close up of woman letting corn spill through her hands.
Photo By:  Corinna Robbins is licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

How is U.S. Foreign Assistance Funded?

Key Foreign Assistance Accounts

$8.7 billion

provided by the U.S. in global health funding for maternal and child health, nutrition family planning, and vaccines, as well as for prevention and treatment for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis


$7.6 billion

U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance through three main accounts: International Disaster Assistance, Migration and Refugee Assistance, and Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance


$7 billion

total spending for the International Development accounts, which include Development Assistance and the Economic Support Fund. These accounts fund Food Security and Agricultural Development, Democracy Programs, Environmental Programs, and Basic Education across the globe

A woman poses for photographs with, a young child strapped to her back, at her home in Kenya. Backdrop is a blue sky and a tent like structure where the woman lives. Photo taken from below.
Photo By: Kate Holt (CC BY-NC).

How U.S. Funding is Delivered to Programs: Guided by directives from Congress, government agencies and departments set policy and implement programs. Most of these agencies and organizations deliver the funds to beneficiaries on the ground through implementing partners, such as NGOs in the InterAction community, in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, and/or contracts.

Regular Appropriations Process

Step 1

Appropriations subcommittees of both chambers draft and vote on the bill then appropriations committees of both chambers vote on the bill.


Step 2

Full House and Senate floor discussion and vote on the bill.


Step 3

Conference by both chambers to reach an agreement on the bill before it is signed by the President and becomes public law.

man throughing potatos
Photo By: Shahab Naseri is licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license

Other Key Account: The International Organizations and Programs (IO&P) account provides voluntary contributions to international organizations that advance U.S. strategic goals across a broad spectrum of critical development, humanitarian, and scientific activities.

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