; (2) the United States has been a global leader in efforts to expand and improve educational opportunities for those who have been traditionally disenfranchised, particularly women and girls; (3) gains with respect to girls’ secondary education and empowerment have been proven to correlate strongly with progress in gender equality and women’s rights, as well as economic and social progress, and achieving gender equality should be a priority goal of United States foreign policy; (4) achieving gender parity in both access to and quality of educational opportunity contributes significantly to economic growth and development, thereby lowering the risk for violence and instability; and (5) education is a lifesaving humanitarian intervention that protects the lives, futures, and well-being of girls. I Secondary education for adolescent girls 101. Adolescent Girls Education Challenge Fund (a) Establishment There is established an Adolescent Girls Education Challenge Fund from which funds may be made available for the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, and other Federal departments and agencies to work with external partners to implement innovative programs to ensure that adolescent girls enroll and succeed in school. (b) Authorized activities Programs initiated through the Fund may— (1) create strategic, focused, cross-sectoral, and results-oriented partnerships, including with adolescent girls, to promote their education, economic security, and empowerment; (2) apply comprehensive scientific and research-based approaches, aligned, where possible, with local development priorities, to support sustainable development outcomes; (3) leverage additional resources from public, private, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations, including those based inside partner countries, as well as institutions of higher education, United States and non-United States Government organizations, and international donor organization to ensure sustainable finance and impact