§ 2152f — Assistance For Orphans And Other Vulnerable Children

(a) Congress finds the following: (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. (8) 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. (9) Providing assistance to such children is an important expression of the humanitarian concern and tradition of the people of the United States. (b) In this section: (1) of this title. (2) The term “children” means persons who have not attained 18 years of age. (3) The term “HIV/AIDS” has the meaning given the term in section 2151b–2(g)(3) 2 of this title. (4) The term “orphan” means a child deprived by death of one or both parents. (5) 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) 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; (6) to provide culturally appropriate psychosocial support to orphans and other vulnerable children; and (7) to treat orphans and other vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS through the provision of pharmaceuticals, the recruitment and training of individuals to provide pediatric treatment, and the purchase of pediatric-specific technologies. (1) 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) The monitoring and evaluation system shall— (A) such goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to the extent feasible; (B) establish performance indicators to be used in measuring or assessing the achievement of the performance goals described in subparagraph (A); and (C) provide a basis for recommendations for adjustments to the assistance to enhance the impact of assistance. (A) The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall appoint a Special Advisor for Assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable Children. (B) At the discretion of the Secretary of State, the authority to appoint a Special Advisor under subparagraph (A) may be delegated by the Secretary of State to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. (2) 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 relevant Federal agencies and officials. (B) Advise the relevant Federal branch agencies and officials 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) Disseminate a collection of best practices to field missions of the United States Agency for International Development to guide the development and implementation of programs to assist orphans and vulnerable children. (G) Administer the monitoring and evaluation system established in subsection (d). (H) Prepare the annual report required by section 2152g of this title. (1) There is authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2006 and 2007. (2) Amounts made available under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended.