About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 1 (Updated October 18, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goverao0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service
informing the iegjslative debate since 1914

Updated October 18, 2024
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 implement
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, it provides assistance
to strategically important countries and countries in
conflict; leads U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, disease, and
humanitarian need; and assists U.S. commercial interests by
supporting developing countries' economic growth and
building countries' capacity to participate in world trade.
In FY2023 (the most recent year for which complete data
are available), USAID managed more than $40 billion in
combined appropriations, representing more than one-third
of the funds provided in the FY2023 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
USAID's current budget imprecise. (For more on SFOPS,
see CRS Report R48231, Department of State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs: FY2025 Budget and
Appropriations.)
USAID's workforce totals more than 10,000, with
approximately two-thirds serving overseas (the reported
workforce level does not include institutional support
contractors). 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 organizations, for-profit contractors,
universities, international organizations, and foreign
governments.
In FY2023, USAID provided assistance to approximately
130 countries. The top 10 recipients of USAID-managed
funds in FY2023 were, in descending order of funding,
Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and
Syria. Reflecting USAID's poverty reduction mandate, 70
of the 77 World Bank-determined low- and lower-middle-
income countries received USAID assistance in FY2023.
USAID programmed 40% of its funds in Europe and
Eurasia in FY2023, the majority of which were for Ukraine
(Figure 1).
Beginning in the early 1990s, health was consistently the
largest USAID sector by funding, 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 followed 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.) For FY2023,
governance was the highest funded sector, a result of U.S.
direct financial support for the Government of Ukraine.
(See CRS In Focus IF12305, U.S. Direct Financial Support
for Ukraine.)
Figure I. USAID-Managed Program Funding, by
Sector and Region: FY2023 Obligations Estimate
FY2023 Total Obligations: $43.4 billion

> by Sector
Governance

Humanitarian
Health
Administrative
othe~r

$16.8b

$10.5b
sT.0b

$3.5b
Ohr  $1.6b
Agriculture $1.3b
Education   $1.1b
$o.7b
$0.7b

Infrastructure
Economic Growth
0 by Region
Europe and Eurasia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Multiple Regions
Middle East and N.Africa
South and Central Asia
Western Hem.
East Asia and Oceania

$17.2b
$12.1b

$5.5b
$3.9b
$1.1b

Source: ForeignAssistance.gov, accessed on October 10, 2024, and
CRS calculations.
USAID Under the Biden Admistration
USAID's current Policy Framework, released in March
2023, set three priorities for USAID: (1) confronting the
greatest challenges of our time, such as complex
emergencies, authoritarianism, and global health security;
(2) embracing new partnerships, including support for
locally led development and greater engagement with the
private sector; and (3) investing in USAID's enduring
effectiveness, such as through workforce development
initiatives and increased focus on evidence-based programs.
Such priorities build on those of previous Administrations,
including those articulated in the USAID Transformation
(Trump) and USAID Forward (Obama) initiatives.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most