Bono and bishops call for full funding against HIV/AIDS

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October 2003

Bono, bishops call for full funding for Africa
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Bono, bishops call for full funding for Africa
Leaders from a broad array of some of America's largest religious groups called on President Bush and Congress to keep America's promise to Africa by fully funding AIDS and anti-poverty initiatives in the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.

The groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bread for the World (BfW), World Vision, DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa), the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, called for full funding of the Global AIDS Act at the $3 billion level authorized by Congress and full funding for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) at $1.3 billion in 2004—per the president’s budget request—to help the fight against corruption and poverty. The church leaders also asked that these commitments be fulfilled without offsetting cuts to other lifesaving programs directed to poor countries.

Speaking on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop John H. Ricard, S.S.J. Chairman of the International Policy Committee, said: "We credit President Bush for his commitment to address the global health crisis and the scandal of global poverty. We must redeem these promises without delay.

"The millions who are dying of HIV/AIDS, malaria, contaminated water, and malnutrition cannot wait. Meeting these commitments is not just a question of dollars, but of ethical responsibility and national credibility. Falling short will diminish us as a nation, and will allow more death and disease, and hunger and deprivation among the poorest people on earth."

According to a Bread for the World press release, Evangelical Christians have embarked on a two-year campaign to raise public awareness around the issue of HIV/AIDS, including a recent conference in Washington, D.C., of nearly 200 Evangelical church leaders on what local churches can do to help those suffering from the disease. The Catholic Bishops Conference and its aid agency, Catholic Relief Services, have been promoting a campaign for Africa in dioceses and parishes for the past two years. The other groups represented at a September 16 press conference have written hundreds of thousands of letters to Congress, urging support of the MCA and AIDS initiatives.

On hand to help publicize the church leaders' concerns was U2's Bono. "I don’t believe President Bush would call in a load of religious leaders to a signing ceremony for $3 billion, and then not sign the check," Bono said.

"It seems the main worry is that more than $2 billion can’t be spent—but the data shows that it can. In fact, by failing to spend the additional $1 billion, an additional 1.6 million people will become infected with HIV, and an additional 400,000 people will die who could have been saved by medicines. It's not just musicians and people of faith who believe the full $3 billion is needed—it's groups like the Catholics who care for 25 percent of the people with AIDS in the world, groups like Bread for the World and World Vision.

"President Truman said if you show Americans the facts, they’ll do the right thing. I believe that also applies to America’s leaders. If $87 billion can be found for two countries, surely there is another billion for an entire continent, Africa, where 30 million people have a death sentence on their heads,” Bono said.

Joining Bishop Ricard and Bono, U2’s lead singer and founder of DATA, were Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World; Bishop Stephen Bouman of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Bishop Lawrence Reddick III of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; and Bruce Wilkinson, senior vice president of World Vision.

BfW's Beckmann of Bread called this time a moment of opportunity for global anti-poverty efforts. "The president has said that 'seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many.' So it shocks me that the White House has not worked harder to urge congressional leaders to fully fund the president's own initiatives to fight hunger, poverty and AIDS around the world. In early July, the president basked in praise garnered by his trip to Africa. Now he seems content to let Congress shortchange the very programs he went there to promote," Beckmann said.

"The President’s two bold international aid proposals—the Global AIDS Initiative and the Millennium Challenge Account—are in danger of failing in Congress without active leadership,” said Bruce Wilkinson, senior vice president of global relief agency World Vision. "There are 14 million children orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The number is expected to grow to 25 million AIDS orphans worldwide in 2010 unless action is taken now. For more than two years World Vision has been building awareness and support among the American evangelical and religious communities, and this is the moment of truth."

The full Senate has yet to vote on funding for the MCA and HIV/AIDS initiatives, which are included in the foreign operations spending bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to allocate only $1 billion for the MCA and $2 billion for HIV/AIDS. The Senate bill would give a slight increase in funding for ongoing development assistance programs.

The House voted to fund the MCA at only $800 million and HIV/AIDS at about $2 billion. The House bill slightly reduces spending on current development assistance.

While these figures for the MCA and HIV/AIDS initiatives are steps in the right direction, they are just not enough, according to Bfw, which supports both the $1.3 billion in MCA funding that the administration has requested and the $3 billion for HIV/AIDS that the president has promised and Congress has authorized in the groundbreaking U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003.

For more information:
Statement by Bishop Ricard, S.S.J.
DATA

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