WASHINGTON — The ONE Campaign welcomed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s markup of the Global Fragility Act of 2019 (S.727) which would create a comprehensive strategy to reduce poverty, conflict, violence and corruption in fragile states.

Tom Hart, North America executive director at The ONE Campaign:

“To end extreme poverty, we must rethink how we help people living in fragile states, where roughly 80 percent of the world’s poorest will live by 2030. This bipartisan bill will help modernize and shift our strategy to focus on crisis prevention, not response, to save more lives and create a better future for those living in extreme poverty.

“ONE thanks Chairman Jim Risch and Ranking Member Bob Menendez for helping advance this bill. ONE also thanks Senators Chris Coons, Lindsey Graham, Jeff Merkley, Marco Rubio and Todd Young for introducing this smart proposal and for helping cultivate strong bipartisan support for it. We hope the full Senate will soon have the opportunity to pass this good bill.”

About the Global Fragility Act of 2019 

The number of people living in extreme poverty is increasingly concentrated in countries struggling with violence and instability. The Global Fragility Act would direct USAID, the State Department, and the Department of Defense to work together to develop 10-year strategies for reducing fragility and violence in several fragile and conflict-affected countries by addressing their root causes. The bill calls for the selection of priority countries in a minimum of three geographic regions, and for strategies to include local and civil society participation, and to have strong monitoring and evaluation systems. This legislation would give the United States government the tools it needs to do development in more difficult settings and more effectively reach some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

For more information, or to speak with an expert about the legislation, contact Sean Simons at [email protected].