Senate unit wants US cut in aid to world's poor

The funds of two major international organizations for tackling world hunger and poverty could be radically slashed in the wake of actions by the Senate Appropriations Committee, Monitor staff writer Richard Harley reports.

The committee recommended scratching the US pledge of $180 million for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (the first and only joint development effort among developing countries, OPEC, and the industrialized West). The committee also voted to cut the proposed US contribution to the International Development Association (an affiliate of the World Bank) to $532 million from $820 million.

The House and Senate will vote in the near future.