Your Voice Matters to Prevent War

By Mary Stata on 10/24/2011 @ 06:30 PM

Tags: Peaceful Prevention

For the past few years, FCNL has lobbied tirelessly for establishment and funding for the Complex Crises Fund. The Complex Crises Fund (CCF) provides much needed flexible, unprogrammed funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development to respond to rapidly escalating crises. This innovative tool is crucial to promoting the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict.

The Complex Crises Fund only received $40 million in FY2011, a pittance of a budget despite its enormous mandate to prevent and mitigate deadly conflict. To make matters worse, the House voted to eliminate the Complex Crises Fund for FY2012 in July. The Senate, in turn, approved $75 million for the Complex Crises Fund in the bill that funds programs that peacefully prevent deadly conflict. Now, the House and Senate must reconcile their different bills before a final bill is approved for FY 2012. The Prevention and Protection Working Group, an NGO coalition that FCNL convenes, recently organized a letter to Congress in support of the CCF.

FCNL remains concerned about the future of the Complex Crises Fund in light of the tight budget climate in Washington. As the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (supercommittee) continues its work, leaders of congressional committees have sent letters to the committee outlining their priorities for budget cuts. The Complex Crises Fund got a special shout out in one of these letters. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, specifically mentioned eliminating the Complex Crises Fund in her letter to the supercommittee. The letter states that the CCF’s purpose is "vague", and therefore subject to elimination. In reality, the CCF was designed intentionally to provide civilian agencies with a flexible, contingency account to rapidly respond to escalating crises. Early and effective response can save the U.S. money in the long term, by mitigating crises before the killing starts and expensive reconstruction is needed.

For months, FCNL has been encouraging our grassroots network to urge their Members of Congress to fully support the Complex Crises Fund. Clearly, your messages are being heard loudly enough that some in Congress are mobilizing specifically against the Complex Crises Fund! Even though this fund is a miniscule part of the State Department and USAID's budget, we must be doing something right to garner this type of interest. A tiny fund like the CCF would not be prominently placed on the chopping block unless there was vocal support for it. Hey, we're trying to remain positive at 245 2nd Street.

TAKE ACTION: Please write your Member of Congress and urge them to fully support $75 million for the Complex Crises Fund in FY2012.