Sec. 501.59. UNITED STATES POLICY CONCERNING OVERSEAS ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS

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## SEC. 501.59 UNITED STATES POLICY CONCERNING OVERSEAS ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS ###

(a)Standards for Refugee Women and Children The United States Government, in providing for overseas assistance and protection of refugees and displaced persons, shall seek to address the protection and provision of basic needs of refugee women and children who represent 80 percent of the world's refugee population. As called for in the 1991 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) “Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women”, whether directly, or through international organizations and nongovernmental voluntary organizations, the Secretary of State shall seek to ensure— 5922 U.S.C. 2601 note. ####

(1)specific attention on the part of the United Nations and relief organizations to recruit and employ female protection officers; ####

(2)implementation of gender awareness training for field staff including, but not limited to, security personnel; ####

(3)the protection of refugee women and children from violence and other abuses on the part of governments or insurgent groups; ####

(4)full involvement of women refugees in the planning and implementation of #####

(A)the delivery of services and assistance, and #####

(B)the repatriation process; ####

(5)incorporation of maternal and child health needs into refugee health services and education, specifically to include education on and access to services in reproductive health and birth spacing; ####

(6)the provision of safe and secure access to sanitation facilities, with a special emphasis on women and children; ####

(7)the availability of counseling and other services, grievance processes, and protective services to victims of violence and abuse, including but not limited to rape and domestic violence; ####

(8)the provision of educational programs, particularly literacy and numeracy, vocational and income-generation skills training, and other training efforts promoting self-sufficiency for refugee women, with special emphasis on women heads of household; ####

(9)education for all refugee children, ensuring equal access for girls, and special services and family tracing for unaccompanied refugee minors; ####

(10)the collection of data that clearly enumerate age and gender so that appropriate health, education, and assistance programs can be planned; ####

(11)the recruitment, hiring, and training of more women program professionals in the international humanitarian field; and ####

(12)gender-awareness training for program staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and nongovernmental voluntary organizations on implementation of the 1991 UNHCR “Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women”. ###

(b)Procedures The Secretary of State should adopt specific procedures to ensure that all recipients of United States Government refugee and migration assistance funds implement the standards outlined in subsection (a). ###

(c)Requirements for Refugee and Migration Assistance The Secretary of State, in providing migration and refugee assistance, should support the protection efforts set forth under this section by raising at the highest levels of government the issue of abuses against refugee women and children by governments or insurgent groups that engage in, permit, or condone— ####

(1)a pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, such as torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, or other flagrant denial to life, liberty, and the security of person; ####

(2)the blockage of humanitarian relief assistance; ####

(3)gender-specific persecution such as systematic individual or mass rape, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced prostitution, any form of indecent assault or act of violence against refugee women, girls, and children; or ####

(4)continuing violations of the integrity of the person against refugee women and children on the part of armed insurgents, local security forces, or camp guards. ###

(d)Investigation of Reports Upon receipt of credible reports of abuses under subsection (c), the Secretary of State should immediately investigate such reports through emergency fact-finding missions or other means of investigating such reports and help identify appropriate remedial measures. ###

(e)Multilateral Implementation of the 1991 UNHCR “Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women” The Secretary of State should work to ensure that multilateral organizations fully incorporate the needs of refugee women and children into all elements of refugee assistance programs and work to encourage other governments that provide refugee assistance to adopt refugee assistance policies designed to encourage full implementation of the 1991 UNHCR's “Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women”.

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5922 USC 2601

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Sec. 501.59

UNITED STATES POLICY CONCERNING OVERSEAS ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS

Cite5922 USC 2601

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