As the world faces high levels of violence and more active armed conflict than at any point since World War II, FCNL advocates successfully lobbied to protect critical funding for international peacebuilding.
On March 23, Congress passed the FY 2024 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 118-47), a package that includes the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPs) bill. This bill contains three core accounts that support conflict prevention and peacebuilding: the Complex Crises Fund, Atrocities Prevention, and Reconciliation Programs.
Despite a 6% cut to the SFOPs bill, the final agreement protected funding at FY23’s level for Atrocities Prevention at $6 million and Reconciliation Programs at $25 million and secured over 90% of FY23’s level for the Complex Crises Fund at $55 million.
FCNL advocates were crucial in protecting these funds for which they have been lobbying for more than a year. Leading the way were the over 130 FCNL Advocacy Teams, the only national network of volunteer constituent advocates supporting these three accounts.
Leading the way were the over 130 FCNL Advocacy Teams, the only national network of volunteer constituent advocates supporting these three accounts.
They organized 520 lobby visits in 48 states, collectively urging Congress to invest in peace. Participants to the November 2023 Quaker Public Policy Institute organized an additional 130 lobby visits in one day, calling on their members of Congress to invest in peace.
As Congress negotiated the FY 2024 spending package, the advocates worked together to educate them on the cost-effectiveness of peacebuilding. They shared the stories of peacebuilders working around the world in preventing violence and healing communities.
Although FCNL welcomes the FY 2024 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act’s peace investments, we are disappointed in many other aspects of this package. These include billions of dollars in military assistance and a nearly 20% cut to the Shelter and Services Program to provide transition shelter, support services, and transportation for asylum seekers and migrants.
The package also grants a whopping $825 billion to the Pentagon and bans funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency, the largest humanitarian aid program in Gaza.
In the face of deeper proposed cuts to overall foreign assistance programs, FCNL advocates persisted, and Congress eventually decreased it by only 6%.
