In April this year, the Biden administration proposed its first budget for fiscal year 2022. Among them, the budget for diplomacy and foreign aid increased by 12% compared with the previous year. What areas of foreign aid will the new budget focus on supporting? What trends does it reflect in U.S. development assistance policy?
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Author: Zeng Lu
On April 9, 2021, the Biden administration submitted its first federal government discretionary spending budget for fiscal year 2022 to the U.S. Congress. The budget totals US$1.5 trillion, of which the budget for international programs is US$63.5 billion, an increase of 12% from the previous year.
The international programs budget promotes national interests by supporting diplomacy and foreign assistance activities and is primarily allocated to the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Treasury (Treasury). Among them, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development will receive US$58.4 billion, an increase of 10% from the previous year; the Treasury Department will receive US$3.3 billion, an increase of 73% from the previous year.
What key areas does the 2022 Development Cooperation Budget support?
$10 billion for global health programs to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to future biological threats and pandemics. About $1 billion of that amount is for global health security initiatives.
US$2.5 billion will be used to promote a global response to climate challenges. Among them, US$1.2 billion is used for the Green Climate Fund, US$691 million is used to support developing countries in combating climate change, and US$485 million is used for other multilateral initiatives.
In terms of multilateral support, $2 billion is allocated to United Nations peacekeeping efforts and $3.3 billion is allocated to the Treasury Department’s international programs. In addition, support has been proposed for the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), but the amount has not yet been specified.
US$861 million will be used to revitalize the United States' position in Central America, maintain the United States' regional partnerships in Central America through comprehensive means such as supporting economic development and systematically promoting reforms, and reduce illegal immigration in Central America from the source.
$10 billion for refugee and humanitarian assistance to support refugees, conflict victims and other displaced vulnerable groups.
The budget will also support human rights, democracy, peace in the Middle East, and strengthen the diplomatic and civil service teams of the State Department and USAID.
What new trends in development assistance does the 2022 budget reflect?
The Biden administration willForeign aid as a foreign policy priority. The Biden administration's foreign aid budget for fiscal year 2022 will increase by 12% based on the previous year. Although it is far less than what some Democrats had expected, it is a change.The Trump administration has repeatedly attempted to slash the aid budgetsituation. The Biden administration regards development assistance as a core pillar of foreign policy. Secretary of State Antony Blinken once said that foreign aid is "the center of foreign policy." At the end of April this year, the Senate approved Samantha Power, the former representative to the United Nations, as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, marking the Biden administration's entire international development team in place. This increase in the foreign aid budget once again reflects that the Biden administration regards foreign aid as an important tool of foreign policy.
The United States attaches great importance to strengthening global health leadership. The Biden administration believes that global health security is related to U.S. national security and is committed to enhancing U.S. leadership in global health. Approximately $1 billion is allocated to global health security programs in the 2022 budget, five times the previous year's budget. After the Biden administration took office, it revoked the previous administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization and joined the"COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility" (COVAX)And donated US$2 billion to support the equitable distribution of vaccines around the world. On May 5, the U.S. government expressed support for giving up patent rights on COVID-19 vaccines for a limited time to strengthen the global fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. On May 16, Biden announced that the United States would share 80 million doses with other countries by the end of Junenew crown vaccine. There are various signs that the Biden administration intends to reverse the negative impact of the previous administration's inaction during the epidemic and vigorously enhance the United States' leadership in global health security.
U.S. seeks to become global leader on climate change. The Biden administration views climate change as a common threat to mankind and believes that countries around the world should unite and cooperate to address climate change. To this end, the Biden administration has proposed a budget of US$2.5 billion for multilateral and bilateral climate cooperation, more than four times the previous year's budget. On April 22-23, Biden launched the Global Leaders Climate Summit, demonstrating the United States’ high-profile return to the international climate agenda. During the summit, Biden announced the goal of reducing U.S. carbon emissions by 50-52% by 2030 compared with 2005, a reduction that is almost twice the original goal. In addition, $14 billion will be invested in domestic actions to combat climate change in the United States. Through these measures, the Biden administration strives to effectively strengthen the United States’ global leadership in the climate field before the United Nations Climate Conference in November this year.
Multilateralism returns to the center of U.S. foreign policy. The Trump administration has subverted multilateralism, the basic rule of the global governance system. US$2 billion in the 2022 budget will be used to support United Nations peacekeeping operations and pay off the arrears of the US government during Trump's term. Combined with Biden's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan in April this year, the United States may intend to use United Nations peacekeeping forces to carry out some of the overseas missions carried out by the U.S. military in the future. The budget increase of 73% for the international programs responsible for the Ministry of Finance means that the United States may increase its funding and influence on international financial institutions and vertical funds such as the World Bank. The budget also proposes to renew support for the World Health Organization, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Population Fund, and promote the reform of these institutions. These three agencies are all United Nations agencies that the United States withdrew or stopped funding during Trump’s term. The Biden administration’s move symbolizesThe United States fully returns to multilateralism. The United States will expand its support and influence on UN agencies by rejoining them, restarting or increasing financial support for multilateral organizations, and promoting UN reform, and will actively unite with its allies to shape the global governance system.
This article was first published on the WeChat public account "International Development Observation". All rights reserved, please indicate the author and source when reprinting.
references
https://www.devex.com/news/biden-proposes-6-8b-boost-for-us-international-budget-99627
https://www.state.gov/on-the-presidents-fy-2022-discretionary-funding-request/
https://www.state.gov/on-the-presidents-fy-2022-discretionary-funding-request/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/FY2022-Discretionary-Request.pdf
Past review
- Why Does the United States Favor Multilateral Aid?
- The International Implications of Biden's Development Cooperation Policy
- Trump vs. Biden: A Development Perspective on the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
- Understanding the Global Landscape of COVID-19 Vaccines in Six Charts
- Is COVID-19 the Final Straw for Triggering Debt Crisis in Developing Countries?
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