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2012 Budget

Untitled Document Every year, the Congress decides anew how much money to devote to humanitarian crises, and ultimately, whether or not our country will continue to provide global leadership in response to conflict, floods and famine. Today, more than ever, American policymakers must redouble their efforts to demonstrate to the world that we cannot forget the most vulnerable among us: the stateless, the displaced, the victims of war and famine.

The following four accounts are the core portions of the U.S. federal budget that provide the required funding for lifesaving assistance and support for refugees and displaced people around the world. However, the current funding levels proposed by the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) for all four accounts are $1.5 billion less than they should be.

Refugees International recommends an FY12 IDA appropriation of at least $1.08 billion for core OFDA funding plus funding for cash-based food assistance.  

International Disaster Assistance (IDA): This account funds the United State’s emergency response to humanitarian crises, enabling USAID’s Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to immediately react to natural and man-made disasters such as earthquakes, conflict, floods and famines. While responding to disasters around the world, including the famine in the Horn of Africa, the earthquake in Japan and political violence in Côte d’Ivoire, OFDA must also be prepared to respond to places like Sudan or Syria where conflict generates large-scale forced displacement and potential shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies.

Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA): This account provides the resources necessary to protect, support and resettle refugees and internally displaced people.  43.7 million people have been uprooted worldwide – their lives shattered by conflict and disaster. This funding enables the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) to fulfill its mission to provide protection, ease suffering, and resolve the plight of persecuted and displaced people around the world by providing life-sustaining assistance and promoting best practices in humanitarian response.

 

 Refugees International calls on Congress to provide, at a minimum, $2.2 billion in MRA funding for the Fiscal Year 2012.

 Refugees International urges Congress to provide $78 million to fully replenish the ERMA account.

Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA): This is a revolving fund established to ensure that resources are available for unanticipated emergency humanitarian crises that result in large-scale displacement and unforeseen refugee emergencies. The ERMA account provides an important “safety valve” option during emergencies and is capped at $100 million. Currently, only $22 million remains in the account.  Escalating violence and instability in many parts of the world including Somalia, Kyrgyzstan, and Sri Lanka, and more frequent and severe natural disasters like those that occurred in Haiti and Pakistan in 2010, have placed increasing demands on this emergency draw down account.

Contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA): These funds support the UN’s vital peacekeeping missions around the world. RI calls on Congress to pay the U.S. share of UN peacekeeping costs in full and on time. A U.S. contribution of $2.145 billion is required to pay our peacekeeping dues in full. By helping to support these operations, the U.S. leverages the contributions of other countries to cost-effectively further U.S. foreign policy objectives in volatile countries like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti.

Refugees International supports fully funding U.S. dues to UN peacekeeping operations and asks that Congress appropriate $2.145 billion to the CIPA account.