Project HOPE Warns of Humanitarian Impact of Federal Budget Cuts

Dr. Tom Kenyon, the CEO of Project HOPE, is warning that the White House administration’s proposed budget cuts to foreign aid risk endangering millions of people around the world as well as America’s historic role as a lifeline to those in need.

Project HOPE has joined a coalition of international development NGOs that are calling on Congress to mitigate the budget reductions for USAID and State Department programs, and to safeguard the US government’s role in humanitarian assistance and international development.

The recent release of the WhiteHouse’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget blueprint unveiled stark cuts to foreign aid which, if implemented, would risk endangering the health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world as well as our nation’s historic role as a lifeline to those in need,” Dr. Kenyon said.

The proposed budget cuts of 28 percent for State and USAID will put the lives of vulnerable people in peril, increase poverty and undermine America’s prestige in the world. We should remember, for instance, that millions of people are alive today because of U.S.-provided anti-retroviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS and five million children still draw breath owing to treatment funded by the U.S. taxpayer for diarrhea and pneumonia. Not only is this the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective, but it provides an incalculable fund of goodwill towards the United States.

And since instability and deprivation are also threats to U.S. national security, we urge Congress to mitigate the budget reductions for USAID and State Department programs, and to safeguard the U.S. government’s role in humanitarian assistance and international development,” Dr. Kenyon added.

About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, as well as conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 30 countries. Visit our website projecthope.org and follow us on Twitter @projecthopeorg.