February 2008: Write to your members of Congress urging them to weigh in on foreign aid prioritiesWrite letters to your members of Congress, urging them to speak personally and write to the key decision makers who determine foreign aid funding priorities for next year — the chair and ranking member of the House and Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee. Ask for their support for key health, education, and economic opportunity priorities for the fiscal year 2009 (FY09) foreign aid spending bill. If your senator or representative is a member of the Appropriations Committee, specifically ask him/her to include RESULTS’ priorities in the formal “wish list” he/she submits.
Why Appropriations Matter and what Congress Should DoThe foreign aid funding bill, i.e. the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, is the most important annual opportunity to increase resources for our priorities. It’s the primary source of funding for lifesaving international health programs, basic education, microfinance, and other development assistance. All members of Congress can have an important voice in shaping this bill by writing to and speaking with the leaders on the subcommittee before they begin drafting the 2009 bill. If members express support for our critical priorities, it will help build momentum and allow leaders to be bolder. Members of Congress who sit on the Appropriations Committee have a special opportunity to weigh in on these issues. Whereas letters from nonmembers are valuable, formal “wish list” letters from Appropriators to the chair of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee are given more consideration. These personal communications between members are an extremely powerful way to influence decisions that will impact millions of lives. At the Millennium Summit in 2000, the U.S. pledged support for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to cut extreme poverty and hunger in half by 2015. Congress must act now to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to the MDGs by investing in proven and effective poverty interventions, including health programs to fight TB, AIDS, and the major child killers; basic education and microcredit for the poor; and reversing harmful international fiscal policies. Global HealthGlobal Tuberculosis and AIDS: FY09 Request: $550 million for scaling up critical U.S. supported efforts to control TB and $2 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. TB is almost completely curable, yet it claims 1.6 million lives each year. TB threatens to undermine the progress made against HIV/AIDS treatment. One-third of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide are infected with TB, and over half of all AIDS deaths in some parts of Africa are caused by TB. Recent outbreaks of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) in southern Africa have elevated this threat. In addition to scaling up our bilateral (country to country) global TB investments, the U.S. must provide our full fair share, based on the size of our economy, to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. In five years, the Global Fund has grown to be the largest international funder for TB and malaria programs worldwide and a major source of AIDS funding, with a rigorous, results-based focus. Child Survival: FY09 Request: $100 million for UNICEF’s Accelerated Child Survival and Development Initiative in addition to UNICEF’s core budget, and $900 million for bilateral maternal and child health programs. More than 26,000 children die every day from illnesses that that can be prevented, treated and cured, often for a few dollars or even a few cents. UNICEF’s innovative child survival programs, including the Accelerated Child Survival and Development program, have been shown to reduce child mortality rates by up to 20 percent. UNICEF estimates that this program would cost about $1,000 per life saved if scaled up in Africa. Bilateral child survival funding supports proven, cost-effective measures such as immunizations, antibiotics, and skilled care for mothers and newborns. Education for AllFY09 Request: Direct at least $500 million of basic education funding to countries with approved Fast Track Initiative national education plans. Education is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty and disease and promote democracy and development. In much of Africa and in many other poor countries, school fees and other costs create enormous barriers to accessing education for the poor, girls, the orphaned, and other vulnerable children. The Fast Track Initiative supports poor countries to develop, implement, and monitor bold national education plans to get children in school and helps finance gaps in countries’ national education budgets. Economic OpportunityFY09 Request: At least $500 million for microfinance and microenterprise programs, with fifty percent benefiting the very poor as directed by the Microfinance Results and Accountability Act of 2004. Microfinance is a successful, economically sustainable tool to help the very poor (those living on less than $1 a day) lift themselves out of poverty and improve the lives of their families. Funding should include support for microfinance activities in communities affected by HIV/AIDS and support for a robust Microenterprise Development (MED) office in USAID to provide technical assistance and expertise to USAID missions to ensure the effective allocation of resources. International Monetary Fund (IMF)FY09 Request: Include bill language that requires the U.S. to oppose any IMF agreement with developing countries that does not exempt health and education programs from harmful IMF-promoted budget and hiring ceilings. The ceilings prevent countries from using available funding to hire necessary health care workers and teachers. |