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Updated January 3, 2023
U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
Background
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
is the lead international humanitarian and development arm
of the U.S. government. Established in 1961 to lead
implementation of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as
amended, it provides assistance to strategically important
countries and countries in conflict; leads global efforts to
alleviate poverty, disease, and humanitarian need; and
assists U.S. commercial interests by supporting developing
countries' economic growth and building their capacity to
participate in world trade.
USAID is responsible for the management of more than
$25 billion in combined annual appropriations, representing
more than one-third of the funds provided in the
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related
Programs (SFOPS) appropriation and international food aid
provided in the Agriculture appropriation. Some USAID
appropriations accounts are programmed collaboratively
with the Department of State (State), making any
calculation of its current budget imprecise. (For more on
SFOPS, see CRS Report R47070, Department of State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2023
Budget and Appropriations.)
USAID's workforce totals more than 10,000, with
approximately two-thirds serving overseas. The agency
maintains more than 60 country and regional missions that
design and manage a range of projects, most intended to
meet specific development objectives as outlined in a
Country Development Cooperation Strategy. Most projects
are implemented-through a grant, cooperative agreement,
or contract-by one of thousands of foreign and U.S.
development partners, including nonprofit private voluntary
organizations and other nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), for-profit contractors, universities, international
organizations, and foreign governments.
In FY2022, the most recent year for which detailed
estimates are available, USAID provided assistance to more
than 130 countries. The top 10 recipients of USAID-
managed funds in FY2022 were, in order of funding,
Ukraine, Ethiopia, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria,
Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and
Sudan. Reflecting USAID's poverty reduction mandate, 70
of the 82 World Bank-determined low- and lower-middle-
income countries received USAID assistance in FY2022,
with 31% of USAID funds programmed in sub-Saharan
Africa (Figure 1).
Since the early 1990s, health was consistently the largest
USAID sector, bolstered since 2004 by billions of dollars in
transfers from State's President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and since 2020 by emergency
assistance to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In FY2022,
however, humanitarian assistance surpassed health as the
largest sector. This follows year-over-year increases in
humanitarian assistance in response to natural and human-
induced humanitarian crises. (See CRS In Focus IF10568,
Overview of the Global Humanitarian and Displacement
Crisis.)
Figure I. USAID-Implemented Program Funding, by
Sector and Region: FY2022 Estimate
2022 Total Funding: $41.1 billion
by Sector
Humanitarian
Heralt
Governan~e
a$12.3b
$11 3b
$1U.5b
Adr
Economic Growth
Infrastructure.
> by Region
Sub-Saharan Africa
Europe and Eurasia
Multiple Regions
Middle East and N.Africa
South and Central Asia
Western Hem.
East Asia and Oceania
ninistrative $3.2b
Agricultur SL4b
Education $o.9b
Other SA 6b
$o .5b
$0.2
$1.8b
$0.9b
Source: ForeignAssistance.gov and CRS calculations.
USAID Under the Biden Administration
USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who took office in
May 2021, set three priorities for institutional change at
USAID in her New Vision for Global Development: (1)
broaden[ing] the coalition by increasing the number and
diversity of voices at USAID and among implementers; (2)
focusing assistance more on the voices and needs of the
most marginalized; and (3) making aid more responsive
by better incorporating the perspectives of those on the
ground. Such priorities build on those of previous
Administrations, including those articulated in the USAID
Transformation (Trump) and USAID Forward (Obama)
initiatives.
Programmatically, USAID has increasingly focused on
food security-including in response to the surge in global
hunger in part due to COVID-19 and Russia's war in
Ukraine-climate change, and democracy and governance.
The agency is also providing significant humanitarian,
development, and economic support to Ukraine.
$10.8b
$91b](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govejzy0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)