[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 433 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 433
Condemning the abduction of female students by armed militants from the
Government Girls Secondary School in the northeastern province of Borno
in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 1, 2014
Ms. Landrieu (for herself, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Durbin, Mr.
Coons, and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the abduction of female students by armed militants from the
Government Girls Secondary School in the northeastern province of Borno
in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Whereas, on the night of April 14, 2014, as many as 234 female students, most of
them between 16 and 18 years old, were abducted by armed militants from
the Government Girls Secondary School, a boarding school located in the
northeastern province of Borno in the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
Whereas the militants burned down several buildings before opening fire on
soldiers and police who were guarding the school and forcing the
students into trucks;
Whereas, according to local officials in Borno state, about 43 students were
able to flee their captors, and the rest remain missing;
Whereas all public secondary schools in Borno state were closed in March 2014
because of increasing attacks in the past year that have killed hundreds
of students, but the young women at the Government Girls Secondary
School were recalled to take their final exams;
Whereas the group popularly known as ``Boko Haram'', which loosely translates
from the Hausa language to ``Western education is sin'', is known to
oppose the education of girls, has kidnapped girls in the past to use as
cooks and sex slaves, and is thought to be responsible for the April
14th kidnapping in Borno state;
Whereas there are reports that the abducted girls have been sold as brides to
Islamist militants for the equivalent of $12 each;
Whereas Boko Haram has targeted schools, mosques, churches, villages, and
agricultural centers, as well as government facilities, in an armed
campaign to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, prompting the
president of Nigeria to declare a state of emergency in three of the
country's northeastern states in May 2013;
Whereas, according to the Brookings Institution, Boko Haram burned down or
destroyed 50 schools and killed approximately 30 teachers in Nigeria in
2013, leaving tens of thousands of children unable to attend school;
Whereas, on April 14, 2014, hours before the kidnapping in Borno state, Boko
Haram bombed a bus station in Abuja, Nigeria, killing at least 75 people
and wounding over 100, making it the deadliest attack ever in Nigeria's
capital;
Whereas Amnesty International estimates that more than 1,500 people have been
killed in attacks by Boko Haram or reprisals by Nigerian security forces
this year alone, and the Council on Foreign Relations estimates that
almost 4,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks since 2011;
Whereas the Department of State designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization in November 2013, recognizing the threat posed by the
group's large-scale and indiscriminate attacks against women and
children;
Whereas, according to the United Nations, girls' education is a major challenge
in Nigeria;
Whereas, according to the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF),
some 4,700,000 children of primary school age are still not in school in
Nigeria, with attendance rates lowest in the north;
Whereas a study conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) found that school children in Nigeria,
particularly those in the northern provinces, are at a disadvantage in
their education, with 37 percent of primary-age girls in the rural
northeast not attending school, and 30 percent of boys not attending
school;
Whereas, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index,
Nigeria is ranked 106 out of 136 countries based on women's economic
participation, educational attainment, and political empowerment;
Whereas, according to the United Nations, women held only 6.7 percent of the
seats in Nigeria's parliament in 2013;
Whereas the advancement of women around the world is a foreign policy priority
for the United States;
Whereas, according to the United States Agency for International Development,
``Broader, more equitable access to education encourages political
participation, enhances governance, strengthens civil society, and
promotes transparency and accountability.'';
Whereas a 100-country study by the World Bank shows that increasing the share of
women with a secondary education by 1 percent boosts annual per capita
income growth by 0.3 percentage points;
Whereas, according to UNICEF, adolescent girls that attend school are less
likely to be married as children, ``are less vulnerable to disease
including HIV and AIDS, and acquire information and skills that lead to
increased earning power. Evidence shows that the return to a year of
secondary education for girls correlates to a 25 percent increase in
wages later in life.'';
Whereas, according to the World Bank, ``The benefits of women's education go
beyond higher productivity for 50 percent of the population. More
educated women also tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal
labor market, earn more income, . . . and provide better health care and
education to their children, all of which eventually improve the well-
being of all individuals and lift households out of poverty. These
benefits also transmit across generations, as well as to their
communities at large.''; and
Whereas women and girls must be allowed to go to school without fear of violence
and unjust treatment so that they can take their rightful place as equal
citizens of and contributors to the world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) expresses its strong support for the people of Nigeria,
especially the parents and families of the girls abducted by
Boko Haram in Borno state, and calls for the immediate, safe
return of the girls;
(2) condemns Boko Haram for its violent attacks on civilian
targets, including schools, mosques, churches, villages, and
agricultural centers in Nigeria;
(3) encourages the Government of Nigeria to strengthen
efforts to protect the ability of children to obtain an
education and to hold those who conduct such violent attacks
accountable;
(4) encourages efforts by the United States Government to
support the capacity of the Government of Nigeria to provide
security for schools and to hold terrorist organizations, such
as Boko Haram, accountable;
(5) urges timely civilian assistance from the United States
and allied African nations in rescuing and reintegrating the
abducted girls;
(6) recognizes that every individual, regardless of gender,
should have the opportunity to pursue an education without fear
of discrimination;
(7) reaffirms its commitment to ending discrimination and
violence against women and girls, to ensuring the safety and
welfare of women and girls, and to pursuing policies that
guarantee the basic human rights of women and girls worldwide;
(8) recognizes that the empowerment of women is
inextricably linked to the potential of countries to generate
economic growth, sustainable democracy, and inclusive security;
and
(9) encourages the Department of State, the United States
Agency for International Development, and the Department of
Defense to continue their support for initiatives that
positively impact the ability of women and girls to fully
access their human rights.
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