U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Oct. 18, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF10261 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Emily M. Morgenstern |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
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-middleincome 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 yearover-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.)
