USAID freeze calls into question billions in support for poorest countries

The Trump administration’s attempt to fold the USAID humanitarian agency into the State Department calls into question the future of tens of billions of dollars in financial support to some of the world’s poorest countries.

The United States is the world’s largest provider of official development assistance, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and most of its support is channeled through USAID, an independent government agency established by Congress in 1961.

– What does USAID do? –

US Agency for International Development is by far the largest humanitarian and development arm of the US government, with a workforce of approximately 10,000 people around the world and an annual budget of tens of billions of dollars.

Congress approves USAID’s funding each year. The humanitarian agency then works with Congress and the White House to set its investment priorities, while the State Department provides it with foreign policy guidance.

The money is paid out through grants, contracts and “cooperative agreements,” according to USAID.

In the 2023 fiscal year, USAID managed more than $40 billion in combined appropriations, a recent report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) noted.

That was more than a third of the overall budget approved for the State Department, foreign operations and related programs.

Nevertheless, it only represented around 0.7 percent of the US government’s $6.1 trillion in spending during that period.

– Which countries does it support?  –

USAID had projects in around 130 countries in 2023, the most recent year for which full data was available, according to CRS.

The top three recipients of aid are Ukraine, Ethiopia and Jordan respectively.

The scale of USAID’s funding for Ukraine is significant, with the war-torn European country receiving more than $16 billion in macroeconomic support, according to US government data.

In 2023, 70 of the 77 countries the World Bank determined to be low- and lower-middle income countries received USAID assistance, the CRS report noted.

Other top recipients of aid include Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Syria.

– What does USAID fund? –

Close to $17 billion in USAID funding in 2023 went to addressing “governance” issues, the CRS said, noting that most of that was destined for Ukraine.

Additionally, around $10.5 billion went to addressing humanitarian issues, while $7 billion was set aside for health, and around $1.3 billion went to agriculture.

USAID also provided direct budgetary support to several countries around the world, including a cash transfer of more than $770 million to the government of Jordan, a key US ally in the Middle East, according to US government data.

Other major programs funded or managed by USAID in 2023 include $811 million for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and more than $330 million in emergency food and nutrition assistance for Afghanistan.

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