The fiscal 2011 budget funds the second year of Obama's initiative to increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers, putting the organization on track to grow by 50 percent, reaching 11,000 volunteers, by 2016.
Obama's fiscal 2011 budget funds the second year of Obama's initiative to increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers
Obama Budget Adds Money for Global Health, Pakistan Security
February 01, 2010, 10:18 AM EST
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama's 2011 budget proposes to spend 2.9 percent more on the State Department and international programs, boosting funding for global health and food security and counterinsurgency efforts in Pakistan.
One of the largest proposed increases is $684 million for the President's Global Health Initiative, including programs to "reduce mortality of mothers and children under five, avoid unintended pregnancies, and work towards the elimination of some neglected tropical diseases," according to the budget released today.
The $56.8 billion international affairs budget would also augment U.S. resources to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al- Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan," increasing "assistance to both countries for governance, reconstruction and other development activities that will counter extremists," the administration said in a budget document.
The budget shows a $500 million increase over 2009 for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund, a program previously under Defense Department appropriations.
The 2011 budget includes a realignment of U.S. assistance in Iraq, including the transfer of responsibility for Iraqi police training and the security and logistical support for U.S. civilians to the State Department from the Defense Department.
The international affairs funding is part of a $3.8 trillion fiscal 2011 budget that calls for $100 billion in additional stimulus spending and projects this year's deficit will hit a record $1.6 trillion.
Development Banks
U.S. funding for multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank, would rise to $2.96 billion from $2.04 billion under the spending plan.
Contributions to the development banks "leverage other donor resources and increase the U.S.'s influence, credibility, and effectiveness globally," the administration said today. The spending plan also provides funding for new Millennium Challenge Corp. compacts in eligible countries, such as Indonesia and Zambia, to reduce poverty and attempt to boost economic growth.
Obama will also fund agricultural development and nutrition programs "to lift a significant number of people out of poverty" and reduce malnutrition for millions of children by 2015.
The budget dedicates funds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries by supporting the development of clean-energy technologies and the sequestration of carbon in soil, plants and trees, according to the budget.
Peace Corps Expansion
The fiscal 2011 budget funds the second year of Obama's initiative to increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers, putting the organization on track to grow by 50 percent, reaching 11,000 volunteers, by 2016.
Obama's 2010 budget had already put the U.S. on track to increase by 25 percent by 2013 the number of Foreign Service officers from 11,500, according to the State Department, and to double the number of U.S. Agency for International Development Foreign Service officers to 2,200 in 2012 from 1,000 in 2008.
The 2011 budget would cut funding for international narcotics and law enforcement programs by $312 million and assistance for migration and refugees by $88 million.
Development assistance would grow by $451 million, while the operating expenses of the Agency for International Development would rise by $87 million, according to budget documents.
