International Peacebuilding Budget Priorities
 Take action today to urge Congressional appropriators to invest in critical conflict prevention and civilian protection accounts. They represent relatively small investments that could save billions of dollars and thousands of lives by preventing crises from turning violent, stemming mass atrocities, and avoiding costly interventions, improving our governments ability to mitigate conflict. The initiatives outlined below were put together by a coalition of organizations dedicated to preventing deadly conflict and protecting civilians by strengthening U.S. civilian capacities.
On July 27, 2011 the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee marked up the FY12 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. We thank the Subcommittee for appropriating $56 million for USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI). Strong Congressional support for OTI is invaluable for building upon a strong track record over the last 15 years in applying short-term assistance to leverage opportunities for advancing peace and mitigating violence. However, we express deep concern over several provisions that, if enacted, would significantly hamper the United States’ ability to prevent deadly conflict and protect civilians around the world.
ACTION: Use our easy online tool towrite Members of Congress urging them to fund the following.
Specifically, we urge Congress to reject the Subcommittee’s deep cuts and fully fund the Administration’s FY12 request for the following accounts:
- Complex Crises Fund: The CCF is a crucial source of unprogrammed, innovative, and flexible funding for civilian agencies, without which the State Department and USAID would be less capable of acting quickly when conflicts escalate or undertaking rapid stabilization, prevention, and crisis response activities. The Subcommittee eliminated funding for the CCF in its FY12 bill. The CCF has been used to help mitigate violence in critical places like Kenya and Kyrgyzstan. We urge you to fully fund the President’s FY2012 request of $75 million for the CCF and to ensure that it is available for both the State Department and USAID.
- Conflict Stabilization Operations: The CSO (formerly Civilian Stabilization Initiative) funds the Civilian Response Corps (CRC) and the State Department’s Office for the Coordinator of Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS). The Subcommittee approved funding for $35 million, which represents a $57 million decrease in funding from the FY12 request. This dramatic decrease in funding comes at exactly the wrong time. The CRC, a new corps of civilian experts trained and deployed to help prevent and mitigate conflict, now includes over 1,200 trained federal employees supporting critical diplomatic and development efforts in some of the most troubled spots in the world, including Afghanistan, Sudan, and Somalia. S/CRS continues to support vital conflict prevention, reconstruction, and stabilization operations in Pakistan, Haiti, and Yemen, among others. The CRC’s important contribution to conflict prevention activities during the South Sudan referendum in January 2011, for example, was lauded by U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan General Scott Gration. CSO is a low-cost, efficient use of scarce resources that can prevent costly conflict. Congress only first authorized the CRC in 2008, and it has operated on a near shoestring budget for the mission it has been given: to help prevent conflict and rebuild after wars. We urge you to fully fund the President’s FY2012 request of $92.2 million for the CSO.
- UN Peacekeeping Operations: Professional, well-equipped international peacekeepers reduce the burden on the U.S. by acting as a key stabilizing force at a fraction of the cost of U.S. intervention – a mere 12 cents to the dollar according to the Government Accountability Office. UN Peacekeepers play a vital role in protecting civilians from harm, preventing displacement, restoring and maintaining rule of law and enabling post-conflict political and economic reconstruction. The Subcommittee approved $1.7 billion for Contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA), which is 10% below the FY11 enacted level and would put us back into arrears at the UN. We urge you to fully fund CIPA at $2.145 billion, the figure outlined as necessary to meet our peacekeeping needs in the FY 2012 Congressional Budget Justification.
- United States Institute of Peace: USIP is the only congressionally mandated and funded national institution dedicated specifically to formulating better tools for peacebuilding and prevention of deadly conflict. The Subcommittee approved $25 million for USIP, a 36% decrease below the FY11 enacted levels. This drastic cut would undermine USIP’s important work by helping prevent and mitigate deadly conflict in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, and educating the US public on peacebuilding and conflict resolution. We urge you to fully fund the President’s FY2012 request of $43 million for USIP.
Recent crises in Cote d’Ivoire and Libya remind us that mass violence continues to threaten innocent civilians in addition to regional and state stability. It is for these reasons that civilian agencies and international partners must be well-equipped to respond flexibly and decisively to mitigate escalating crises before atrocities occur. Because these difficult economic times require spending every penny of U.S. treasure wisely, we urge careful investment in the aforementioned accounts that will undoubtedly save lives and prevent the United States from incurring costly military and reconstruction expenditures.
ACTION: Use our easy online tool towrite Members of Congress urging them to fund the following.
This was created by the Prevention and Protection Working Group
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