Sunday, February 20, 2011

U.S. House Pushes Through Deep Aid Cuts

WASHINGTON, Feb 19, 2011 (IPS) - With a 2015 deadline fast approaching to meet a collective global promise to tackle poverty and improve education, health and environmental sustainability around the world, development and humanitarian advocates are up in arms over conservative lawmakers' proposals to slash and burn entire chunks of the United States' foreign aid budget.

After days of heated floor debate and some 600 amendments, the U.S. Republican- controlled House of Representatives passed what is called a "Continuing Resolution" (CR) Friday that allocates government funding from the first week of March until the end of the fiscal year, which ends on Sep. 30, 2011. The final vote was 235 to 189, with just three Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

The CR makes over 61 billion dollars worth of cuts – including about 19 percent to international affairs accounts, according to calculations by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and 41 percent to humanitarian aid, according the State Department, compared to FY 2010 enacted funds. Spread over six months, these reductions would be "devastating" critics say.

As the CR now moves to the Democrat-led Senate, where it is likely to get watered down some, and with President Barack Obama's threat to veto the House's proposal if it lands on his desk, the massive purges in their current form are unlikely. Still, observers worry that deep slashes will remain and predict an equally contentious battle over the administration's FY 2012 budget proposal released Monday.

"Let me be clear, the United States of America has been, and will remain, the global leader in providing assistance," U.S. President Barack Obama said in his speech at the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit at the United Nations last fall. "We will not abandon those who depend on us for life- saving help. We keep our promises, and honour our commitments."

But critics say that the CR threatens these very promises and commitments, and worry that important global development gains could be threatened. (See the sidebar for how these cuts could impact the eight goals).

While certain countries and indicators lag behind in the global MDG campaign, hundreds of millions of people have been lifted above the 1.25 dollars per day poverty line and universal enrolment in primary school education has risen steadily in the past two decades.

Most promising are advances made in global health. According to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, deaths due to malaria could be eradicated and a new generation born without HIV by 2015. If achieved, these successes would represent two of the greatest health triumphs of our lifetime.

The U.S. is one of the world's top donors. "Because of U.S. aid, over the last 60 years, maternal and child mortality have dropped sharply, literacy rates have increased and economic opportunities have expanded in the developing world," said CARE president and CEO Dr. Helene D. Gayle in a statement Wednesday.

"These funds produce real change in the lives of women and children and their families living in extreme poverty, changing entire communities and nations for the better," she argued.

If colossal cuts are made to Washington's foreign aid budget, observers are concerned about the impact this could have on global health and development and also fear a potential ripple effect to other donor countries' provision of aid if the U.S. reneges on its commitments as a result of these budget cuts.

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