The U.S. Government’s annual contribution to UNICEF plays a critical role in our efforts to get to zero—no child dying from a cause we can prevent. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have made their recommendations to preserve the appropriations for UNICEF for Fiscal Year 2013. The next step would be for each chamber to vote on its bill. UNICEF’s supporters need to continue to remind their Senators and Representatives that we need their help to secure this funding as it moves through the legislative process!

In the midst of the controversy and sparring on Capitol Hill as Congress hurried to finish its work for the year, the House and Senate provided holiday cheer for UNICEF and for vulnerable children around the world.

Included in the massive appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012 signed into law by the President was $131.8 million for the U.S. Government’s contribution to UNICEF. Although the overall measure cut core foreign assistance programs by about $6 billion from the Fiscal Year 2011 levels, UNICEF was preserved.

Each year brings us a step closer to the elimination of polio. To help hasten the day that Zero children are afflicted with polio, please take a minute to sign our petition in support of global child survival and maternal health. U.S. Government appropriations for the fight to end polio are part of this overall funding.

Every year, in the appropriations for foreign operations, the U.S. Congress provides a contribution to UNICEF. This funding helps UNICEF to meet the needs of children around the around and is an essential building block in our efforts to prevent children from dying of causes we can prevent.

Congress now is working on the budget for Fiscal Year 2012, which starts on October 1st. As part of that effort, the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs held a public witness hearing. Cynthia McCaffrey, Senior Vice President for Program and Strategic Partnerships of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, testified before the Subcommittee on behalf of UNICEF’s supporters across the country.

Fiscal Year 2011 begins on October 1, but funding for the full year will not be set until they reconvene. So the final decisions on appropriations for foreign affairs and international development, including the U.S. Government’s contribution to UNICEF, await their return.

Although Washington seems preoccupied with the health care debate, the annual appropriations process also is underway. The Budget Committees soon will set the guidelines for overall Federal spending and then the Appropriations Committees will determine their allocations for international foreign assistance. Later in the Spring, the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs will craft the funding bills that include the U.S. Government’s annual contribution to UNICEF.

For the current Fiscal Year 2010, the Congress provided the highest contribution the United States ever has given to UNICEF: $132.25 million. For Fiscal Year 2011 (which begins on October 1st), we want to boost that funding to $140 million. Increases in the “core funding” UNICEF gets from the United States Government help to save more children’s lives and get us closer to “Zero!”

But that will only happen if concerned citizens across the country contact the decision-makers. It only takes a minute or two to send e-mail messages to your two U.S. Senators and to your U.S. Representative.

Please join in this effort, and please encourage everyone you know to do the same!

It’s an easy way to act on your dedication to saving more vulnerable children and to improving the quality of their lives.