Women and girls in developing countries found support on Capitol Hill, as the U.S. House of Representatives passed Wednesday two pieces of legislation aimed to improve data around female births and encourage more U.S.-funded scholarships for Pakistani women.
The Girls Count Act of 2014 aims to encourage the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to support programs focused on “improved civil registration and vital statistics systems” so that female births, in particular, will be better recorded in developing countries.
In addition, the bill hopes to promote programs that target developing countries’ legal environments “to prevent discrimination against girls, and help increase property rights, social security, land tenure and inheritance rights for women.”
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
