The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been in the headlines ever since President Donald Trump announced plans to close it down.
USAID is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.
U.S. foreign assistance has always had the twofold purpose of furthering America’s interests while improving lives in the developing world.
It carries out U.S. foreign policy by promoting broad-scale human progress at the same time it expands stable, free societies, creates markets and trade partners for the United States, and fosters goodwill abroad.
USAID works in over 100 countries to:
- Promote broadly shared economic prosperity; -Strengthen democracy and good governance.
- Protect human rights.
- Improve global health.
- Advance food security and agriculture.
- Improve environmental sustainability.
- Further education.
- Help societies prevent and recover from conflicts.
- Provide humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural and man-made disasters.
History
U.S. 35th President, John F. Kennedy, established the USAID during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Kennedy wanted to counter the influence of Soviet across the world and opted for USAID since the State Department was bureaucratic at doing this.
Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act and Kennedy set up USAID as an independent agency in 1961.
Ever since, Republicans and Democrats have had conflicting opinions over the agency and its funding.
The Agency is currently based in 60 countries and employs around 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom work overseas.
USAID Budget
According to government data, the US spent $68bn (Ksh8 Trillion) on international aid in 2023.
The amount is distributed across several departments and agencies.
However, USAID’s budget constitutes more than half of it at around $40bn (5 trillion.)
The Agency spent most of this money in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe -majorly on humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
The main beneficiaries in 2023 were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria.
Why is Trump After USAID
USAID was one of the agencies affected when President Trump signed an executive order on January 20 pausing foreign aid for 90 days.
Trump said the U.S. foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.
“They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries,” he said.
Also Read: UoN Sends USAID Staff on Unpaid Leave After Trump’s Order
Trump’s administration wrote a memo to USAID workers asking them to join the effort to transform how Washington allocates aid in line with Trump’s “America First” policy.
The administration threatened disciplinary action for ignoring the orders.
USAID’s website went down on February 3, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk, with President Donald Trump’s support, announced plans to dismantle it.
Also Read: USAID to Suspend Projects in Kenya and East Africa After Trump Order
Over 600 employees were locked out of their systems overnight, and staff were instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters.
Trump assigned Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce government spending.
“All DOGE did was check to see which federal organizations were violating Trump’s executive orders the most. Turned out to be USAID, so that became our focus,” Musk said.
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