President’s budget a retreat from the world’s poorest, with few exceptions

WASHINGTON — The ONE Campaign released the below statement today following the release of President Trump’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2021, which contains massive cuts to global development programs. The budget includes a whopping cut of more than 20% to State and USAID, but fortunately, unlike the last two years under the Trump Administration, fully funds Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which provides immunizations to children in the world’s poorest countries.

Tom Hart, North America executive director for The ONE Campaign:

“This budget is yet another cruel example of the Trump Administration’s retreat from the world’s poorest. It’s pretty simple, you can’t fight disease and lift people out of poverty by gutting programs that are doing just that.

“One surprising and important exception was funding for immunizations for children in the world’s poorest countries. A robust request for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for the next several years sends a strong positive signal to the world that the U.S. will maintain its full commitment to help save 8 million lives. Mark Green and the team at USAID deserve a lot of credit.”

About President Trump’s FY21 Budget Proposal

Toplines:

• The president’s budget request includes over 20% cut to the international affairs budget. The president’s budget calls for $44.1 billion, the FY20 enacted was $55.7 billion.
• 58% cut to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. At last year’s State of the Union, President Trump said he would “defeat AIDS in America and beyond.” Once again his budget contains drastic cuts to global AIDS programs. The president’s budget calls for $658 million for the Global Fund, the FY20 enacted was $1.56 billion.
  • 26% cut to PEPFAR. The president’s budget calls for $3.2 billion for PEPFAR, the FY20 enacted was $4.325 billion.
• Includes full funding to immunize world’s poorest children. The budget requests $290 million for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, as part of a four-year, $1.16 billion pledge, which will maintain the United States’ full commitment to the organization ahead of its June replenishment.
• Includes funding for the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative. The budget requests $200 million for Senior Advisor Ivanka Trump’s W-GDP initiative.
• Includes $800 million in funding for the new Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The FY20 enacted was $299 million.

Funding for Child Vaccinations

For millions of children, a tiny vaccination can make a difference between a life of poverty and one of possibility. When a child is protected from infectious diseases, they can go to school, their parents can go to work, and their community can thrive. The world has made incredible progress in vaccinating children — in large part because of the global vaccine alliance known as Gavi. However, last year, 1.5 million people died from vaccine-preventable diseases, including 600,000 children.

Ending extreme poverty and stopping innocent children from dying of preventable disease depends largely on our ability to get life-saving vaccines into the hands of all who need them. We can help slow the spread of preventable diseases, vaccinate 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives if Congress maintains its full commitment to fund Gavi ahead of its replenishment conference in June.