ENOUGH Budget Standard - ENOUGH Project

The United States has the power and the knowledge to end mass atrocities and genocide, but a serious effort to prevent these tragedies from occurring requires a financial commitment to expand and sustain critical programs that prevent conflict and promote peace.

In order to end the mass atrocities of today and prevent those of tomorrow, the ENOUGH Campaign calls for an aggregate increase of 25% by FY2010 in the full range of accounts that support U.S. efforts in prevention, peacemaking, civilian protection, and the punishment of the perpetrators. Only when the U.S. makes a financial commitment of this magnitude will we know that we have enough political will to commit enough resources to the goal of ending genocide and mass atrocities.

The long-term reward for investing in Peace, Protection, Punishment and Prevention and will be a world where conflicts and acts of genocide are far less likely to erupt. Unfortunately, we also face immediate crises of conflict and genocide that if left unattended could spiral into broader violence and regional instability. In particular, the situations in Darfur, Eastern Congo, and Northern Uganda require immediate investments to increase our capacity to promote peace, ensure the protection of innocent civilians, and punish the perpetrators of ongoing mass atrocities.

In order to illustrate the scope and focus of the Enough Budget Standard, the following specific recommendations demonstrate how critical investments in specific programs that promote Peace, Protection, and Punishment will set the conditions for preventing and mitigating mass atrocities both in the present and the future. These investments will also achieve the broader U.S. foreign policy goals of fostering global stability, enhancing U.S. credibility in the world and reducing the long term costs of sustaining an untenable status quo and reactive engagement.

PEACE

State Department Operations - The number of U.S. diplomatic personnel serving in Africa has increased by only 10 since 2006, and there are today more than twice as many diplomats assigned to Europe and Eurasia as to the entire African continent. The ENOUGH Campaign believes we must increase the number of skilled diplomats serving in the world’s most complex and challenging regions. Therefore, we support additional resources under State Department Operations to stand up and sustain a regional diplomatic cell staffed by experienced Foreign Service officers that can support peace negotiations and ensure consistent, persistent and robust diplomatic engagement in the immediate crises in Darfur, northern Uganda and eastern Congo, as well as in future hot spots in Africa.

Conflict Response Fund – The purpose of this account is to enable the Department of State to respond more effectively to potential, ongoing, and post-conflict situations overseas. The ENOUGH Campaign believes that this account is vital to the government’s ability to address the humanitarian consequences of conflict; preventing mass killings; and restoring a secure, peaceful environment.

Recommendation: Increase the State Operations Budget for Africa by 25% above the President’s FY 2008 request to adequately fund an expanded diplomatic capacity on the ground and to establish a Diplomatic Cell of highly trained Foreign Service officers who can proactively engage crises throughout the continent. Additionally, the ENOUGH Campaign supports the $75 million for the Conflict Response Fund as previously requested by the Administration, and as included in S.613, legislation by Senators Lugar and Biden which is before the Congress. The ENOUGH Campaign also calls for $25 million to stand up a civilian readiness reserve corps whose mission will be to support immediate post-conflict governance requirements.

PROTECTION

United Nations and Bilateral Peacekeeping Support – The U.S. carries a peacekeeping deficit of more than $600 million - even including the FY 2007 supplemental - in the account that funds our contribution to UN peacekeeping missions and the account that finances “voluntary” missions such as the one being undertaken by the African Union in Darfur. UN Peacekeeping missions are vital, representing a wise investment in peacemaking that deserves the support of the US government.

Recommendation: For FY 2008 and beyond, the ENOUGH Campaign calls for the Administration and the Congress to make up the arrearages and increase the President’s FY 2008 request by 25% to increase the U.S. investment in the United Nations programs that protect innocent civilians - specifically the UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and in Cote d’Ivoire – to ensure that those vital operations are able to fulfill their missions. The ENOUGH Campaign also calls for funding to stand up and support the proposed UN/AU hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur, and believes that funding must be included in the FY08 budget in order to prevent delays as and when conditions allow for deployment.

PUNISHMENT

United Nations War Crimes Tribunals - UN war crimes tribunals are vital to the international community’s efforts to hold the perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable and break the cycle of impunity. The effective international policing, investigation, indictment and trial of those suspected of committing egregious violations of international humanitarian law should be vigorously supported by the US.

Office of Foreign Asset Control - The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) is vital tool in tracking and restricting the funding being illegally provided to the perpetrators of mass atrocities, impeding the financial flows that fuel conflicts, and expanding the governments research, forensic accounting and monitoring capacities.

Recommendation: The ENOUGH campaign calls for an increase in funding for both UN War Crimes Tribunals and for the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control 25% above the President’s FY 2008 request in order to enhance the government’s ability to hold perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable and in order to deter future acts of mass atrocity and genocide. Additionally, OPAC should focus these additional resources on regions where conflict is most likely to occur in Africa.