New York, NY, May 22, 2017 —  Leading humanitarian, development, and global health organizations are calling upon Congress to sustain and protect the International Affairs budget in Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 2018) as it did for Fiscal Year 2017.

United States global leadership has never been more important.  We currently face daunting global challenges, including the presence of famine conditions threatening 30 million lives in several countries across Africa and the Middle East, more than 65 million refugees and displaced people, and repeated disease outbreaks around the world. The International Affairs budget comprises just 1% of the federal budget, and even a smaller portion is dedicated to achieving humanitarian, development, and health outcomes for the world’s most marginalized children, women and men.  

As U.S. non-profits that operate in nearly every country across the globe, we are committed to working with vulnerable people and those who are living in poverty and to alleviating human suffering to make the world a more peaceful, just, and prosperous place. Our work is often done in partnership with the U.S. government and has produced dramatic and demonstrable results, including bringing us to the brink of controlling some of the globe’s most deadly diseases.

We are deeply concerned with the Administration's FY 2018 International Affairs budget request, which proposes slashing effective, life-saving accounts that help create a safer and more secure world.

Foreign assistance funding is fundamental to America's global leadership and essential to shaping a world where our national interests will thrive.  Disproportionate cuts to these accounts will not make the world safer.  They will have life-and-death consequences for the poorest people in the world, and they will reduce the life-saving and economic impacts that we see every day.  

From providing education, health, and economic assistance that forms the building blocks of many growing nations, to addressing humanitarian disasters, preventing conflict and containing deadly pandemics - this small portion of our budget is molding the face of our world’s future and building a better and more stable world with prospering economies.

Time and time again, Congress has acted in a bipartisan and bicameral manner to support smart American global engagement through programs, budgets and policies that demonstrate American values while advancing our national interest. Now, more than ever, we urge Congress to continue to ensure U.S. leadership, reject any proposed cuts to these vital programs, and to fight against removing tools from our foreign policy toolkit when even more are needed. We call on Congress to support no less than $60 billion for the International Affairs Budget in FY 2018.

Care

Oxfam

Mercy Corps

International Rescue Committee

One

Catholic Relief Services

World Vision 

Save the Children

PATH

Interaction

Bread for the World