Global military expenditures exceed $1 trillion annually. Less than 0.5% of these expenditures can save the lives of 6 million children under the age of 5 each year. But the fact remains that the equivalent of UNICEF’s annual budget is spent on military purposes every 15 hours, even as one billion children live in unimaginable conditions of deprivation.

Global Priorities is an international inter-religious campaign to change budget priorities. It works to combat poverty by mobilizing religious as well as secular communities to alter national and global budget priorities. The focus of the Global Priorities Campaign is to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles while devoting savings to nuclear nonproliferation and child survival.

At present, Global Priorities is facilitating national and international diplomatic efforts that build on a current bipartisan Congressional resolution—H. RES. 278, The Global Security Priorities Resolution—re-introduced in March 2009 by Representatives James McGovern (D-MA) and Dan Lungren (R-CA). This Congressional resolution calls for reductions in U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals that will lead to savings of at least $13 billion annually. $3.5 billion of these savings will be allocated to increasing nuclear security efforts, while an additional $2.5 billion will be redirected toward the Millennium Development Goals of enhancing child survival, including alleviating hunger and improving education around the world.

The world is at a crossroads, in both reducing nuclear threat and ensuring the well-being of children. The Global Security Priorities Resolution and the measures to follow on the international level can play a significant role in defining this future. As UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2008 notes, the opportunity to save children’s lives has never been clearer—we know what needs to be done. It is simply a question of political will, action, and funding. Progress has been made, but at a rate not nearly as fast enough to meet the Millennium Development Goals that aim to cut extreme poverty by half in 2015.

The underlying principle of the Global Priorities Campaign is that human security can be achieved through determined measures to eradicate extreme poverty and to realize fundamental economic, social, and cultural rights. Reducing military spending is not only a central component of the battle to eradicate poverty, but also a road map to human security that reaches beyond military might. It is the articulation of values whose roots are found in the traditions of every community: concern for children, elders, the disabled, and all the vulnerable members of our societies.

For more information, please visit the Global Priorities website at:
www.globalpriorities.org

or contact:
Arnold Kohen
International Coordinator
Global Priorities Campaign
P.O. Box 32307
Washington, D.C. 20007 USA

globalpriorities@aol.com