Save the Children Applauds Investment in Early Childhood Education and International Affairs in President’s Budget Request

Save the Children welcomed the release of the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget Request to Congress. We are pleased to see President Obama prioritize early childhood education, and increase funding for Head Start among other early learning programs. We also applaud the responsible approach to supporting the international affairs budget, which plays a critical role in the world despite the fact that it’s about 1% of the federal budget.

“As Congress works on the budget, we need to make sure that the programs that make the biggest difference for kids here at home and around the world are fully funded,” said Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children. “These programs don’t comprise a large part of the overall budget, but the difference they make in a child’s life is invaluable.”

While we are pleased to see that the Administration has continued to emphasize the global goal of ending preventable child deaths, we are concerned that global health funding for Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition is not sufficient to match that ambition. “The world has achieved a more than 40% reduction in under-five mortality in just a few decades, but one million babies still don’t survive past their first day. Now is the time to press forward to ending preventable child deaths, not scale back,” continued Miles.

Save the Children commends the Administration’s commitment to fighting hunger and malnutrition. Its continued commitment to reform international food aid has the potential to enable programs to reach 2 million more children and families in crisis at no additional cost to the U.S. taxpayer.

Additionally, we urge Congress to protect foreign assistance humanitarian accounts against the severe cuts proposed by the Administration in the budget. These resources are critical to addressing the Syria crisis and other humanitarian emergencies and we want to ensure that significant gains made in the FY14 appropriations bill are not lost.

By investing in children from the start, we can help millions of children in the United States get the early education they need to succeed in school and escape poverty and millions more around the world escape preventable disease and death and have a fair chance at a better future.

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in 120 countries, including the United States. We aim to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. In times of acute crisis, we mobilize rapid assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.