Washington DC, September 13, 2017: Senate committee on appropriation for the Department of State, foreign operations and related programs for the fiscal year 2018 has reinstated the funding for the Tibetans projects and programs inside Tibet and in exile.
The committee has approved total of 18.25 millions US dollars for Tibetan related programs in the bill on September 7, 2017 where it has allocated 0.675 million US dollars for academic programs; 0.575 million for professional and cultural exchanges; 8 million for economic support in Tibet; 6 million for economic support in India and Nepal and 3 million to strengthen the capacity of Tibetan institution and governance in exile.
The bill said “Instruct the US executive directors of each international financial institution to use voice and vote of the US to support financing of projects in Tibet. …Economic Support Fund… shall be made available to non-government organizations to support activities which preserve cultural and promote sustainable development, education, and environmental conservation in Tibetan communities in the TAR and other Tibetan communities in China.”
The Act recommends making funding available for programs to promote and preserve Tibetan culture, development, and resilience of Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, and to assist in the education and development of the next generation of Tibetan leaders from such communities.
It further says that the funds are made available for programs to strengthen the capacity of Tibetan institution and governance.
On July 19, 2017, House committee on appropriations have already approved funding for the Tibetans projects and programs that support Tibetans communities in Tibet and in exile, at par with previous year’s level.
The next step in the process is to hold joint conference committee meeting of House and Senate, which is scheduled to meet in December 2017 to deliberate, discuss, negotiate and finalize the funding.
