The United States Congress is expected
to vote soon in support of a budget deal that preserves most Africa
assistance programmes and provides nearly $1 billion to respond to
current and threatened famines.
The pending agreement announced on Monday rejects many of the aid cuts sought by Republican President Donald Trump.
That
outcome results from the unwillingness of key Republicans in Congress
to slash funding for the State Department and the US Agency for
International Development (USAid).
The
most ardent congressional supporters of Mr Trump's proposed cuts were
sidelined as a result of Republican leaders' decision to seek
compromises with the Democratic Party minority.
President
Trump thus suffered a significant setback for his effort to “put
American first” at the expense of poor countries. But the president has
nevertheless said he will accept Congress' version of the federal
government spending plan.
The
Republican-Democratic deal applies to the US budget for the 2017 fiscal
year that ends on September 30. Mr Trump is vowing to push again for
steep reductions in State Department and USAid allocations for fiscal
2018.
Backers of continued US assistance to Africa are praising the agreement reached by Republican and Democratic negotiators.
“The funding for the State Department
and USAid demonstrates strong bipartisan support as negotiations move
forward on next year’s budget, particularly as proposals surface that
would pull America back from the world,” declared Liz Schrayer, head of
the US Global Leadership Coalition. That group represents some 500
businesses and NGOs that call for diplomacy and development to be given
as much priority as US military initiatives.
Democratic
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus,
specifically hailed the commitment to allocate $990 million to alleviate
acute food shortages in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen.
“With 20 million people on the brink of starvation, there’s no question that this money will save lives,” Ms Lee said.
The
legislation also extends US support for health programmes important to
Africa, such as the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Congress also plans to provide $30 million for the African Development
Foundation, which Mr Trump had favoured eliminating.
But
the compromise package does contain some of the funding reductions for
international organisations that Mr Trump had targeted.
No
money is to be allocated for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change or the Green Climate Fund. And the United Nations is facing a
$640 million cut in Washington's $10 billion share of the UN budget.
The
proposal prohibits any US spending for implementation of the UN Arms
Trade Treaty. Kenya played a leading role in fashioning that
international agreement, which is opposed by the US gun lobby.
Congress
appears willing to give Mr Trump about half of the $54 billion increase
in US military spending that he had urged. The Pentagon's $521 billion
budget would grow by five percent under the terms of the compromise
reached by Congress.
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