April 15, 2010

WASHINGTON – International humanitarian agency Church World Service and an interfaith coalition of organizations have called on Congress to appropriate "robust funding" for the world's most vulnerable, with focus on food security, agriculture, water resources and related climate adaptation, as well as increased funding for primary education, HIV/AIDS relief, overseas refugee assistance and refugee resettlement programs within the U.S.

In communiqués issued Tuesday to the House and Senate appropriations committees and to all House and Senate members, the coalition asked support for President Obama's overall request of $58.5 billion, citing that amount "as the minimum amount needed for the International Affairs account" for fiscal year 2011. But the group urged increased funding for areas of spending deemed priority for those experiencing overwhelming need.

Addressing core survival needs, CWS and its partners said, "Ending global hunger requires substantial new investment in small-holder agricultural producers and in nutrition assistance, especially for vulnerable children and their mothers." They noted that, "clean water is key to every other aspect of development-from children's education to economic growth and environmental sustainability."

The group has asked Congress to appropriate $2.144 billion for food and nutrition security programs worldwide, including $1.236 billion for international agricultural development; $500 million for ongoing funding of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act for safe drinking water and adequate sanitation; and $842 million to fund inter-related climate adaptation programs.

On climate adaptation funding, Church World Service Executive Director and CEO The Rev. John L. McCullough said, "We are encouraged that President Obama has kept to the spirit of his statements and commitments at the Copenhagen climate summit by increasing funding to more than $300 million for adaptation programs.

"We are urging Congress to fulfill the president's request at a minimum," McCullough said, "but are also requesting that the allocation be increased to $842 million, in order for the U.S. to meet fully its commitments as were stated in the Copenhagen Accord and to support needs in the most vulnerable and climate-stressed regions.

"Those who are hungering and thirsting now include children-tomorrow's generation. They can have little by way of food security, water and resilient agriculture without being able to take climate adaptation measures now," he said.

Along with CWS, members of the interfaith coalition who pressed Congress today for greater international development funding each have long histories of humanitarian work and rights advocacy. Those organizations include the American Friends Service Committee, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church Women United, the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Action Network, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ, Islamic Society of North America, Lutheran World Relief, Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office, the National Council of Churches, NETWORK National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington Office, Progressive National Baptist Convention, United Churches of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, and United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society.

The interfaith coalition also has recommended:

• $1.6 billion for the International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account, including $600 million for cash-based emergency assistance, to meet the needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) for h ealth care, nutrition, water, sanitation, and shelter in Haiti and in countries like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Afghanistan

• An increase in funding to $7.5 billion for HIV-AIDS programs, through the U.S. PEPFAR program and $1.75 billion to the Global Fund, as part of the Global Health Initiative

• $2 billion for basic primary education as part of the global Education for All commitment, and to assist the 72 million children throughout the world who are not attending school

• $2.3 billion for overseas refugee assistance and $415 million for refugee admissions in the Migration and Refugee Assistance account in FY2011

Additionally, the group asked for Congress to fund the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the Department of Health and Human Services at $987.9 million, or at minimum, the $877.9 million that President Obama requested for ORR services. Due to historic under-funding, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has been unable to adequately meet the needs of arriving refugees," they said.

The levels the coalition is requesting, they say, would provide needed funding for victims of torture and trafficking, as well as "urgently needed housing assistance and support for the Matching Grant program, a welfare alternative that helps resettled refugees find employment within six months."

Church World Service is a relief, sustainable development and refugee assistance agency working within the U.S. and worldwide.

Church World Service