On February 1, President Obama requested $58.5 billion for the foreign affairs account, as part of his $3.8 trillion FY 2011 Budget request submitted to Congress. This is up from $50.9 billion in the final FY 2010 appropriation, an increase of about 9 percent. One of his campaign pledges was to double foreign assistance by 2012, which seems difficult given today’s economic climate.

For analysis see:

The gist from the ONE Campaign: The Administration requested $58.5 billion for the international affairs budget (the 150 account) — an increase of $6.1 billion over FY2010 levels – including key investments in global agriculture and a more comprehensive approach to improving global health, including efforts to fight neglected tropical diseases and improvements to maternal and child health. However, the President’s requests for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and for PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) are disappointing. The Administration also missed an opportunity to make greater strides against childhood mortality with only a modest increase in spending for immunizations, at a moment when new vaccines are ready to save lives through the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI). http://one.org/c/us/hottopic/3181/

A positive assessment from the Kaiser Family Foundation: http://globalhealth.kff.org/Daily-Reports/2010/February/02/GH-020210-Budget.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kff%2Fkdghpr+%28Kaiser+Daily+Global+Health+Policy+Report%29

And a thumb’s up from InterAction http://www.interaction.org/article/interaction-gives-%E2%80%9Cthumbs-up%E2%80%9D-president-obama%E2%80%99s-2011-international-affairs-budget

And a not so rosy outlook from the Global Aids alliance: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/presidents-budget-for-global-health-far-short-of-whats-needed—-congress-must-fix-83289512.html