The
United States Agency for International
Development (
USAID) is the
United States federal
government organization responsible for most non-
military foreign
aid. An
independent
federal agency, it receives overall foreign policy guidance
from the
United States
Secretary of State and seeks to "extend a helping hand to those
people overseas struggling to make a better life, recover from a
disaster or striving to live in a free and
democratic country..."
USAID advances
U.S. foreign policy
objectives by supporting economic growth, agriculture and trade;
health; democracy, conflict prevention, and
humanitarian assistance.
It provides assistance
in Sub-Saharan Africa; Asia and the Near East,
Latin America and the Caribbean
, Europe, and Eurasia. USAID is organized around three main
pillars: Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade;
Global Health; Democracy, Conflict, and
Humanitarian Assistance.
History
USAID's origins date back to the
Marshall
Plan reconstruction of Europe after
World War II and the
Foreign Assistance Act. In 1961, an
executive order
established USAID by consolidating U.S. non-military foreign aid
programs into a single agency. To address rising deficits, aid was
tied to the purchase of U.S. goods and services, effectively
subsidizing the U.S. balance of payments; for example, aid-financed
commodities were required to be shipped in U.S. flagships.
As a part of the U.S foreign affairs restructuring laws enacted in
1999, USAID was established as a statutorily independent agency, as
defines
independent establishment.
Organization
Leadership
USAID is headed by an Administrator and Deputy Administrator, both
appointed by the President and confirmed by the
United States Senate.
The immediate past USAID Administrator, under the administration of
President
George W. Bush, was Henrietta Fore, who concurrently
held the position of Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance in the
Department of State.
Bureaus
USAID's office in Washington includes both geographical and
functional bureaus, and well as those for major headquarter
functions.
- Geographical bureaus:
- AFR—Sub-Saharan Africa
- ASIA—Asia
- LAC—Latin America & the Caribbean
- E&E—Europe and Eurasia
- ME—the Middle East
- Functional bureaus:
- GH—Global Health
- EGAT—Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade
- DCHA—Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance
- Headquarter bureaus:
- M—Management
- LPA—Legislative and Public Affairs.
Overseas, USAID offices are called "missions." Mission staff
include career foreign service officers (FSOs), personal services
contractors (PSCs), foreign service nationals (FSNs), and
occasionally civil service employees.
Budgetary Resources
USAID's budget is funded through the 150 Account, which includes
all International Affairs programs and operations for civilian
agencies. In FY 2009, the Bush Administration's request for the
International Affairs Budget for the Department of State, the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign
affairs agencies totals approximately $39.5 billion, including
$26.1 billion for Foreign Operations and Related Agencies, $11.2
billion for Department of State, and $2.2 billion for Other
International Affairs.
The request under the FY2009 Foreign Operations budget, Foreign
Operations and Related Agencies is:
- $2.4 billion to improve responsiveness to humanitarian crises,
including food emergencies and disasters, and the needs of
refugees
- $938 million to strengthen USAID’s operational capacity
- $2.3 billion to help Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and West
Bank/Gaza achieve economic, democratic, security and political
stabilization and to advance their overall development
- $2.1 billion for State Department and USAID programs in Africa
to address non-HIV/AIDS health, economic growth and democratic
governance needs and to help promote stability in Sudan, Liberia,
Zimbabwe and Somalia in support of the President's 2005 commitment
to double aid to Africa by 2010
- $4.8 billion for the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative, which directly
supports the first year of the President’s new five-year, $30
billion plan to treat 2.5 million people, prevent 12 million new
infections, and care for 12 million afflicted people
- $550 million to support the Mérida Initiative to combat the
threats of drug trafficking, transnational crime, and terrorism in
Mexico and Central America
- $1.7 billion to promote democracy around the world, including
support for the President’s Freedom Agenda
- $385 million to support the President’s Malaria Initiative to
reduce malaria-related deaths by 50 percent in 15 target African
countries by 2010
- $94 million for the President’s International Education
Initiative to provide an additional 4 million students with access
to quality basic education through 2012
- $64 million for the State Department and USAID to support the
President's Climate Change Initiative to promote the adoption of
clean energy technology, help countries adapt to climate change,
and encourage sustainable forest management
- $4.8 billion for foreign military financing to the Middle East,
Latin America, Europe and Eurasia, including $2.6 billion for
Israel
- $2.2 billion for the Millennium Challenge Corporation to
improve agricultural productivity, modernize infrastructure, expand
private land ownership, improve health systems, and improve access
to credit for small business and farmers
At the
Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro
in 1992, most of the world's governments adopted a
program for action under the auspices of the United Nations
Agenda 21, which included an Official
Development Assistance (ODA) aid target of 0.7% of gross national
product (GNP) for rich nations, specified as roughly 22 members of
the OECD and known as the Development
Assistance Committee (DAC). The United States never agreed
to this target but remains in real terms the world's largest
provider of official development assistance. However, relative to
its economy, the U.S. is the second lowest provider with a 0.17% of
GNI in aid. Only Greece, among the DAC countries, provides a lower
percentage of GNI in the form of aid.
According to the Development Assistance Committee of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (DAC/OECD),
the United States remains the largest donor of "official
development assistance" at $23.53 billion in 2006. DAC/OECD reports
that the next largest donor was the United Kingdom ($12.46b). The
UK was followed (in rank order) by Japan ($11.19b), France
($10.60b), Germany ($10.43b), Netherlands ($5.45b), Sweden
($3.95b), Spain ($3.81b), Canada ($3.68b), Italy ($3.64b), Norway
($2.95b), Denmark ($2.24b), Australia ($2.12b), Belgium ($1.98b),
Switzerland ($1.65b), Austria ($1.50b), Ireland ($1.02b), Finland
($0.83b), Greece ($0.42b), Portugal ($0.40b), Luxembourg ($0.29b)
and New Zealand ($0.26b).
