International affairs budget cuts, explained

As tense budget negotiations are quickly running into Tuesday's deadline, the international affairs budget is absorbing large hits to for the 2012 fiscal year. 

One of the more drastic cuts is eliminating funding for multilateral efforts to combat climate change, which had been funded with $248 million in 2011 and $388 million in 2010.  As aid organizations are calling for immediate relief for famine in the Horn of Africa, the appropriations committee reduced international disaster assistance by 12 percent. 

The 2012 budget request made by President Obama had proposed $61.4 billion for international affairs spending (including Overseas Contingency Operations), a 5 percent increase from 2010. Increases were also proposed for global health, development assistance and USAID operating expenses, among others.

InterAction has created a chart that compares the suggested 2012 requested budget cuts to the enacted 2010 and 2011 international affairs budgets. View it here.

Learn more about how the development community is making the case for a robust international affairs budget on InterAction's special budget page.