In his State of the Union address, President Obama called upon our nation to join with the world in ending extreme poverty in the next two decades. Today, we have new tools and approaches that enable us to achieve a goal that would have been unimaginable even two decades ago: the elimination of extreme poverty and its most devastating corollaries, widespread hunger and preventable child and maternal deaths.

FY 2014 BUDGET REQUEST HIGHLIGHTS

USAID implements funding from 12 foreign assistance accounts. The overall FY 2014 President's Request for these accounts is $20.4 billion, providing the necessary resources for development experts to address complex threats to our national security, promote human progress, and prevent and respond to crises from conflict and disasters.

THE BUDGET REQUEST WILL ENABLE USAID, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, TO:

Ensure food security and progress towards ending hunger: $1.06 billion for the Feed the Future Initiative supports programs to fight chronic food insecurity and the President’s G-8 commitment to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a significant new model of partnership that brings private sector companies and developing countries together to expand investment opportunities in African agriculture.

End preventable child death: $2.65 billion for USAID Global Health Programs, which along with State Department Global Health Programs, contributes to global efforts to support three strategic areas of focus: Creating an AIDS-free generation, Saving Lives of Mothers and Children, and Protecting Communities from Infectious Diseases.

Feed 2 to 4 million more people through more efficient food assistance: Food aid reform shifts funding previously requested in Title II to three other assistance accounts, maximizing the use of taxpayer dollars: International Disaster Assistance ($1.42 billion) for emergency food response; Development Assistance ($330 million, including $80 million already in the account) for the Community Development and Resilience Fund to address chronic food insecurity in areas of recurrent crises; and a new Emergency Food Assistance Contingency Fund ($75 million), which will enable the President to provide emergency food assistance for unexpected and urgent food needs worldwide.

Strengthen program effectiveness and reform the development workforce through the USAID FORWARD initiative including:

• $1.4 billion to strengthen and reform USAID’s development workforce to effectively design, procure, and manage efficient programs for sustainable results.
• $173.1 million for USAID Forward to support a comprehensive package of innovations that continues the transformation of the Agency into an efficient, modern development enterprise, increases the effectiveness and impact of development assistance, and mobilizes a new generation of innovators and scientists.

Build resilience to recurrent crisis and to climate change: USAID will continue to help vulnerable communities emerge from cycles of crisis onto pathways towards development. Recognizing the multidimensional and complex nature of building resilience, USAID stresses coordination, collaboration, and leveraging resources from across the Agency and with other partners. $481 million for the Global Climate Change Initiative, implemented in partnership with the Department of State, invests in developing countries best-suited to accelerate transitions to climate-resilient, low-emission economic growth—including the development of 20 Low Emission Development Strategies.

Support strategic priorities and promote democratic governance and economic growth:

• Of the President’s $4 billion assistance request for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, USAID implements $2.45 billion for economic assistance, continuing to work closely with interagency partners including the State and Defense departments, to move toward long-term stability, promote economic growth, and support democratic reforms, including the rights of women.
• Of the President’s $768 million assistance request for East Asia and the Pacific, USAID implements $593 million for programs to support the Administration’s Asia-Pacific Rebalance by addressing critical gaps in core programs to renew U.S. leadership, deepen economic ties, promote democratic and universal values, and strengthen diplomatic engagement.
• USAID, with the Department of State, is systematically applying the USAID gender policy, the new State gender policy, and implementation plans for Women Peace and Security (WPS) and Gender-Based Violence, with the goal of integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment into all aspects of foreign assistance. Additional to the integrated programming, the budget includes $20 million for USAID’s Women’s Leadership, and WPS will support gender integration across USAID, public-private partnerships that advance the rights of women and girls, and women’s inclusion in peace building.

Provide live-saving responses to areas with the most vulnerable populations: $2.12 billion in USAID-managed humanitarian assistance is allocated to assist victims of conflict, natural disasters, and forced migration, by providing for emergency food assistance as part of food aid reform and assistance to internally displaced persons, and conflict and natural disaster victims.

Continue USAID’s commitment to focus and selectivity in the countries and areas in which we work: USAID has worked aggressively through its strategic planning process to focus resources in countries where they are needed the most, to activities that are the most cost-effective, and to those programs where USAID will have the most sustainable impact. By focusing on specific geographies, populations, and on fewer program units, USAID will achieve greater program effectiveness and more identifiable results. The FY 2014 budget also reflects USAID’s strategic approach to realigning its presence in selected regions to maximize operational effectiveness, adjusting its “footprint” to better achieve foreign policy and development outcomes.

RESPONDING TO CRITICAL CHALLENGES THROUGH A NEW MODEL FOR DEVELOPMENT

The President’s fiscal year 2014 budget request responds to the critical development challenges of our time. With approximately one percent of the federal budget, USAID supports development activities and the experts who carry them out in support of our national security, economic growth, and to project American values in the developing world and countries in crisis.

Today, global development is as critical to our nation’s foreign policy as diplomacy and defense, and USAID is being asked to do more than ever before. To meet that challenge, USAID is transforming itself into a modern development enterprise, and creating the conditions to eliminate the need for its assistance over time through enhanced governance, thriving civil societies, and a vibrant private sector.

For More Information, please contact USAID Press Office at usaidpressofficers@usaid.gov