§ 9803 — Global Fragility Strategy

(a) The President, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (“USAID”), the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall establish a comprehensive, integrated, ten-year strategy, to be referred to as the “Global Fragility Strategy”, to contribute to the stabilization of conflict-affected areas, address global fragility, and strengthen the capacity of the United States to be an effective leader of international efforts to prevent extremism and violent conflict. The strategy shall focus on addressing long-term causes of fragility and violence, and shall— (1) consider the causes of fragility and violence at both the local and national levels, the external actors that reinforce and exploit such conditions, and successful prevention strategies and their key features; (2) include specific objectives and multisectoral approaches to reduce fragility and the causes of violence, including those that strengthen state-society relations, curb extremist ideology, and make society less vulnerable to the spread of extremism and violence; (3) encourage and empower local and national actors to address the concerns of their citizens, including those in vulnerable communities, and build community resilience against violence and extremism; (4) address the long-term underlying causes of fragility and violence through participatory, locally led programs, empowering marginalized groups such as youth and women, inclusive dialogues and conflict resolutions processes, justice sector reform, good governance, inclusive and accountable service delivery, and community policing and civilian security, including by combatting impunity for security forces implicated in violations of internationally recognized human rights and other serious crimes; (5) describe approaches that ensure national leadership where appropriate and participatory engagement by civil society and local partners in the design, implementation, and monitoring of programs; (6) assign roles for relevant Federal departments and agencies to avoid duplication of efforts, while ensuring that— (A) the Department of State is responsible for leading the drafting and execution of the strategy, establishing United States foreign policy, advancing diplomatic and political efforts, and overseeing the planning and implementation of security assistance and related civilian security efforts; (B) USAID is responsible for overseeing prevention programs, and is the lead implementing agency for development, humanitarian, and related non-security program policy; (C) activities undertaken or supported by the Department of Defense in relation to the Global Fragility Strategy are established through joint formulation and with the concurrence of the Secretary of State; and (D) other relevant Federal departments and agencies support the activities of the Department of State and USAID as appropriate, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development; (7) describe programs that relevant Federal departments and agencies will undertake to achieve the stated objectives, including descriptions of existing programs and funding by fiscal year and account; (8) identify mechanisms to improve coordination between the United States, foreign governments, and international organizations, including the World Bank, the United Nations, regional organizations, and private sector organizations; (9) address efforts to expand public-private partnerships and leverage private sector resources; (10) describe the criteria, metrics, and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of programs and objectives in the strategy to ensure planning, implementation, and coordination are appropriately executed and updated; (11) describe how the strategy will ensure that programs are country-led and context-specific; and (12) identify mechanisms or activities to reduce the risk that the programs, policies, or resources of the United States and its partners will facilitate corruption, empower or abet repressive local actors, or be exploited by extremists to gain support for their cause. (b) The Global Fragility Strategy required under this section shall be developed in consultation with representatives of civil society and national and local governance entities in countries and regions described in section 9804 of this title, as well as relevant international development organizations with experience implementing programs in fragile states, multilateral organizations and donors, relevant private, academic, and philanthropic entities, and the appropriate congressional committees. (c) Not later than 270 days after December 20, 2019, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report setting forth the strategy described in subsection (a), which shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex if necessary, and shall include, at a minimum, the following elements: (1) The objectives, general and specific, of the strategy. (2) An identification of the relevant Federal departments and agencies that will be involved and the assignment of priorities to such departments and agencies. (3) A description of the compact-based partnerships that will be established to ensure local leadership of strategies, policy, and programs, as well as mutual accountability for results and resources needed to support such partnerships. (4) An identification of the authorities, staffing, and other requirements, as necessary and appropriate, needed to effectively implement the Global Fragility Strategy. (5) A description of the ways in which United States leadership will be used to enhance overall international prevention efforts, including through increasing the engagement of the member states of the Group of Seven and Group of Twenty. (6) An identification of which officials of the Department of State, USAID, and the Department of Defense, with a rank not lower than Assistant Secretary or Assistant Administrator, will be responsible for leading and overseeing the strategy. (7) A list of priority countries and regions selected pursuant to section 9804 of this title, including descriptions of the rationale for such selections.