S.Amdt. 2172

1. Adds SEC. 1220. SECURITY SUPPORT FOR AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS at the end of subtitle B of title XII

   Adds a section

   In S. 1197 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   It is the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense should seek not to commence any new long-term nation building or large-scale infrastructure development project in Afghanistan after 2014.

   Inserted: SEC. 1220. SECURITY SUPPORT FOR AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) In January 2013, President Barack Obama stated, "The Afghan constitution protects the rights of Afghan women. And the United States strongly believes that Afghanistan cannot succeed unless it gives opportunity to its women. . .And we think that a failure to provide that protection not only will make reconciliation impossible to achieve, but also would make Afghanistan's long-term development impossible to achieve."

   Inserted: (2) As stated in the Department of Defense's July 2013 1230 Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan (in this section, the "1230 Report"), the United States Government "recognizes that promoting security for Afghan women and girls must remain a top foreign policy priority". The November 2013 1230 Report also highlights this priority and further states, "A major focus of DoD and others working to improve the conditions of women in Afghanistan is now to maintain the gains made in the last twelve years after the ISAF mission ends."

   Inserted: (3) According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Mid-Year Report 2013: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, the conflict "increasingly harmed women and children. In the first six months of 2013, conflict related violence killed 106 women and injured 241 (347 casualties), a 61 percent increase from the same period in 2012."

   Inserted: (4) Women still face significant barriers to full participation in the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP), including a discriminatory or hostile work environment. As stated in the July and November 1230 Report, other barriers include "family-related issues. . .lack of challenging assignments upon graduation, accounts of sexual harassment and violence, and difficulties concerning separate housing and bathing facilities" for female personnel.

   Inserted: (5) According to the November 1230 Report, female recruitment and retention rates for the Afghan National Security Forces fell short of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Ministry of the Interior (MoI) female recruitment goals of 10 percent of the ANA and AAF and 5,000 for the ANP. In regards to women serving in the ANP, the November 1230 report also states, "Low female recruitment is due in part to the MoI's passive female recruitment efforts, which has no specific female recruitment strategy or plan." At the time of the November 1230 Report, only 1,557 women were serving in the ANP (847 officers and NCOs and 710 patrolmen). This represents an increase of 36 women from the last reporting period.

   Inserted: (6) According to the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) October 2013 report, despite more women showing an interest in joining the security forces, only 0.3 percent of ANA and AAF and 1 percent of police in Afghanistan are women. According to the November 1230 Report, "The MOD has failed to capitalize on this interest and organize the necessary initial training, such as Female Officer Candidate and NCO courses. ISAF advisors continue to mentor the MOD to reduce their emphasis on ethnic balancing in order to accelerate ANA gender integration."

   Inserted: (7) According to the International Crisis Group, there are not enough female police officers to staff all provincial Family Response Units (FRUs). United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees found that "in the absence of Family Response Units or visible women police officers, women victims almost never approach police stations willingly, fearing they will be arrested, their reputations stained or worse".

   Inserted: (8) Fair, free, and inclusive presidential elections in Afghanistan in April 2014 will be critical for the country's future security and stability. Afghan women in particular are often prevented from meaningful participation in the electoral process due to the threat of violence, security environment, the scarcity of female poll workers, and lack of awareness of women's political rights and opportunities, according to the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.

   Inserted: (9) According to the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, Afghanistan needs 12,000 female police officers to search women at polling stations. The Afghan National Police has about 1,570 women for this duty. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), without female searchers at polling stations, security threats will increase as men can dress in burkhas attempting to enter the female areas of the polling station while concealing firearms, knives, or explosives.

   Inserted: (10) According to the July 1230 Report, "U.S. Embassy engagement on security preparations for the 2014 election with the MoI and Independent Elections Commission has focused on the need for increased temporary female security personnel, which would provide an environment where women can access polling stations while also ensuring the safety and security of the polling stations, and highlighting the role women can play in ensuring security overall."

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   Inserted: (11) According to the November 1230 Report, "The lack of female ANSF for both routine security operations and the 2014 Afghan elections makes the ANSF gender gap an operational and political risk for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA)." Further, the November 1230 Report highlights the significant risk to the credibility of the April 2014 elections and to the ANSF, stating, "Failure to recruit more women could deter female voter turnout, harming the legitimacy of the ANSF and those elected to office in 2014."

   Inserted: (b) The Sense of Congress On Promotion of Security of Afghan Women.--It is the sense of Congress that--

   Inserted: (1) the United States Government should regularly press the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to commit to the meaningful inclusion of women in any peace process and to ensure that women's concerns are fully reflected in relevant negotiations; and

   Inserted: (2) the United States Government and the Government of Afghanistan should "reaffirm the role of Afghan civil society, particularly women's organizations, in advocating for and supporting human rights, good governance, and sustainable social, economic, and democratic development of Afghanistan through a sustained dialogue", as agreed to during the meeting between the International Community and the Government of Afghanistan on the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework (TMAF) in July 2013.

   Inserted: (c) Strategy To Promote Security of Afghan Women.--

   Inserted: (1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall support the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan to ensure the security of Afghan women and girls during and after the security transition process through implementation of an Afghan-led strategy to increase awareness and responsiveness among Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police personnel regarding the unique challenges women confront when serving in those forces.

   Inserted: (2) Training.--The Secretary of Defense, working with the International Security Force (ISAF) and NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A), should encourage the Government of Afghanistan to include in the strategy developed under paragraph (1) the following elements:

   Inserted: (A) An evaluation of the effectiveness of existing training for Afghan National Security Forces on this issue.

   Inserted: (B) A plan to increase the number of female security officers, including those serving in Family Response Units, specifically trained to address cases of gender-based violence.

   Inserted: (C) A plan to address the development of accountability mechanisms for ANA and ANP personnel who violate codes of conduct related to the human rights of women and girls.

   Inserted: (3) Enrollment and treatment.--The Secretary of Defense, in cooperation with the Afghan Ministries of Defense and Interior, shall assist the Government of Afghanistan in including as part of the strategy developed under paragraph (1) the development and implementation of a strategy to increase the number of female members of the ANA and ANP and to ensure their equal treatment, including the following actions:

   Inserted: (A) Submission of status reports to the Secretary of Defense, not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, on the plans of the MOD and MOI for the recruitment and retention of female officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, including efforts to--

   Inserted: (i) provide appropriate equipment for female security and police forces;

   Inserted: (ii) modify facilities to allow for female participation within the security and police forces;

   Inserted: (iii) training to include literacy training for women recruits and gender awareness training for male counterparts; and

   Inserted: (iv) a review of the number of women in the ANP and realistic deadlines to increase the number of female officers by 2014.

   Inserted: (B) The allocation of not less than $15,000,000 from the Afghan Security Forces Fund to be available for the recruitment, retention, and support of women in the ANSF.

   Inserted: (4) Staffing at polling stations.--The Secretary of Defense shall assist the Afghan MOD and MOI in increasing the number of women staffing polling stations during the April 2014 elections in Afghanistan, including--

   Inserted: (A) assistance in the development of a recruitment and training program for female searchers and security officers to staff voting stations during the April 2014 elections by not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act;

   Inserted: (B) assistance in the implementation of the program described in subparagraph (A), including working with the Ministry of Interior to ensure that female ANP officers are assigned to provide security for polling stations; and

   Inserted: (C) allocating up to $5,000,000 from the Afghan Security Forces Fund to be available to hire temporary female personnel to staff polling stations.

   Original wording

   At the end of subtitle B of title XII, add the following:

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As printed