Faith leaders are urgently needed to remind Americans and Members of Congress of the live-saving accomplishments of U.S. foreign assistance; the religious rationale behind it; and to inspire other faith-based constituencies to urge Congress to fully fund poverty-focused health, development and humanitarian good works.
What follow below are 9 Talking Points and an urgent Call-to-Action for faith leaders and faith communities:
TALKING POINTS:
- We’re living through unprecedented gains in child survival and health.
- The U.S. lives out its values when helping to make the world a safer and healthier place for all God’s children.
- U.S. faith communities play an invaluable role in foreign assistance success.
- Faiths share a common religious call to respond to sickness and poverty.
- Faith leaders must challenge falsehoods and speak the facts about U.S. foreign assistance.
- Faith leaders need to remind legislators of the indispensable human security and moral leadership role of the U.S. government.
- Faith leaders offer persuasive and prophetic voices and Congress wants to hear from them.
- This is a perilous time for foreign assistance funding.
- Needs Remain
- We’re living through unprecedented gains in child survival and health.
The biggest story in the history of human health is right in front of us but unknown to most of us. We are living through an unparalleled decline in child death and illness from preventable disease, which means around the world 7 million fewer children will die this year than in 1990.
The majority of the regions in the world and 142 out of 195 countries at least halved their under-five mortality rate. Among all countries, more than a third (67) cut their under-five mortality by two-thirds – 28 of them are low- or lower-middle-income countries, indicating that improving child survival is possible even in resource-constrained settings.
It’s well-celebrated that polio cases have decreased over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases to 17 in 2017 – the fewest in history. But the good news doesn’t stop there. Between 2000-2015, death from common infectious diseases that strike children under 5 have fallen at an unprecedented rate:
Death from pneumonia dropped 47% (1.7 million to 900,000)
Death from diarrhea dropped 57% (1.2 million to 500,000)
Death from malaria dropped 58% (700,000 to 300,000)
Death from sepsis dropped 25% (500,000 to 400,000)
Death from pertussis, tetanus, meningitis dropped 59% (500,000 to 200,000)
Death from measles dropped 85% (500,000 to 100,000)
Death from AIDS dropped 61% (200,000 to 100,000)
Source: 2015 WHO and Maternal and Child Epidemiology Estimation Group (MCEE)
MORE AT: https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Pneumonia_Diarrhoea_brochure.pdf
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Overall, the number of annual deaths of children under age 5 worldwide has decreased from 12.6 million children in 1990 to 5.4 million. 2.5 million of them died within the first month of life. This translates into 15,000 under-5 and mostly preventable deaths every day and that’s still far too many. But with continued commitment, we will continue to move in the right direction.
As our planet becomes increasingly crowded, and we seek ways to share limited resources, not only do we want to reduce infant mortality for it’s own sake, but importantly: Reducing infant mortality also lowers birth rates. Women will try to have fewer children when they’re more assured that their children will not succumb to disease, malnutrition, poor healthcare and conflict. It’s why countries with high infant and child mortality rates also have the fastest growing populations in the world.
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2. The U.S. lives out its values when helping to make the world a safer and healthier place for all God’s children.
Through foreign assistance, the U.S. provides indispensable global leadership, scientific research, convening powers and funding to help every child reach his or her 5th birthday. All Americans taxpayers share in the credit, as do American civic groups, corporations, individuals, philanthropies and of course, faith communities which provide massive private funds to improve global health and development in some of the most desperate regions of the world.
The unprecedented success around child health and survival also heralds historic collaboration between the world’s governments, international agencies, civil society organizations and local institutions.
But vital to understanding success on this scale is understanding that it would not have happened but for U.S. government funding, influence and leadership. This work is far more than emergency assistance. Health and development projects targeting agriculture and food security, safe water and sanitation, education (especially for girls), nutrition, micro-finance, and much more increasingly offer long-term and sustainable pathways forward in the world’s poorest regions and for the world’s poorest peoples.
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3. U.S. faith communities play an invaluable role in foreign assistance success.
