Sec. 208. Certification regarding humanitarian aid provided to areas in Syria held by the al-Assad regime
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Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall certify to the appropriate congressional committees whether United Nations agency programming, including any program or project, in Syria funded in whole or in part by the United States— is delivered impartially, without hindrance, to the areas of greatest need; does not directly materially support the Government of Syria or entities owned or controlled by the Syrian government, Syrian government officials, their immediate families, or entities under their direction; does not directly materially support associated forces of the Government of Syria or entities owned or controlled by the Syrian government; adheres to the United Nations Supplier Code of Conduct, which states that the United Nations must not support, directly or indirectly, other entities and individuals involved in human rights abuses, and which requires United Nations agencies to secure guarantees from suppliers that they are not complicit in human rights abuses ; and is vetted by an independent mechanism that reviews contract procurement in Syrian government-held areas.
If the Secretary of State makes a certification described in subsection
(a)in the negative— no Federal department or agency may provide any funding, directly or indirectly, to any United Nations agency programming, including any program or project, in Syria that fails to meet the criteria of the certification specified in subsection (a); and amounts made available to the Secretary of State that are withheld from United Nations agency programming, including any program or project, in Syria in accordance with paragraph
(1)shall be made available to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance for providing assistance to populations in Syria in need. In this section: The term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. The term associated forces includes forces of the Government of Russia, forces of the Government of Iran, Iranian-backed proxy militias, and Hezbollah.