On September 22, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, S. 1632, a bill to require a regional strategy to address the threat posed by Boko Haram. The group is widely recognized as a terrorist organization and is responsible for kidnapping nearly 300 girls from a school in Chibok in northeast Nigeria; to date, 219 girls remain missing. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the legislation in July.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), would require the Departments of Defense and State to develop and submit to Congress a five-year strategy to help Nigeria, the Multinational Joint Task Force to Combat Boko Haram, and others counter the terrorist organization. Among other provisions, the strategy must address “the long-term capacity of Nigeria to enhance security for schools such that children are safer and girls seeking an education are better protected, and to combat gender-based violence and gender inequality.”
The bill would require “a plan to strengthen and promote the rule of law by…responding to crime (including gender-based violence), while respecting human rights and strengthening accountability measures…”
