Does the United States give its “Fair Share” to

Foreign Development Aid?

What is Foreign Aid?

Foreign aid is money, food, or other resources given or lent by one country to
another. Most aid comes from economically advanced countries and is directed to
developing countries.

Developing Countries are typically defined by having a low production of good or

services and lower levels of health (such as life expectancy or education) as compared to
other countries.

How does the U.S. spend its foreign aid?

Total U.S. Foreign Aid by Program Type1

Development:
39% Military: 28%

Non-military
Security: 7%

Political/Strategic: Humanatarian:
11% 16%

Total spending was roughly 1.3% of the federal budget. 2

What is Development Aid?

Development aid is financial aid given by governments and other agencies to support the
economic, environmental, social, and political development of
developing countries. It focuses on alleviating poverty in the long-term, rather
than a short-term response. 2 80-85% of developmental aid comes from government sources.3

What Countries Receive Development Aid?4

Some Things U.S. Aid Has Made Possible with One Year of Funding:

18 MILLION children reached with help to improve their nutrition5

2,386,095 people sanitation6 gained access to improved

In South Sudan, temporary learning spaces and community-based schools

were established to support conflict-affected children and communities.7

Who Gives Development Aid?8

According to the UN General Assembly, 0.7% of an economically advanced nation’s
Gross National Income should be given as development assistance

The U.S. only gave 0.19% of its Gross National Income to Development Aid in 2016

Only Eight countries gave at least 0.7% of their income in Development Aid: U.K.,
Germany, Denmark, Turkey, Sweden, Luxembourg, Norway, and the
United Arab Emirates.

Income Spent on Development Assistance

1.20
Percent of Gross National Income (GNI)

1.00

0.80 U.S.A.
0.60

0.40

0.20

0.00
Turkey

Norway
Thailand

Canada
Australia

France
Austria
Finland

U. K., Germany
Croatia

Slovak Republic

Spain

Netherlands

Denmark
Poland, Romania
Korea

United Arab Emirates

Azerbaijan

China

Russia
Latvia, Israel

Bulgaria

Hungary, Portugal

Ireland
New Zealand

Switzerland
Belgium

Luxembourg
Malta, Japan
Kazakhstan

Sweden
Czech Rep, Lithuania

U.S.A, Slovenia, Greece, Estonia

Italy, Iceland

In Support of U.S. Development Aid:

Over 120 retired U.S. Generals and Admirals agree that, "The State
Department, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Peace Corps and other
development agencies are critical to preventing conflict and
reducing the need to put our men and women in uniform in harm's way”.
They urged that “resources for the International Affairs Budget keep pace with the
growing global threats and opportunities… Now is not the time to
retreat.”9
Infographic and maps made by: Stefanie Kramer
Sources: 5. Feed the future 2016 progress report
1. Foreign Aid: An Introduction to U.S. Programs and Policy by Congressional Research 6. Report on USAID’s Response to the Global Sanitation Challenge, FY 2015
Service 7. U.S. Agency for International Development Report to Congress on Pre-Primary
2. Oxford Dictionary Education, 2016 report
3. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 8. OECD http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/dev-v2017-1-table3-en
http://www.oecd.org/, 2016 9. Lamothe, Dan. “Retired generals cite past comments from Mattis while opposing
4. OECD http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/20743149, 2016 Trump’s proposed foreign aid cuts”. The Washington Post. 27 Feb. 2017.