Devex published Greg Gottlieb’s opinion piece “The White House is ignoring Congress’s call for US humanitarian leadership” on October 3, 2017.

Greg writes:

“The United Nations General Assembly and its many side meetings concluded last month.   President Donald Trump addressed the plenary session, sparking controversy with his remarks on North Korea and Iran. At a side meeting he spoke of U.S. support for HIV/AIDS and malaria, a grace note in an otherwise out-of-tune performance. He was further off-key when he failed to attend an important meeting on the worst humanitarian emergencies.

Secretary-General António Guterres called upon heads of state to discuss humanitarian crises across the globe, including those in Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, and South Sudan, where people are experiencing famine or near-famine conditions. Trump sent U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green to the meeting to announce further funding — money that exists because of Congress, despite the president’s budgetary requests. Trump’s absence and a 2018 budget proposal with large cuts to humanitarian spending sends a strong signal that the U.S. is stepping away from its leadership role in global humanitarian needs…” Read the rest of the piece here.