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H.R.2508
International Cooperation Act of 1991 (Referred to Senate Committee
after being Received from House)
`SEC. 1204. ASSISTANCE FOR POPULATION PLANNING.
`(a) POPULATION PLANNING ASSISTANCE- In order to increase the
opportunities and motivation for family planning and to reduce the rate of
population growth, assistance under this chapter shall include assistance for
voluntary population planning.
`(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be
appropriated to the President to carry out this section $300,000,000 for
fiscal year 1992 and $350,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, in addition to any
other amounts made available under this Act for such purpose.
`(c) LIMITATION ON DIVERSION OF POPULATION FUNDS TO OTHER PURPOSES- In
implementing requirements or authorities to provide assistance from funds
appropriated to carry out this chapter or this title, the amount available to
carry out subsection (a) pursuant to the authorizations provided in subsection
(b) shall not be reduced by a greater proportion than the amount available to
carry out section 1201 pursuant to the authorizations provided in section
1202.
`(d) RESTRICTIONS ON POPULATION ASSISTANCE- Funds for development
assistance, economic support assistance, or assistance from the Development
Fund for Africa that are used for population planning activities may not be
made available--
`(1) to any organization or program which (as determined by the
President) supports, or participates in the management of, a program of
coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization, or
`(2) to any foreign nongovernmental organization which uses (or if any
such funds were made available, would use) funds provided by the United
States Government to perform or actively promote abortion as a method of
family planning.
Funds made available to carry out this title or chapter 1 or chapter 2 of
title V that are made available for population planning activities shall not
be denied to nongovernmental organizations or multilateral organizations on
the basis of any criterion that is not applicable to foreign governments that
receive such funds.
`SEC. 1205. FUNDING FOR THE UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND.
`Notwithstanding the foregoing, of the funds appropriated under section
1204(b), $20,000,000 or 16 percent of the amount appropriated (whichever is
less) shall be available only for the United Nations Population Fund, subject
to the following conditions:
`(1) The United Nations Population Fund shall be required to maintain
these funds in a separate account and not commingle them with any other
funds.
`(2) None of these funds shall be made available for programs for the
People's Republic of China.
`(3) Any agreement entered into by the United States and the United
Nations Population Fund to obligate these funds shall expressly state that
the full amount granted by such agreement will be refunded to the United
States if any United States Funds are used for any family planning programs
in the People's Republic of China or for abortions in any country.
`(4) Any agreement entered into by the United States and the United
Nations Population Fund to obligate funds earmarked under this paragraph
shall expressly state that the full amount granted by such agreement will be
refunded to the United States if, during its five-year program which
commenced in 1990, the United Nations Population Fund provides more than
fifty-seven million dollars for family planning programs in the People's
Republic of China.
`Subchapter B--Special Focus Programs and Activities
`SEC. 1221. ASSISTANCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIC INITIATIVES.
`(a) AUTHORIZATION AND GENERAL PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE- The President may
use funds made available for development assistance, economic support
assistance, and assistance from the Development Fund for Africa to furnish
assistance to support the programs and activities described in subsection (b)
in order to--
`(1) promote increased adherence to internationally recognized human
rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
`(2) improve the performance of institutions of democracy; and
`(3) otherwise promote democracy pursuant to section 1102.
`(b) PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES THAT MAY BE SUPPORTED- Funds made available
under this section shall be available to support the following:
`(1) Programs and activities to enhance the independence and performance
of institutions of democratic governance, including support for judicial,
electoral, and legislative processes.
`(2) Programs and activities--
`(A) to encourage the growth of independent associations by
strengthening professional, civic, trade union, business, community, and
other organizations, and
`(B) to enhance the organizational and leadership skills of the
members of such organizations in order to increase citizen participation
in democratic processes.
`(3) Programs and activities to increase awareness of internationally
recognized human rights (including by increasing the availability of
information concerning the status of respect for internationally recognized
human rights), improve the effective exercise of those rights, and
strengthen respect for the rule of law.
`(4) Programs and activities--
`(A) to support victims of abuses of internationally recognized human
rights, including--
`(i) the direct provision of legal services, and
`(ii) the provision of rehabilitation services for victims of
torture; and
`(B) to support organizations and institutions seeking to bring to
justice those responsible for perpetrating such abuses.
`(5) Programs and activities to support a free and independent
press.
`(6) Programs and activities to--
`(A) provide specialized professional training, scholarships, and
exchanges for continuing legal education;
`(B) promote the role of the bar in judicial selection, enforcement of
ethical standards, and legal reform; and
`(C) increase the availability of legal materials and
publications.
`(7) Programs and activities to develop the institutional capacities of
legislative bodies.
`(8) Programs and activities to support the revision and modernization
of legal codes and procedures, including support for legislative bodies to
assist them in accomplishing those ends.
`(c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE- Assistance under this section may
be furnished to countries and organizations, both public and nongovernmental,
including national, regional, and international organizations. A substantial
portion of the funds made available each fiscal year to carry out this section
shall be used for assistance provided to nongovernmental organizations.
`(d) PROHIBITION RELATING TO ELECTIONS- Assistance under this section may
not be used to influence the outcome of any election in any country.
`(e) LIMITATION ON USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS- Funds made available for
assistance under the Development Fund for Africa may be used under this
section only with respect to countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
`SEC. 1222. DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION.
`The President may use funds made available for development assistance,
economic support assistance, or assistance from the Development Fund for
Africa to support development education programs, with emphasis on those
conducted by private voluntary organizations and cooperatives, in order to
assist in the education of United States citizens about developing countries,
the development process, and the importance to the United States of developing
countries.
`SEC. 1223. STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITY OF NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS,
INCLUDING RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
`The President may use funds made available for development assistance,
economic support assistance, or assistance from the Development Fund for
Africa to furnish assistance to nongovernmental organizations, including
research and educational institutions, in the United States and abroad for the
purpose of strengthening their capacity to develop and carry out programs
concerned with the economic and social development of developing countries.
`SEC. 1224. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT.
`(a) FINDINGS- The Congress makes the following findings and
declarations:
`(1) More than a billion people in the developing world are living in
poverty, with incomes of less than $370 a year.
`(2) According to the World Bank, mortality for children under 5
averaged 121 per thousand for all developing countries.
`(3) Nearly 40,000 children die each day from malnutrition and
disease.
`(4) Poor people themselves can lead the fight against hunger and
poverty through the development of self-sustaining microenterprise
projects.
`(5) Women in poverty generally are less educated, have a larger
workload, and have less access to economic opportunity than their male
counterparts. Directly aiding women in the developing world has a positive
effect on family incomes, child nutrition, and health and education.
`(6) Microenterprise development offers the opportunity for the poor to
play a central role in undertaking strategies for small scale,
self-sustaining businesses that can bring them out of poverty.
`(7) The World Bank estimates that there are over 400,000,000
self-employed poor in the developing world and projects that, by the year
2020, 95 percent of African workers will be employed in the informal
sector.
`(8) For many people, lack of credit creates an obstacle to the
development of self-sustaining enterprises.
`(9) Projects like the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the Badan Kredit
Kecamatan in Indonesia, and ADEMI in the Dominican Republic have been
successful in promoting credit programs that have lent money directly to the
poor. Repayment rates in these programs are 95 percent or higher indicating
that it is possible to `bank on the poor'.
`(10) The Agency for International Development has been a leader in
small and microenterprise development in the past 20 years.
`(11) The Congress earmarked funds for fiscal years 1988, 1989, 1990,
and 1991 for microenterprise development activities and has called upon the
Agency for International Development to take steps to ensure that its
microenterprise activities included a credit component designed to reach the
poorest sector of the developing world.
`(12) In 1989, the Agency for International Development created the
Office of Small and Microenterprise Development within the Bureau for
Private Enterprise to lead and coordinate the Agency's microenterprise
efforts.
`(13) In March 1990, the Agency for International Development reported
that new spending for microenterprise development was $58,800,000 for 1988
and $83,300,000 for 1989 and that the average loan size for the credit
component of the program averaged $329 for 1988 and $387 for 1989. However,
less than 10 percent of the spending for the 1988 program, and less than 7
percent of the spending for the 1989 program, was for loans of under
$300.
`(14) A February 1991 report by the General Accounting Office indicated
that data in that March 1990 report was of `questionable validity' and that
the Agency for International Development did not have a system to track
detailed information concerning its microenterprise credit activities.
Furthermore, the General Accounting Office found that none of the 3 missions
that it visited targeted their microenterprise projects specifically to
women or to the poorest 20 percent of the population, as recommended by the
Congress.
`(15) The Congress recognizes that provision of credit alone may not be
sufficient to generate opportunities for successful microenterprise
development and that assistance focused in the areas of institutional
development, technical assistance, training, and policy reform may also be
appropriate for assisting microenterprise development.
`(16) The Agency for International Development has indicated its
willingness to explore the idea of holding a series of regional workshops on
microenterprise development. The Congress encourages the Agency to include
in these workshops opportunities for training Agency personnel and United
States and indigenous private voluntary organizations in activities designed
to reach the poorest of the poor.
`(b) PURPOSES- The purposes of this section are--
`(1) to provide for the continuation and expansion of the commitment of
the Agency for International Development to microenterprise
development;
`(2) to increase the amount of assistance going to credit activities
designed to reach the poorest sector in developing countries; and
`(3) to increase the percentage of such credit that goes to women
beneficiaries.
