§ 2152f. Assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children
(a)
Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
There are more than 143,000,000 orphans living [1] sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Of this number, approximately 16,200,000 children have lost both parents.
(2)
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has created an unprecedented orphan crisis, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where children have been hardest hit. The pandemic is deepening poverty in entire communities, and is jeopardizing the health, safety, and survival of all children in affected countries. It is estimated that 14,000,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
(3)
The orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has implications for human welfare, development, and political stability that extend far beyond the region, affecting governments and people worldwide.
(4)
Extended families and local communities are struggling to meet the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable children by providing food, health care including treatment of children living with HIV/AIDS, education expenses, and clothing.
(5)
Famines, natural disasters, chronic poverty, 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.
(6)
The United States Government administers various assistance programs for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries. In order to improve targeting and programming of resources, the United States Agency for International Development should develop methods to adequately track the overall number of orphans and other vulnerable children receiving assistance, the kinds of programs for such children by sector and location, and any other such related data and analysis.
(7)
The United States Agency for International Development should improve its capabilities to deliver assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries through partnerships with private volunteer organizations, including community and faith-based organizations.
(b)
Definitions
In this section:
(5)
Psychosocial support
The term “psychosocial support” includes care that addresses the ongoing psychological and social problems that affect individuals, their partners, families, and caregivers in order to alleviate suffering, strengthen social ties and integration, provide emotional support, and promote coping strategies.
(c)
Assistance
The President is authorized to provide assistance, including providing such assistance through international or nongovernmental organizations, for programs in developing countries to provide basic care and services for orphans and other vulnerable children. Such programs should provide assistance—
(1)
to support families and communities to mobilize their own resources through the establishment of community-based organizations to provide basic care for orphans and other vulnerable children;
(2)
for school food programs, including the purchase of local or regional foodstuffs where appropriate;
(3)
to increase primary school enrollment through the elimination of school fees, where appropriate, or other barriers to education while ensuring that adequate resources exist for teacher training and infrastructure;
(4)
to provide employment training and related services for orphans and other vulnerable children who are of legal working age;
(5)
to protect and promote the inheritance rights of orphans, other vulnerable children, and widows;
(d)
Monitoring and evaluation
(1)
Establishment
To maximize the sustainable development impact of assistance authorized under this section, and pursuant to the strategy required in section 4 of the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005, the President shall establish a monitoring and evaluation system to measure the effectiveness of United States assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children.
(2)
Requirements
The monitoring and evaluation system shall—
(A)
establish performance goals for the assistance and expresses [3] such goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to the extent feasible;
(e)
Special Advisor for Assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable Children
(1)
Appointment
(2)
Duties
The duties of the Special Advisor for Assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable Children shall include the following:
(A)
Coordinate assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children among the various offices, bureaus, and field missions within the United States Agency for International Development.
(B)
Advise the various offices, bureaus, and field missions within the United States Agency for International Development to ensure that programs approved for assistance under this section are consistent with best practices, meet the requirements of this chapter, and conform to the strategy outlined in section 4 of the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005.
(C)
Advise the various offices, bureaus, and field missions within the United States Agency for International Development in developing any component of their annual plan, as it relates to assistance for orphans or other vulnerable children in developing countries, to ensure that each program, project, or activity relating to such assistance is consistent with best practices, meets the requirements of this chapter, and conforms to the strategy outlined in section 4 of the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005.
(D)
Coordinate all United States assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children among United States departments and agencies, including the provision of assistance relating to HIV/AIDS authorized under the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–25) [22 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.], and the amendments made by such Act (including section 102 of such Act, and the amendments made by such section, relating to the coordination of HIV/AIDS programs).
(E)
Establish priorities that promote the delivery of assistance to the most vulnerable populations of orphans and children, particularly in those countries with a high rate of HIV infection among women.
(f)
Authorization of appropriations
[1] So in original. Probably should be “living in”.
[2] See References in Text note below.
[3] So in original. Probably should be “express”.