Updated December 2, 2019August 14, 2020
U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
Background
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
is the lead international humanitarian and development arm
of the United StatesU.S. government. Its programs support U.S.
political political
and strategic aims by providing assistance to
strategically strategically
important countries and countries in conflict;
leading global
efforts to alleviate poverty, disease, and
humanitarian need;
and assisting U.S. commercial interests
by furthering
developing countries’ economic growth and
building these
countries’ capacity to participate in world
trade.
reduction mandate, 72 of the 78 World Bank-determined
trade.
low- and lower-middle-income countries received
assistance in FY2018FY2019, with about 50nearly 39% of USAID funds
attributable to specific countries and regionsprogrammed in sub-Saharan
Africa (Figure 1).
Figure 1. USAID-Implemented Program Funding, by
Region and Sector: FY2018FY2019 Estimate
USAID is responsible for the implementation of more than
$20 billion in combined annual appropriations, representing
more than one-third of the funds provided in the
Department of State, State,
Foreign Operations, and Related
Programs (SFOPS) appropriation and
international food aid
provided in the Agriculture
appropriation. USAID’s annual
appropriations come from
14 12 budget accounts—most
“solely owned” and some
programmed collaboratively with
the Department of
State State (State)—making any calculation of
its current budget
imprecise. (For more on SFOPS, see CRS
Report R45763,
R46367, Department of State, Foreign Operations,
and Related
Programs: FY2020FY2021 Budget and
Appropriations.)
“On behalf of the American people, we promote and
demonstrate democratic values abroad, and advance a
free, peaceful, and prosperous world. In support of
America’s foreign policy, the U.S. Agency for International
Development leads the U.S. Government’s international
development and disaster assistance through partnerships
and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen
democratic governance, and help people emerge from
humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.”
— USAID Mission Statement (2019)
USAID 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—such as nonprofit
private voluntary organizations and other nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), for-profit contractors, universities,
international organizations, and foreign governments.
In FY2018FY2019, the most recent year for which detailed data are
estimates are available, USAID provided assistance to more
than 120
countries. Foreign aid allocations reflect both recipient
recipient needs and U.S. foreign policy priorities. The top 10
10 recipients of USAID-implemented funds in FY2018 FY2019
were,
in order of funding, Jordan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia,
South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Iraq, and Kenya. Reflecting USAID’s poverty
Source: Foreign Aid Explorer and CRS calculationsEthiopia,
Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Syria,
South Sudan, Kenya, and Iraq. Reflecting USAID’s poverty
reduction mandate, 72 of the 79 World Bank-determined
Source: Foreign Aid Explorer and CRS calculations.
Notes: World accounts for programs that span multiple regions.
Since the early 1990s, health has consistently been the
largest USAID sector, bolstered since 2004 by billions of
dollars in transfers from the Department of State’s
State’s President’s Emergency
Program for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR). Humanitarian
assistance has also increased in
recent years, particularly in
response to both the emergence
of new natural and human-inducedhumaninduced humanitarian crises, and
ongoing protracted crises.
(For more information on U.S.
responses to humanitarian
crises, see CRS In Focus
IF10568, Overview of the Global
Humanitarian and
Displacement Crisis.)
USAID Under the Trump Administration
Under former USAID Administrator Mark Green was sworn in on August
7, 2017. Under his leadership, and in response to
(who
served from August 2017-April 2020, after which John
Barsa was appointed Acting Administrator), and in
response to Administration directives aimed at making
federal agencies
more efficient, effective, and accountable, USAID has
pursued
USAID began a series of internal reforms, branded as USAID
USAID Transformation. Reforms are focused intarget three target
areas—
process and programs, organizational structure, and
workforce management—and many build on past efforts,
including those of the Obama and George W. Bush
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U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
Administrations. Underlying the proposed Transformation
is the “Journey to Self-Reliance,” the ultimate goal of
https://crsreports.congress.gov
U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
which is ending the need for foreign assistance by building
country capacity to plan, finance, and implement solutions
to address development challenges without foreign
assistance.