`(c) GENERAL AUTHORITY- The President, acting through the Administrator,
is authorized to provide assistance for programs of credit and other
assistance for microenterprises in developing countries. In addition to
providing financial resources for direct credit activities of indigenous
financial intermediaries, assistance under this section may include assistance
for institutional development of such intermediaries (including assistance to
enable private voluntary organizations to develop the capability to serve as
financial intermediaries), technical assistance, training, and policy reform.
Microenterprise credit and related activities assisted under this section
shall be carried out primarily through those indigenous financial
intermediaries and private voluntary organizations that are oriented toward
working directly with the poor and women.
`(d) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES- The mission of the
administering agency for this title that is responsible for a country
receiving assistance under this section shall establish criteria for
determining the financial intermediaries that will receive assistance under
this section, taking into account the following:
`(1) The extent to which the recipients of credit from the intermediary
lack collateral.
`(2) The extent to which the recipients of credit from the intermediary
do not have access to the local formal financial sector.
`(3) The extent to which the recipients of credit from the intermediary
have relatively limited amounts of fixed assets.
`(4) The extent to which the recipients of credit from the intermediary
are among the poorest people in the country.
`(5) The extent to which interest rates charged by the intermediary on
loans reflect the real cost of lending.
`(6) The extent to which the intermediary reaches women as recipients of
credit.
`(7) The extent to which the intermediary is oriented toward working
directly with the poor and women.
`(e) LOWER TIER FOR POVERTY LENDING ACTIVITIES- A significant portion of
the amount made available each fiscal year to carry out this section shall be
used to support direct credit assistance by, and the institutional development
of, those financial intermediaries with a primary emphasis on assisting those
people living in absolute poverty, especially women.
`(f) FOCUS ON WOMEN- The Office of Small and Microenterprise Development
in the administering agency for this title shall include in its annual action
plans a strategy for increasing the access of women in developing countries to
credit and other microenterprise development activities, with the goal of
increasing to at least 50 percent the percentage of microenterprise credit
that goes to women beneficiaries. This strategy shall be developed in
consultation with the agency's Women in Development Office.
`(g) FUNDINGS SOURCES- Funds to carry out this section shall be derived
from the following sources:
`(1) Funds available for development assistance.
`(2) Funds available for assistance from the Development Fund for
Africa.
`(3) Funds available for economic support assistance.
`(4) Local currency proceeds resulting from the provision of development
assistance, assistance from the Development Fund for Africa, or economic
support assistance.
`(5) Local currency proceeds available for use under section 306(a) of
the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (as amended by
section 1512 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990
(Public Law 101-624)).
`(6) Local currency proceeds resulting from assistance provided under
the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 as in effect
immediately before the effective date of the amendment made by section 1512
of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990.
`(7) Local currency generated under subsection (h).
`(h) AUTHORITY TO GENERATE LOCAL CURRENCIES- In order to generate local
currencies for use in providing assistance under this section, the President
is authorized to use funds made available for development assistance, economic
support assistance, or assistance from the Development Fund for Africa to
provide assistance to the governments of developing countries on a loan basis
repayable in local currencies, at a rate of exchange to be negotiated by the
President and the foreign government. Such loans shall have a rate of interest
and a repayment period determined by the President.
`(i) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LAWS- Local currencies used under
subsection (g)(7) shall not be subject to the requirements of section 1306 of
title 31, United States Code, or other laws governing the use of foreign
currencies owned by, owed to, or accruing to the United States.
`(j) FUNDING LEVELS FOR FISCAL YEARS 1992 AND 1993-
`(1) MINIMUM LEVEL OF ASSISTANCE- The Administrator shall use not less
than $85,000,000 for fiscal year 1992, and not less than $85,000,000 for
fiscal year 1993, for microenterprise assistance pursuant to this
section.
`(2) ASSISTANCE FOR THE POOREST SECTORS-
`(A) MINIMUM FUNDING LEVEL- Of the amounts used pursuant to paragraph
(1), not less than $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1992 and not less than
$30,000,000 for fiscal year 1993 shall be used to support loans having a
purchasing power equal to or less than $300 (in United States
dollars).
`(B) INITIAL LOANS- Of the loans supported pursuant to subparagraph
(A), initial loans to microenterprises should, to the maximum extent
practicable, have a purchasing power equal to or less than $150 (in United
States dollars).
`(C) CRITERIA FOR ATTRIBUTION TO FUNDING REQUIREMENTS- In addition to
amounts made available for direct credit activities involving loans
described in subparagraph (A) or (B), amounts used for institutional
development of a financial intermediary described in subsection (e) shall
be considered to support such loans for purposes of that subparagraph to
the same extent as the aggregate amount loaned by such institution
represents loans described in that subparagraph.
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