From individual congregations and national denominations to international faith-based organizations, (FBOs), millions of Americans support health and development work in the U.S. and around the world. Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious organizations in the U.S. have long understood the interconnection between all God’s children near and far. Increasingly, more communities – Sikh, Buddhist and others are also increasing their engagement in U.S foreign assistance success.
U.S. foreign assistance dollars help leverage billions more dollars from other international donors, and from the private sector including civic groups, corporations, foundations, individuals and of course the generosity of faith communities.
FBOs are invaluable government partners. According to the Center for Faith & The Common Good, in FY16, 71 largest US FBOs in international assistance invested $6.79 billion, 83% from private dollars. 29 FBOs that receive public funding leverage it well, raising almost $5 for every public $1 received. This impressive amount of funding doesn’t account for donations from local houses of worship and denominations. Volunteers and staff work with local governments and communities on a wide range of services: hospitals and healthcare centers, medical training, immunizations, agriculture, safe water, basic sanitation, nutritional supplements, eye treatments, anti-retroviral drugs, kitchen gardens, mother care groups, schools and much more that serve to strengthen families, communities and systems.
Large FBOs, like Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, Food for the Hungry and Church World Service have long been chosen, experienced USAID implementers to effectively deliver services. FBOs are on the front lines and trusted by local communities. They work with local partners, managing millions of U.S. foreign assistance dollars. It’s a public-private partnership that saves lives.
More than half the major FBOs raise their budgets entirely from private sources. Compassion International, for example, helps more than 1.8 million children break the cycle of poverty in 25 countries, using exclusively private funding. American Jewish World Service works to eradicate poverty and promote human rights on multiple continents and doesn’t take public funding. But whether or not FBOs receive public funds, every one of them sees from the frontlines how essential U.S. funds and influence are to delivering results for the families and communities they serve. They recognize this irreplaceable role played by U.S. government foreign assistance and strongly advocate for its continuation.
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4. Faiths share a common religious call to respond to sickness and poverty.
American faith communities invite compassion and generosity from all corners of the U.S. – from conservative to progressive, Republican to Democrat. Love for neighbor, valuing family, and sharing our blessings, are all central shared tenets. Faith communities are called to care for all God’s children, not just those found within their faiths’ or nations’ boundaries. Responding to “the neediest, not just the nearest” is the moral instruction of faith:
The New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew notes: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me… ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” [Matthew 25:35-36, 40]
In the Jewish text it says, "Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world." [Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5; Babylonian Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 37]
Similarly in the Qu’ran, “the destruction of one innocent life is like the destruction of the whole of humanity and the saving of one life is like the saving of the whole of humanity.” [Al-Ma’idah ”the Tablespread” 5:32]
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5. Faith leaders must challenge falsehoods and speak the facts about U.S. foreign assistance.
No part of the federal budget benefits more people, more cost-effectively, and is more misunderstood. When Americans are asked what programs should be cut to balance the federal budget, foreign assistance tops the list. But those same polls show Americans believe foreign assistance to be upwards of 25% of the budget and are stunned to learn that poverty-focused health and development assistance is less than one half of 1% of the federal budget. Literally, less than a penny on the dollar.
In times of budget austerity it makes all the more sense to preserve this small budget that treats and more importantly, prevents costly diseases. This small budget pays long-term dividends, helping families be more productive and decreasing poverty that undercuts stability and can lead to conflict. Some of the most effective investments the U.S. funds around the world, they cost very little per American:
- $1 a year per American funds all U.S. government foreign assistance programs to provide access to safe drinking water
- 50 cents a year funds America’s contribution to finally eradicating polio
- $3 a year funds the work to defeat malaria
- 30 cents a year funds efforts to treat a collection of 7 tropical diseases that afflict one billion people
- Every federal dollar invested in stopping chronic malnutrition returns $30 in higher lifetime productivity.
- Expanded childhood immunization improves health in later life, with benefits worth 20 times the cost.
- Water and sanitation interventions in healthcare settings produce economic benefits ranging from $5 to $46 per US$ 1 invested in saved health care costs and increased economic productivity.
6. Faith leaders need to remind legislators of the indispensable human security and moral leadership roles filled by the U.S. government.
