Obama budget sees eight pct foreign aid boost 36.7 billion

AFP News Briefs List

Obama budget sees eight pct foreign aid boost

http://www.france24.com/files/afp/ph...005145-1-0.jpg
US President Barack Obama, seen here on May 4, 2009, delivers remarks on US tax reform in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC. Obama's new budget calls for 36.7 billion dollars in foreign aid, an eight percent increase, stressing the importance of international development, officials said Friday.

US President Barack Obama's new budget calls for 36.7 billion dollars in foreign aid, an eight percent increase, stressing the importance of international development, officials said Friday.

Overall, Obama's 3.44-trillion-dollar budget for 2010 proposes 53.9 billion dollars for the State Department and international affairs, up from 49.8 billion dollars in 2009, including requested supplemental funding, they said.

Jacob Lew, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, told reporters Friday that the budget, if approved, will put the United States on "a path to double foreign assistance" by 2015.

"By increasing foreign assistance and expanding diplomatic and development capacity, the United States is renewing its leadership role in the global community," according to a statement released with the budget.

"The foreign assistance budget will save lives and improve the health of mothers and children through global health programs, foster global food security through sustainable agriculture, increase the size of the Peace Corps and stabilize post-conflict states.

"The budget will also support increased access to quality basic education for children in the poorest countries, reinvigorate efforts to counter proliferation, terrorism and transnational crime," it added.

Diplomatic and development work would be expanded by increasing the number of staff at both the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The budget also calls for increased non-military assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Seeking to switch from the stress placed on military force during the early years of George W. Bush's administration, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for greater emphasis on diplomacy and development.

The office of the Director of US Foreign Assistance at the State Department said the 2010 budget calls for 36.7 billion dollars in foreign operations and related agencies, including food aid.

In 2009, the figure for foreign assistance was 34 billion dollars, or eight percent less, it said.

http://www.france24.com/en/20090509-oba ... -aid-boost