; Whereas the United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, dated June 2019, recognizes that— (1) the [s]ocial and political marginalization of women strongly correlates with the likelihood that a country will experience conflict ; (2) there is a tremendous amount of untapped potential among the world’s women and girls to identify, recommend, and implement effective solutions to conflict , and there are benefits derived from creating opportunities for women and girls to serve as agents of peace via political, economic, and social empowerment ; and (3) barriers to the meaningful participation of women and girls in conflict prevention and resolution efforts include under-representation in political leadership, pervasive violence against women and girls, and persistent inequality in many societies ; Whereas, according to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (commonly referred to as UN Women ), peace negotiations are more likely to end in a peace agreement when women and women’s groups play a meaningful role in the negotiation process; Whereas, according to a study by the International Peace Institute, a peace agreement is 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years if women participate in the development of the peace agreement; Whereas, according to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the Department of State, the full and meaningful participation of women in criminal justice professions and security forces vastly enhances the effectiveness of the resulting workforces; Whereas, despite the contributions of women to society, hundreds of millions of women and girls around the world continue to be denied the right to participate freely in civic and economic life, lack fundamental legal protections, and remain vulnerable to exploitation and abuse; Whereas, every year, approximately 12,000,000 girls are married before they reach the age of 18, which means that— (1) nearly 33,000 girls are married every day