The U.S. government, particularly through USAID and the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, has been central in helping to launch global initiatives to eradicate diseases, setting international standards and goals and tracking results, stimulating high-level funding commitments from other governments, negotiating significantly lowered cost for drugs, working government-to-government against corruption, and implementing coordinated strategies. Private sector groups, no matter how large or how effective, cannot accomplish such influence on their own.
No one sector can do it all. Each plays a unique and essential role. The partnership between the public and private sectors is foundational to success.
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7. Faith leaders offer persuasive and prophetic voices and Congress wants to hear from them.
- Congressional legislators have stated that there are few voices they respect more than those of faith leaders.
- Faith leaders provide a moral compass, effective in persuading legislators of the moral rationales underpinning poverty-focused health and development assistance.
- Congressional leaders have appealed for very vocal support from constituents, especially faith leaders, to give them the political cover they need to preserve this misunderstood and contested, small amount of funding that saves so many lives.
- Faith leaders can share the welcome news of the unprecedented gains in child survival and child health.
- Faith leaders can buttress their message with real world examples of what their congregations, denominations and relief organizations are doing abroad to save and improve lives.
- Faith leaders’ credibility is underscored by the long-term overseas presence and effectiveness of faith-based organizations dedicated to health and development.
Faith leaders can call for the U.S. government to continue funding public-private partnerships that deliver results for children and their families because it saves millions of lives every year, all of whom have been made in the image of God.
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8. This is a perilous time for foreign assistance funding.
The Trump Administration annually threatens to cut foreign assistance by upwards of 30%. While so far such a drastic budget cut has not come to pass, it strongly suggests to the American people that foreign assistance is costly and not valuable — it increases pressure on Congress to make major cuts.
The need to explain the life-saving results of U.S. foreign assistance has never been more critical. The International Affairs Budget funds both diplomacy and global health and development. Though one half of one percent of the federal budget goes to global health, development and humanitarian aid, it's the first on the chopping block in large part because most American taxpayers think we spend upwards of 25% of the federal budget on foreign assistance.
The faith community and faith leaders are partners and a vital constituency for this life-saving and life-affirming work.
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9. Needs remain
- Early death: 5.4 million children under 5 still die every year and 2.5 million of them died within the first month of life. This translates into 15,000 under-5 and mostly preventable deaths every day!
- Education: 131 million girls are not in school; 16 million will like never attend school in their lifetime.
- Thirst: Hundreds of thousands of schools and healthcare facilities still lack clean water and sanitation.
- Food insecurity: Even short bouts of malnutrition continue to have devastating lifelong impact on children’s health, learning ability and earning potential.
- Refugees and internally displaced persons: Suffer unimaginable misery as we face the largest refugee crisis since World War II, with 68 million people urgently in need of assistance.
- Violence: Now the leading cause of forced displacement
Call-to-Action:
Speak up with prophetic urgency in your communities:
- This is a constituency that has no voice...except yours.
- Remind houses of worship, religious communities, and local media about the welcome news that children’s lives are being saved around the world at unprecedented rates, thanks to U.S. government funded foreign assistance. Educate them on the life-saving impact of this vital work. Remind them that much of the good work faiths do, is in large part, due to U.S. government funding and influence opening doors and leading the way.
- Underscore that “while much has been done; much remains to be done.” 15,000 children under age 5 still die every day around the world, mainly from preventable infectious illness and disease.
- Encourage them to use their God-given voice to call their legislators to the moral necessity of preserving funding for the least of these.
Contact Congress:
- Your voices really do make a difference. Reach out to your Congressional representative or staff -- in-person, by phone, email or social media – and thank them for their bipartisan support for poverty-focused health and development foreign assistance funding.
- Offer a story from your congregation, faith community or faith-based organization that illustrates what foreign assistance accomplishes.
- Whether or not your faith’s FBO receives federal funding for its foreign assistance work, share a story that illustrates how a strong U.S. governmental role is instrumental to sustainable success.
- Remind legislators of the moral and religious underpinnings of foreign assistance. Remind them that we have their backs and they must not allow progress to roll back.