Summary:Foreign assistance is an instrument of U.S. policy through which the U.S. government provides resources to another countryâs government, civil society, or other private sector entity on a grant or concessional loan basis. Most U.S. foreign assistance is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the U.S. Departments of State, Agriculture, Treasury, and Defense (DOD); and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). U.S. foreign assistance can take many forms. On average, about 2% of aid is provided as direct budget support (cash) to foreign governments. More often, aid is provided through projects implemented by U.S. and international agencies, contractors or non-governmental organizations. It takes the form of expert technical advice, training, equipment, and construction in a wide range of sectors (see Figure 1), including vaccines and malaria nets, textbooks, food, roads and other infrastructure, educational exchanges, microcredit, applied research, and military weaponry.
