Home > 108th Congressional Bills > H.R. 4061 (ih) To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries. [Introduced in House] ...H.R. 4061 (ih) To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries. [Introduced in House] ...
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4061
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for
orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Assistance for Orphans and Other
Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1)(A) According to estimates by the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), there are more than 132,000,000
children in the world under the age of three.
(B) Of these children, 4,000,000 will die in their first
month of life and another 7,000,000 will die each year before
reaching the age of five. Thus an average of 30,000 children
under the age of three die each day.
(2) According to a report developed by the United Nations
Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNICEF, and the United
States Agency for International Development, in 2001 there were
more than 110,000,000 orphans living in sub-Saharan Africa,
Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
(3) Assessments carried out by the International Labor
Organization (ILO) to investigate the situation of children who
are working found that orphans are much more likely than non-
orphans to be working in commercial agriculture, the domestic
service industry, prostitution, as street vendors, or in
industries that violate internationally recognized rights of
children.
(4) Infants who are poor and malnourished are more likely
to contract respiratory infections, diarrhea, measles, and
other preventable diseases, and are less likely to receive
needed health care.
(5) According to UNAIDS and UNICEF, by the end of 2001
there were an estimated 14,000,000 children under the age of 15
who had lost one or both parents to AIDS.
(6) As the number of HIV cases increases in sub-Saharan
Africa and the Caribbean, as well as in Eastern Europe and
Asia, the death rate from AIDS among adults in those regions is
expected to increase. By 2010 the total number of children in
those regions who will lose one or both parents to AIDS is
expected to be approximately 30,000,000.
(7) One-third of children born from an HIV-infected mother
develop HIV/AIDS. Few of these children have access to HIV/AIDS
medications.
(8) Globally, more than 11,800,000 young people ages 15 to
24 were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001, and each day another
6,000 young people became infected with HIV. New estimates
indicate that more than 70 percent of new HIV cases among this
age group in sub-Saharan Africa are young women and girls.
(9) As their parents fall progressively sick from HIV/AIDS,
children generally must take on an increasing number of
responsibilities. Girls take responsibility for more household
chores, often drop out of school, and care for their parents.
(10)(A) Without an adequate diet, individuals infected with
HIV often die at an earlier age. Individuals with HIV become
increasingly weak and fatigued, do not respond to drug
treatment, and are prone to other illnesses such as
malnutrition and tuberculosis (TB).
(B) Hunger can also cause previously HIV-negative people to
engage in high-risk survival strategies that increase their
chances of becoming infected with HIV.
(11) Extreme poverty and hunger coupled with the loss of
one or both parents as a result of AIDS can force children from
their families to a life on the streets, where the risk of HIV
infection is extremely high.
(12)(A) A considerable number of United States and
indigenous private voluntary organizations, including faith-
based organizations, provide assistance to orphans and other
vulnerable children in developing countries, especially
children affected by HIV/AIDS.
(B) Many of these organizations have submitted applications
for grants from the United States Agency for International
Development in order to provide increased levels of assistance
for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing
countries but in most cases the Agency has not approved the
applications.
(13)(A) Section 403(b) of the United States Leadership
Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public
Law 108-25) establishes the requirement that for fiscal years
2006 through 2008, not less than 10 percent of amounts
appropriated for HIV/AIDS assistance for each such fiscal year
shall be expended for assistance for orphans and other
vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS.
(B) Further, section 403(b) of Public Law 108-25 requires
that at least 50 percent of such amounts shall be provided
through non-profit, nongovernmental organizations, including
faith-based organizations, that implement programs on the
community level.
(14)(A) It is essential that the United States Government
adopt a comprehensive approach for the provision of assistance
to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing
countries.
(B) This comprehensive approach should ensure that
important services, such as basic care, treatment for those
children with HIV/AIDS, mental health and related services for
those children affected by HIV/AIDS, school food programs,
increased educational opportunities and employment training and
related services, and the protection and promotion of
inheritance rights, are made more accessible.
(C) This comprehensive approach should also ensure that
government agencies and the private sector coordinate efforts
to prevent and eliminate duplication of efforts and waste.
(15) As a result of the numerous United States Government
programs under which assistance is specifically authorized or
otherwise available for orphans and vulnerable children in
developing countries, the United States Agency for
International Development will be required to develop
innovative methods for the conduct and monitoring of these
programs, including through the collection, analysis, and
reporting of information on the programs and the extent to
which such programs provide assistance directly and indirectly
to such children.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The primary purpose of this Act, and the amendments made by this
Act, is to provide assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children,
especially such children affected by HIV/AIDS, and in particular, for
such children in countries heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. To the maximum
extent practicable, such assistance shall be provided for the direct
benefit to such orphaned and vulnerable children.
SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
Title V of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2201) is amended to read as follows:
``TITLE V--ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN
``SEC. 241. FINDINGS; DECLARATION OF POLICY.
``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
``(1) By 2010, HIV/AIDS will orphan more than 25,000,000
children worldwide.
``(2) Ongoing conflicts and civil wars in developing
countries are adversely affecting children in these countries,
the vast majority of whom currently do not receive humanitarian
assistance or other support from the United States Government.
``(3) The United States Government currently administers
assistance programs for orphans and other vulnerable children
in developing countries. When requested by the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives to
provide information on the overall number of orphans and other
vulnerable children receiving assistance from the United States
Agency for International Development in fiscal year 2002, the
Agency was only able to report on its HIV/AIDS assistance
program, under which the Agency provided assistance to 462,000
such orphans and other vulnerable children.
``(4) The United States Government should increase its
efforts to provide assistance for orphans and other vulnerable
children in developing countries, especially those children
affected by HIV/AIDS or conflict.
``(5) The United States Agency for International
Development should establish improved capacity to deliver
assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in
developing countries through partnerships with private
voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations.
``(6) Further, the United States Agency for International
Development should be the primary United States Government
agency responsible for identifying and assisting orphans and
other vulnerable children in developing countries.
``(b) Declaration of Policy.--Congress, recognizing that prompt and
appropriate action by the United States to assist orphans and other
vulnerable children in developing countries is an important expression
of the humanitarian concern and tradition of the people of the United
States, affirms the willingness of the United States to assist such
orphans and other vulnerable children--
``(1) by providing assistance for the purpose of improving
the health, nutritional, shelter, educational, economic, and
psychological status of orphans and other vulnerable children
in such countries; and
``(2) by providing humanitarian and protection assistance
to such orphans and other vulnerable children affected by
conflict or civil strife.
``SEC. 242. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE BASIC CARE.
``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
``(1) The need for individuals and local organizations in
developing countries to assist households headed by children is
necessary due to the increase in the number of such households.
Millions of children in these types of households lack basic
care, such as access to food and shelter.
``(2) Although families and extended families serve as the
primary providers of care for these children, when these family
care networks break down, and when communities are responsible
for raising orphans, these children are cared for in a rich and
nurturing environment and remain connected to the traditions
and rituals of families and the community.
``(3) As the number of these children increases, the
ability of communities to provide basic care for such children
is limited. Assistance to support the provision of such basic
care is therefore necessary in and of itself and also to
facilitate the provision of other types of assistance for such
children under this title.
``(b) Assistance.--
``(1) In general.--The President is authorized to provide
assistance for programs in developing countries to provide
basic care for orphans and other vulnerable children.
``(2) Activities supported.--Assistance provided under
paragraph (1) should be used--
``(A) to support individuals and local
organizations, including teachers, social workers, and
representatives from religious institutions and
nongovernmental organizations, to mobilize their own
resources through the strengthening of community care
coalitions, networks, or support groups to provide
basic care for orphans and other vulnerable children,
including day care, food assistance, protection
assistance, and home visits;
``(B) to increase the capacity of the community
care groups described in subparagraph (A) to meet on a
regular basis to identify orphans and other vulnerable
children and to facilitate the provision of services;
and
``(C) to ensure that the activities of community
care groups described in subparagraph (A) include
appropriate monitoring and supervision components.
``(3) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `protection
assistance' means all appropriate measures to promote the
physical and psychological security of an individual, provide
equal access to basic services for the individual, and
safeguard the legal and human rights and dignity of the
individual.
``SEC. 243. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE TREATMENT TO ORPHANS AND OTHER
VULNERABLE CHILDREN WITH HIV/AIDS.
``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
``(1) Approximately 2,500,000 children under the age of 15
worldwide have HIV/AIDS. Every day another 2,000 children under
the age of 15 are infected with HIV.
``(2) In 2002, approximately 2,500,000 children were at
risk for infection with HIV through mother-to-child
transmission, which includes transmission at any point during
pregnancy, labor, delivery, or breastfeeding.
``(3) To date, more than 4,000,000 children worldwide are
estimated to have died from AIDS, primarily contracted through
mother-to-child transmission. Every year, approximately 700,000
babies are infected with HIV, of which the majority are living
in Africa.
``(4) In southern Africa HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause
of death among young children, accounting for almost half of
such deaths.
``(5) Research has shown conclusively that initiation in a
timely manner of antiretroviral therapy for infants or young
children with HIV/AIDS can preserve or restore their immune
functions, promote normal growth and development, and prolong
life.
``(6) Few international development programs specifically
target the treatment of children with HIV/AIDS in developing
countries. Reasons for this include the perceived low priority
of pediatric treatment, a lack of pediatric health care
professionals, lack of expertise and experience in pediatric
drug dosing and monitoring, the perceived complexity of
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