Listed alphabetically below are legislative initiatives that our grantees and partners are helping to shape and support.  These congressional bills and resolutions aim to improve conditions for children and young people globally.  
Affirming the Role of the United States in Improving Access to Quality, Inclusive Public Education and Improved Learning Outcomes for Children and Adolescents - Global Partnership for Education
This resolution supports the vision, mission, and goals of the Global Partnership for Education, and it affirms the role of the United States in improving access to quality public education and improved learning outcomes for children and adolescents (particularly for girls) in the poorest countries.
Endorsements
​Global Campaign for Education (GCE)-US, UNICEF USA
Central American Women and Children Protection Act of 2021
This  bill would authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal year 2021 through 2023 to provide assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras through bilateral compacts to increase protection of women and children in their homes and communities and reduce female homicides, domestic violence, and sexual assault.
Endorsements
International Justice Mission and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
​
Girls Leadership, Engagement, Agency, and Development (LEAD) Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to jointly report to Congress a strategy to strengthen the participation of adolescents, particularly girls, in democracy, human rights, and governance. 
To access a fact sheet, click: here.
​Endorsements
Global Campaign for Education (GCE)-US, ChildFund International, Save the Children, UNICEF USA
The Global Learning Loss Assessment Act of 2021
This bill requires the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to report on the impact of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic on the agency's basic education programs.
Endorsements
​Basic Education Coalition (BEC), Global Campaign for Education (GCE-US), UNICEF-USA
​
The Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021
This bill would advance targeted and evidence-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of global malnutrition and to improve the coordination of such programs, and for other purposes. 
Endorsements
1,000 Days
Impact of COVID-19 on Women and Girls Globally 
This resolution supports measures and funding to address the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic on women and girls globally.​
Endorsements​
CARE USA , Together for Girls,  Amnesty International USA, International Rescue Committee, Guttmacher Institute, Coalition for Adolescent Girls, Futures Without Violence, Girl Rising, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Women's Refugee Commission, Vital Voices Global Partnership, Oxfam America, Save the Children US, Refugee International, and others.
Keeping Girls in School Act of 2021
This bill authorizes the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to enter into acquisition, assistance, or financing agreements to address societal, cultural, health, and other barriers that adolescent girls face in accessing quality secondary education. For a fact sheet, click: here.
Endorsement
CARE USA, Girls not Brides, Girl Up, Global Campaign for Education-US, Save the Children, UNICEF USA, and 50 other organizations
​
Mental Health in International Development and Humanitarian Settings (MINDS) Act of 2021
This bill will put in to place a whole of government commitment to global children’s mental health by: 
  • ​Codifying the position of USAID’s Coordinator for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support; and 
  • Establishing a MHPSS Working Group, led by the Coordinator, to ensure interagency coordination across USAID and the State Department on MHPSS programming in foreign assistance. 
For a fact sheet, click: here. 
Endorsements
​UNICEF USA, World Vision USA, International Rescue Committee, Catholic Relief Services, and Save the Children
Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2021 
This bill, which is modeled after other successful global health initiatives like PEPFAR, directs the President to establish and implement a strategy on child and maternal survival. The legislation outlines how the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will implement highest-impact, evidence-based interventions and expand access to quality services through community-based approaches.  For a fact sheet, click: here.
Endorsements
UNICEF USA
Refugee Sanitation Safety Act of 2021
​This bill directs the Department of State, when providing overseas assistance for refugees, to ensure the provision of safe and secure access to sanitation facilities, with a special emphasis on women, girls, and vulnerable populations.
Endorsements
​​HIAS, Amnesty International USA, Human Rights First, Futures Without Violence, Refugees International, Jesuit Refugee Service, and Global Water 2020
Safe from the Start Act of 2021
​This bill directs the Department of State to direct U.S. foreign assistance to address humanitarian crises in a manner that aims to prevent and respond to gender-based violence at the onset of an emergency.  For more information, click buttons below. To access a fact sheet, click here.
Endorsements
​Coalition to End Violence Against Women and Girls Globally, UNICEF USA, Together for Girls, The Global Women's Institute at the George Washington University, CARE USA, Futures Without Violence, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Women's Refugee Commission, Child Fund International
Strengthening Efforts to End Violence Against Children Act of 2021 (pending introduction)
This bill will codify critical tools and holistic strategies to better leverage existing resources, as well as update the scope and mission of the Office of Children in Adversity at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to better reflect the current needs of vulnerable children.  To access fact sheets on this legislation, click: here.
For a fact sheet relating to child protection during COVID-19 response, click: here.
Endorsements
American Academy of Pediatrics, ChildFund International, Futures Without Violence, World Vision, Global Campaign for Education- U.S, Save the Children, UNICEF-USA
Supporting the Goals of a Feminist Foreign Policy
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the importance of taking a feminist approach to all aspects of foreign policy, including foreign assistance and humanitarian response, trade, diplomacy, defense, immigration, funding, and accountability mechanisms.
Endorsement
​International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States, Guttmacher Institute, Oxfam, PAI, Plan International USA, Promundo, Alliance for Peacebuilding, and others.
Youth, Peace and Security Act of 2021 
This bill builds on and complements recent bipartisan prevention-oriented legislation, such as the Global Fragility Act and the Women, Peace, and Security Act, to ensure youth are part of the U.S. government’s integrated solution to reducing violence and conflict and advancing peace and international security​. To access a fact sheet, click: here. 
Endorsements
U.S. Youth, Peace and Security Coalition, Search for Common Ground, and Alliance for Peacebuilding
Picture

​
​The Children's Policy and Funding Initiative is made possible through generous funding provided by several leading foundations.  The Initiative is a pooled funding project housed at Tides Center.