While most Transformation reforms are not contingent on
congressional approval, some have required congressional
notification prior to implementation. Through the
notification process, Congress has been able to weigh in on
actions and apply “holds” when it deems necessary (holds
are nonbinding but USAID generally defers action when
holds are in place). Congress has also shaped the reform’s
contingent on congressional approval, Congress has shaped
the reform’s implementation through other oversight
functions and
funding requirements and restrictions. (For more
more information on Transformation, see CRS Report
R45779,
Transformation at the U.S. Agency for International
International Development (USAID).)
Issues for Congress
USAID faces numerous challenges in the process of
fulfilling its mission, in part due to how the institution has
had to adapt to changes in U.S. foreign aid priorities over
time. According to authors Kopp and Naland, “The constant
battles in Congress and within the administration over how
much to spend on foreign aid and how and where to spend
it make the agency vulnerable to sharp swings in funding
and frequent reorganization.” The challenges that observers
have noted and Congress may track include the following:
Budget. For the third year in a row, the Administration is
proposing Each year, the Trump Administration has proposed
cuts of more than 20% to the agency’s annual
budget. As
Congress has repeatedly not accepted the
proposed budget
cuts, the disparity between what is
requested and what is
appropriated has posed a challenge to
USAID’s planning
and program implementation. The
appropriation of
significantly more funding than
requested—often months
into the fiscal year due to
Congress’s use of continuing
resolutions—can require
offices to program large sums of
money in relatively short
time periods.
USAID and the State Department. The Administration’s
Transformation effort has renewed a long-standing debate
about the USAID-State Department relationship. In crafting
the reform agenda, USAID solicited input from a number of
stakeholders, which led to multiple reform proposals. These
include making USAID the coordinator of all government
humanitarian and development assistance, absorbing
USAID into the State Department, and creating an entirely
new aid agency, among others. As of now, no firm plans
exist to drastically modify the institutional relationship, but
the debate may continue throughout Transformation’s
implementation. USAID was never established in statute;
rather, its status in relation to the State Department has been
largely shaped by executive orders. As such, USAID’s
status could feasibly change without congressional action.
Sustainability and Effectiveness. How USAID ensures
that project efforts are maintained by local governments and
organizations after U.S. financial and technical support
ends continues to be of interest to Congress. USAID’s
“Journey to Self-Reliance,” related country development
plans, and new financing efforts—including greater private
sector engagement—are meant to address this challenge.
Further, in this Administration and the last, USAID has
increased its project monitoring, evaluation, and learning
(MEL) requirements for both staff and implementing
partners to measure project progress. USAID indicates that
its MEL agenda is an iterative process, evolving to
time periods.
COVID-19. USAID has led U.S. foreign assistance efforts
to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to” Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19) abroad. Focus areas include
health assistance in coordination with the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, humanitarian aid, and
economic development. Congress provided supplemental
funding for USAID’s work and monitors implementation
through oversight mechanisms. For more, see CRS In Focus
IF11496, COVID-19 and Foreign Assistance: Issues for
Congress, and CRS In Focus IF11606, COVID-19 and
Foreign Assistance: Congressional Oversight Framework
and Current Activities.
USAID and the State Department. The Administration’s
Transformation effort renewed a long-standing debate
about the USAID-State relationship. In crafting the reform
agenda, USAID solicited input from stakeholders, which
led to multiple reform proposals. These include making
USAID the coordinator of all government humanitarian and
development assistance, absorbing USAID into State, and
creating an entirely new aid agency, among others. As of
now, no firm plans exist to drastically modify the
institutional relationship, but the debate may continue.
USAID was never established in statute; its status in
relation to State has been largely shaped by executive order
and could feasibly change without congressional action.
Sustainability and Effectiveness. Congress remains
interested in how USAID ensures that project efforts are
maintained by local governments and organizations after
U.S. support ends. USAID’s “Journey to Self-Reliance,”
country development plans, and new financing efforts—
including greater private sector engagement—are meant to
address this challenge. Further, in this Administration and
the last, USAID has increased its project monitoring,
evaluation, and learning (MEL) requirements for both staff
and implementing partners to measure project progress.
