Foreign Assistance Delivers

What is U.S. Foreign Assistance?

U.S. foreign assistance drives transformative change across the globe, helping communities forge their own paths out of extreme poverty while strengthening democratic institutions and building sustainable economies. The impact is both immediate and lasting: children gain access to education, families receive life-saving medical care, communities secure clean water, and millions find paths out of hunger. By advancing human rights and fostering economic growth, this small investment creates ripple effects that enhance stability and prosperity both abroad and at home. All of this for less than one percent of the overall federal budget.

Administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of State, and Department of Agriculture, among other federal agencies, and implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations, and private businesses alike, foreign assistance programs in over 100 countries are integral to fostering peace, prosperity, and stability and advancing core American values and economic and security interests—all values reflected in successive National Security Strategies across bipartisan administrations.

How is Foreign Assistance a Reflection of U.S. Values?

Democratic governance, respect for human rights, and compassion are core values of the American people. Through foreign assistance, America brings these values to life on the global stage, championing the fundamental belief that every person deserves freedom and access to life’s basic necessities. Our support helps build societies where human rights flourish, education opens doors of opportunity, and shared values take root and grow.


Through strategic investments in development and democracy programs, the United States advances a powerful vision—a world where prosperity knows no borders. By responding to famine, conflict, or environmental disasters, the United States has for decades led global efforts to help communities back on their feet and saved millions of lives. These gestures of goodwill do not go unnoticed. Rather, they serve as a tool to build allies and respect for American values throughout the world.

The American people have invested billions of their own dollars—more than matching the amount of U.S. foreign assistance—to global causes through U.S. and local faith-based organizations, businesses, universities, and civil society groups, often in partnership with USAID and other government agencies. American values inspire action for the betterment of humanity—and these values inspire and drive others. When the U.S. leads, others follow.

Why is foreign assistance in the best strategic interest of the United States?

To ensure all Americans can live a safe, healthy, and prosperous life, engaging constructively around the world is not only a moral imperative, but also a strategic one. Effective and sustainable foreign assistance supports these basic yet critical American interests.

In an interconnected world, what happens elsewhere will have an impact on the American people—from conflict to disease to economic instability. Nothing occurs in a vacuum, as evidenced by the supply chain shocks that occurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.


Investments in foreign assistance are a check against these potentially destabilizing forces and against other malign actors seeking to grow their influence globally. Allocating resources to programs that reduce poverty and promote resilience, strengthen health and education systems, protect the environment and increase climate adaptation, and provide lifesaving assistance to people in conflict areas will help secure a prosperous future for U.S. partners and all Americans.

We also know that countries that are committed to and have the capacity to lead their own development will partner with the United States in new and mutually beneficial ways as they advance on their journey to self-reliance. Thirty-six countries that once relied on World Bank International Development Association (IDA) support no longer do so, and several have become IDA donors, including Chile, India, South Korea, and Turkiye. Current recipients of U.S. foreign assistance are stepping up their own international efforts, with Kenya contributing to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.


America stands at a critical juncture. Competitors around the world sit at the ready, primed to bolster their own strategic positions while undermining the United States and the work we’ve done to make the world a safer, more prosperous place with less disease and poverty. Our interests demand that we act for the safety and prosperity of all people and ensure that the U.S. is the preferred partner to achieve development and humanitarian goals. And while these basic interests have held true for almost 250 years, the nature of the challenges we face demand more nuanced and complex responses.

Is Foreign Assistance Effective?

Foreign assistance has yielded massive benefits for recipients. Despite recent setbacks and substantial global population growth, there are over one billion fewer people experiencing extreme poverty today than in 1990. The global child mortality rate is at an all-time low, having declined by 51% since 2000. Even as global progress in eliminating extreme poverty has stalled, fewer people have slipped into extreme poverty than have been forcibly displaced or confronted humanitarian crises, demonstrating that foreign assistance remains effective.


Rising needs do not reflect ineffective assistance, but rather an evolving global landscape that requires more innovative and impactful investments of limited dollars. The World Bank projects that by 2030, nearly 60% of the world’s extreme poor will live in countries affected by conflict and fragility—underscoring both the challenges that remain and the progress that has been made in countries where diplomacy and able governance have supported robust development.

Foreign assistance’s impacts invite us to think critically about what has worked well in the past, where we are making headway today, and where we can make a bigger difference tomorrow. Specific impacts of foreign assistance include:

• Global health programs have saved millions of lives, including 25 million through PEPFAR and nearly 12 million through the President’s Malaria Initiative.
• Global community health programming yields a greater than 10:1 return on investment.
• The World Food Program plans to feed over 140 million people in need of food assistance in 2024.
• Since 2013, 200 million Africans have gained access to electricity through Power Africa, a U.S. government-led partnership.
• 70 million people gained access to sustainable drinking water and 54.8 million people have gained access to sustainable sanitation services since 2008.
• A new malaria vaccine has been developed with support from U.S. foreign assistance, and has been delivered to 6.2 million children to date.

Through innovation, technology, and a commitment to impact, we can continually improve our response to the challenges and shocks faced by communities around the world. The U.S. and its partners must continue to support effective and efficient foreign assistance and work collaboratively to deliver more with the generous resources provided by the American people.

Who Provides Foreign Assistance?

While the United States government is the single largest contributor of foreign assistance, its investments are matched by its partners and surpassed by the private philanthropy of the American people and cross-border remittances. In fact, while the U.S. contributes approximately 20% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) globally, its citizens contribute 70% of cross-border private philanthropy globally, according to the 2023 Global Philanthropy Tracker. Overall, the largest sources of external funding for developing countries were:

The largest sources of cross-border private philanthropy and ODA were:

* Further explanation of private philanthropy, cross-border remittances, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) can be found in the footnotes of the attached PDF.