescent girls1 particularly among the most vulnerable populations2 and 7#f7 utilize evidence-based approaches and practices in developing such programs1 including taking into account the role of family1 religious1 and community leaders in creating supportive environments2 the identification of mentors and role models2 and the creation of safe spaces for adolescent girls4 #d4 ,strategy to encourage the civic and political participation of adolescent girls 7a7 ,strategy required ,not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,state and the ,administrator of the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees and make publicly available a single strategy on strengthening the participation of adolescents1 particularly adolescent girls1 in democracy1 human rights1 and governance4 ,the strategy shall include a detailed description of how each agency's democracy and governance center intends to fulfill the policy objectives set forth in section #c4 7b7 ,elements ,the strategy submitted under subsection 7a7 shall include the following elements3 7#a7 ,a specific implementation plan from each of the relevant ,federal agencies that describes-- 7,a7 the anticipated contributions of the agency1 including technical1 financial1 and in-kind contributions1 to implement the strategy2 and 7,b7 the efforts of the agency to ensure that the policies and initiatives carried out pursuant to the strategy are designed to achieve maximum impact and long-term sustainability4 7#b7 ,strategic objectives and activities1 including social accountability1 research1 and learning1 to advance the leadership1 civic1 and political engagement of adolescents1 particularly adolescent girls1 including a description of how such efforts will advance gender equality and reduce the distinct barriers that adolescent girls and boys each face1 including the most marginalized adolescents1 to their civic participation in existing structures1 institutions1 and the broader enabling environment4 7#c7 ,metrics1 benchmarks1 and a monitoring1 evaluation1 and learning plan to ensure the accountability and effectiveness of all activities related to the policy objectives set forth in section #c4 7#d7 ,an explanation of how such objectives and activities will be aligned with existing ,united ,states foreign assistance policies and strategies relevant to promoting global gender equality and women's and girls' empowerment4 7#e7 ,an explanation of how gender analysis has informed the strategy and implementation plan1 including the strategic objectives and activities to advance the leadership1 civic1 and political engagement of adolescents4 7#f7 ,plans for consultations with civil society that include girl-led and women's organizations and other local civil society in partner countries1 ,united ,states civil society1 and other stakeholders to inform the development and implementation of the strategy1 the creation of metrics1 and the monitoring and evaluation of program interventions4 7c7 ,consultation ,the strategy required under subsection 7a7 shall be developed in consultation with civil society in the ,united ,states and affected foreign countries1 including adolescent girls4 #e4 ,implementation of foreign assistance projects1 programs1 and activities ,the ,secretary of ,state and the ,administrator of the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development shall implement ,united ,states foreign assistance projects1 programs1 and activities designed to strengthen the participation of adolescents1 particularly adolescent girls1 in democracy1 human rights1 and governance1 including-- 7#a7 increasing adolescent girls' civic and political knowledge1 advocacy1 leadership and research skills1 leadership opportunities1 intergenerational mentorship opportunities1 data and media literacy1 and supporting their meaningful political participation and engagement in civil society and the public sphere2 7#b7 addressing barriers to adolescent girls' and women's civic engagement and political participation1 and integrating engagement of men and boys1 families1 community leaders1 religious leaders1 schools1 political bodies1 government bodies1 and other stakeholders to improve the enabling environment for adolescent girls' civic and political participation2 7#c7 identifying and taking into account other barriers to adolescent girls' civic and political engagement1 including child marriage1 access to quality primary and secondary education1 unequal childcare burdens1 gender-based violence1 early pregnancy1 adolescent maternal mortality1 mobility constraints1 malnourishment1 displacement1 lack of safe and reliable female sanitation and hygiene facilities1 and harmful social norms2 7#d7 integrating feedback from program participants into the monitoring1 evaluation1 and learning processes of relevant ,united ,states agencies2 7#e7 supporting girl-led and girl-focused civil society organizations with flexible1 sustainable funding and technical support2 and 7#f7 ensuring age-appropriate and gender-sensitive child-safeguarding provisions for all programs that engage participants under the age of #ah4 #f4 ,prioritization of spending ,the ,secretary of ,state and the ,administrator of the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development shall prioritize foreign assistance funding made available for democracy1 human rights1 and governance programs in accordance with this ,act4 #g4 ,annual report 7a7 ,in general ,not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the ,secretary of ,state and the ,administrator of the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on progress made by relevant ,united ,states ,government agencies towards increasing civic and political participation of adolescent girls and boys around the world4 7b7 ,elements ,the report required under subsection 7a7 shall include the following elements3 7#a7 ,an estimate of the number of people reached by ,united ,states ,government-funded foreign assistance or development intervention disaggregated by age and sex4 7#b7 ,a description of how adolescent girls1 particularly among the most vulnerable populations1 are integrated into existing democracy1 human rights1 governance1 and rule of law programming4 7#c7 ,the percentage of program participants that are adolescent girls in current democracy1 human rights1 and governance programs focused on issues1 including civic engagement1 political participation1 advocacy1 research1 and leadership development1 the percentage of funds spent on those programs that focus on adolescent girls1 and the countries in which those programs take place4 7#d7 ,the number of democracy1 human rights1 and governance programs created to improve or that otherwise support civic engagement1 political participation1 and leadership of adolescent girls1 the amount of funds spent on those programs1 and the countries in which those programs take place4 7c7 ,public availability ,the report required under subsection 7a7 shall be posted and made available on a text-based1 searchable1 and publicly available internet website4 #h4 ,definitions ,in this ,act-- 7#a7 the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,senate2 and 7,b7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,house of ,representatives2 7#b7 the term foreign assistance has the meaning given the term in section #fcd7;b7 of the ,foreign ,assistance ,act of #aifa 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #bcid7;b772 and 7#c7 the term gender analysis has the meaning given the term in section #c7;a7 of the ,women's ,entrepreneurship and ,economic ,empowerment ,act of #bjah 7,public ,law #aae-dbh74