USAID indicates that its MEL agenda is an iterative
process, evolving to incorporate best practices.
Human Resources. USAID staff are hired and managed
under more than 20 mechanisms. These include direct hire
staff (e.g., civil and foreign service) and nondirect hire staff
(e.g., personal services contractors and institutional support
contractors). USAID has stated that this structure is
unwieldy to manage and does not give itdoes not
give enough flexibility
to meet the agency’s evolving
needs. Further, some experts
are concerned that the
agency’s increasing reliance on
nondirect hire positions has
led to a lack of institutional
knowledge and higher staff
turnover. The USAID Office of
Inspector General also
found in 2019 that staff responsible
for award and contract
management often felt overworked,
without the time to
conduct adequate program oversight.
USAID maintains that
it is factoring these issues, among
others, into its workforce
development plan; Congress
provides input into USAID workforce issues in annual
appropriations legislation.
Program Flexibility. Congressional funding mandates,
specifying amounts for health, biodiversity, and other
sectors, account for as much as two-thirds of USAID’s
annual program budget. These, plus any presidential
initiatives, may limit USAID missions’ capacity to advance
the objectives of their Country Development Cooperation
Strategies. Some critics believe that legislative conditions
further stymie flexibility and cost efficiency. For example,
all funding for USAID Mozambique is congressionally
directed or earmarked by presidential initiatives, leaving the
mission no discretion to program funds or assign
development objectives outside of those mandates.
Security. Security concerns in nonpermissive environments
raise obstacles to successful project implementation,
including restricted access to local projects for monitoring
purposes and finding contractors willing to take the risk of
establishing a local presence. Security standards passed by
Congress following the 1998 bombings of the U.S.
Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania required the co-location
of USAID personnel in extremely secure U.S. embassies,
even in seemingly stable, safe countries. Some observers
raise concern that this arrangement can discourage the
interaction with local government and private sector
stakeholders that many consider necessary for successful
development programs. In 2018, USAID joined with the
Departments of State and Defense to conduct a Stabilization
Assistance Review (SAR), which explores the challenges of
and best practices for working in conflict-affected areas.
Lessons learned include increasing data use to inform
project development and increasing burden sharing among
other donors and local actors, among others.
Emily M. Morgenstern, Analyst in Foreign Assistance and
Foreign Policy
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U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
IF10261
workforce issues in annual appropriations legislation.
Employee Diversity. In June 2020, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) found that USAID was not
fully successful in its efforts to increase the agency’s
workforce diversity from 2002 to 2018. Further, GAO
found that “promotion outcomes at USAID were generally
lower for racial and ethnic minorities than for whites in
early to mid career.” USAID outlined a number of steps it
would take to address these findings, including revising its
operational policy, updating the agency’s Strategic Plan for
Diversity and Inclusion, and analyzing workforce data to
inform future diversity and inclusion work. Congress has
signaled its support for USAID’s diversity efforts through
annual appropriations legislation, among other avenues.
Program Flexibility. Congressional funding mandates,
specifying amounts for health, biodiversity, and other
sectors, account for as much as two-thirds of USAID’s
annual program budget. These, plus any presidential
initiatives, may limit USAID missions’ capacity to advance
the objectives of their Country Development Cooperation
Strategies. Some critics believe that legislative conditions
further stymie flexibility and cost efficiency.
Security. Security concerns in nonpermissive environments
raise obstacles to successful project implementation.
Following the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania, Congress required the co-location of
USAID personnel in extremely secure U.S. embassies, even
in seemingly stable, safe countries. Some observers raise
concern that this arrangement can discourage the interaction
with local government and private sector stakeholders that
many consider necessary for successful development
programs. In 2018, USAID joined with the Departments of
State and Defense to conduct a Stabilization Assistance
Review (SAR), which offers lessons learned and best
practices for working in conflict-affected areas.
Emily M. Morgenstern, Analyst in Foreign Assistance and
Foreign Policy
https://crsreports.congress.gov
IF10261
U.S. Agency for International Development: An Overview
Disclaimer
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