USAID Bilateral Assistance in the News
Iraq
USAID has been a major partner in the United States Government's
(USG) reconstruction and development effort in Iraq. , USAID has
invested approximately $6.6 billion on programs designed to
stabilize communities; foster economic and agricultural growth; and
build the capacity of the national, local, and provincial
governments to represent and respond to the needs of the Iraqi
people.
Rebuilding Iraq C-SPAN 4 Part SeriesIn June 2003,
C-SPAN followed USAID Admin.
Andrew Natsios as he toured Iraq. The special
program C-SPAN produced aired over four nights.
Bolivia
In 2008,
the coca growers "union" affiliated with Bolivian
President Evo Morales
"ejected" the 100 employees and contractors from USAID working in
the Chapare region, citing frustration with
U.S. efforts to persuade them to switch to growing unviable
alternatives. From 1998 to 2003, Bolivian farmers could
receive USAID funding for help planting other crops only if they
eliminated all their coca, according to the
Andean Information Network. Other
rules, such as the requirement that participating communities
declare themselves "terrorist-free zones" as required by U.S. law
irritated people, said
Kathryn
Ledebur, director of the organization. "Eradicate all your coca
and then you grow an orange tree that will get fruit in eight years
but you don't have anything to eat in the meantime? A bad idea,"
she said. "The thing about kicking out USAID, I don't think it's an
anti-American sentiment overall" but rather a rejection of bad
programs".
Controversies and Criticism
USAID states that "U.S. foreign assistance has always had the
twofold purpose of furthering America's foreign policy interests in
expanding democracy and free markets while improving the lives of
the citizens of the developing world." However, some critics say
that the US government gives aid to reward political and military
partners rather than to advance genuine social or humanitarian
causes abroad.
Another complaint is that foreign aid is
used as a political weapon for the U.S. to make other nations do
things its way, an example given in 1990 when the Yemeni
Ambassador
to the United Nations voted against a resolution for a US-led
coalition to use force against Iraq, U.S. Ambassador to the
UN
Thomas Pickering walked to
the seat of the Yemeni Ambassador and retorted: "That was the most
expensive No vote you ever cast". Immediately afterwards, USAID
ceased operations and funding in Yemen.
Although USAID defends that contractors are selected by their
proven abilities, "watch dog" groups, partisan politicians, foreign
governments and corporations contend that the bidding process has
at times involved both the financial interest of its current
Presidential administration and political motivation.
It has been said that the USAID has maintained “a close working
relationship with the CIA, and Agency officers often operated
abroad under USAID cover.” The Office of Public Safety, a division
of USAID, has been mentioned as an example of this, having served
as a front for training foreign police in counterinsurgency
methods.
See also
References
- USAID Official
Website
- Michael Hudson, Super Imperialism: The Origin and
Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance, 2nd ed. (London and
Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2003), 235-38.
- Foreign Aid: An Introductory Overview of U.S.
Programs and Policy,
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/31987.pdf, Figure 4,
Page CRS-13
- US and Foreign Aid Assistance, from globalissues.org, aid
data from OECD
- (ANNEX, Table 1)
- USAID Assistance for Iraq : Accomplishments, United
States Agency for International Development.
- C-Span: Rebuilding Iraq
- Andean Information Network. "Bolivian coca growers cut ties
with USAID":
http://ain-bolivia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=28
- Hornberger, Jacob " But
Foreign Aid Is Bribery! And Blackmail, Extortion, and
Theft Too!" September 26, 2003
- Barbara Slavin Another Iraq deal rewards company with
connections USA
Today 4/17/2003
- William Blum, Killing hope : U.S. military and CIA interventions since
World War II Zed Books, 2003, ISBN 9781842773697 pp.
142, 200, 234.
- Michael Otterman, American torture: from the Cold War to
Abu Ghraib and beyond (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University
Press, 2007), p. 60.
External links
- USAID
website
- Records of the Agency for International Development
(AID) in the National Archives
- USAID Overview video short
- USAID-produced Lebanon television short for 2007 public
affairs campaign
- USAID-sponsored and financed anti-human trafficking music
video
- Highlights of President Kennedy's Act for
International Development, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S.
Dept. of State, June 1961
- Historical bibliography of the United States Agency
for International Development, USAID Center for Development
Information and Evaluation (CDIE), April 1995
- USAID primer : what we do and how we do it,
USAID, rev. January 2006
- Access over
153,000 USAID documents, reports and publications through USAID's
Development Experience System (DEXS)
- Access over 9,100 USAID project descriptions, 1946–1996,
through USAID's Development Experience System (DEXS)
- U.S. Overseas Loans and Grants, Obligations and Loan
Authorizations, USAID annual report to U.S. Congress
- USAID's
Global Education Database, Displays UNESCO
and other
Education Data
- FrontLines--the employee news publication of
USAID
- The US and Foreign Aid Assistance, article by Anup
Shah
- EM-DAT: The
OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database
- CE-DAT: The
Complex Emergency Database
- Eurodad: Aid
Effectiveness, Conditionality, Aid Accounting
- Albert H. Huntington Jr. (AID Staff Member), Collection of
Documents Related to Foreign Aid, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
- US Aid to Pakistan by the Numbers - Center for
American Progress
- US Aid to Afghanistan by the Numbers - Center for
American Progress