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Encyclopedia > United States Agency for International Development
USAID logo
USAID logo

The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the U.S. government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. An independent federal agency, it receives overall foreign policy guidance from the US 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..." [1] United States Agency for International Development (USAID) logo source File links The following pages link to this file: United States Agency for International Development Categories: United States government images ... United States Agency for International Development (USAID) logo source File links The following pages link to this file: United States Agency for International Development Categories: United States government images ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Development aid. ... The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. ...


It advances US foreign policy objectives by supporting:

  • economic growth, agriculture and trade in
  • health
  • democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance

USAID provides assistance in four regions of the world:

USAID is also organized around 4 main pillars: A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the sub-Saharan area A political map showing national divisions in relation to the ecological break Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe those countries of the African continent that are not considered part of North Africa. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... The Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists, geographers and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing the Levant (modern Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Turkey, Mesopotamia (Iraq and eastern Syria). ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... West Indian redirects here. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... Eurasia African-Eurasian aspect of Earth Eurasia is the landmass composed of Europe and Asia. ...

The Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance is a division of USAID that provides humanitarian relief in times of disaster. The Global Development Alliance (or GDA) is a Secretariat of the United States Agency for International Development. ... The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is the office within USAID responsible for directing and coordinating U.S. Government relief assistance overseas. ...

Contents

Origins of USAID

USAID's origins date back to the Marshall Plan reconstruction of Europe after World War II and the Truman Administration's Point Four Program. In September 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act into law and by executive order established USAID by consolidating U.S. non-military foreign aid programs into a single agency. Map of Cold-War era Europe and the Near East showing countries that received Marshall Plan aid. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian... Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884–December 26, 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as Vice President, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... A program for economic aid to poor countries announced by US President Harry S. Truman at his inauguration speech on January 20, 1949. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... For other persons named John Kennedy, see John Kennedy (disambiguation). ... The Foreign Assistance Act is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress on September 4, 1961. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...


USAID in the context of U.S. foreign aid

President Marcos tries out a payloader, which was donated to the Philippines through the USAID
President Marcos tries out a payloader, which was donated to the Philippines through the USAID

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, 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, roughly 22 members of the OECD, known as the Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Image File history File linksMetadata Marcos_Payloader. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Marcos_Payloader. ... The President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. ... PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was the tenth President of the Republic of the Philippines. ... The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit (or, in Portuguese, Eco 92) was a major conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992. ... Location of Rio de Janeiro Coordinates: Country Brazil Region Southeast State Rio de Janeiro Mayor Cesar Maia (PFL) Area    - City 1,260 km² Population (2005)  - City 5,613,000 [1]  - Density 4,781/km²  - Metro 11,620,000 [2] Time zone UTC-3 (UTC-3) Website: www. ... The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization of those developed countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. ...


US levels for foreign aid fall short of this goal (the US currently ranks last among the world's wealthiest countries at about 0.1 percent of GNP.) However, in absolute amounts, the United States is currently the world's top donor of economic aid, providing $16.254 billion in 2003 according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.


In 2001, the United States gave $10.9 billion, Japan $9.7 billion, Germany $4.9 billion, the United Kingdom $4.7 billion, and France $4.3 billion. As a percentage of GNP, however, the top donors were Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Sweden. The Netherlands (pop. 16.3 million) gave $3.2 billion in 2001 — almost a third of what America contributed. One thousand million (1,000,000,000) is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001. ...


The 2003 budget of President Bush proposed $11.4 billion in foreign aid with an additional $4.3 billion for peacekeeping operations and to finance, train, and educate foreign armed forces. By fiscal year 2006, the President's budget requested $9.1 billion for development and humanitarian assistance administered by USAID; the Agency will uniquely program and manage approximately $5.0 billion and manage an additional $4.1 billion in coordination with the Department of State. George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...


The fiscal year 2006 USAID budget request totals $4.22 billion in the following accounts: Child Survival and Health: $1.252 billion, Development Assistance: $1.103 billion, International Disaster and Famine Assistance: $655.5 million, Transition Initiatives: $325 million, P.L. 480 Food for Peace: $885 million. In addition, USAID will manage the following programs with the Department of State: Support for East European Democracies: $382 million, FREEDOM Support Act: $482 million, and Economic Support Funds: $3.036 billion.


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 than to advance genuine social or humanitarian causes abroad.


USAID, in partnership with Higher Education for Development (HED)[2] ], promotes higher education's engagement in social and economic development through institutional and human capacity building in developing countries. Since 1997, more than 250 higher education partnerships in over 60 nations have received USAID funding to strengthen economic capacity, support agricultural productivity, improve health, develop access to clean water, and much more.


USAID and the CIA

The question of USAID’s relation to the Central Intelligence Agency is a controversial one. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOV Wikipedia policy is that all articles should be written from a neutral point of view. ... CIA redirects here. ...


Most claim that there was in the past, but no longer is, a relationship between the CIA and USAID. Others disagree.


Some assert that the CIA has used USAID to provide support for its programs. For example, Louis Wolf, co-publisher of CovertAction Quarterly, who worked in Laos from 1964 to 1967, asserts that some of the CIA personnel working in Operation Phoenix in Vietnam were working under USAID cover. John Paul Vann is another critic who linked the two. CovertAction Quarterly (named CovertAction Information Bulletin until 1992) is an American publication focused on and critical of the US Central Intelligence Agency. ... The Phoenix Program, known as Kế Hoạch Phụng Hoàng (a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) in Vietnamese, was a covert intelligence operation undertaken by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in close collaboration with South Vietnamese intelligence during the Vietnam War. ... John Paul Vann (July 2, 1924 – June 9, 1972) was a Colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well-known for his role in the Vietnam War. ...


In a lecture given in 2000 at the University of the Philippines-Manila, Roland G. Simbulan described the importance of the CIA’s operations in the Philippines, and noted: “During my interview in 1996 with Ralph McGehee, a former CIA agent, and other former CIA operatives assigned to the Manila station, I was told that the CIA had many unheralded successes in the Philippines such as the manipulation of the trade union movement through the Asian-American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI) and through funds which were channeled through the USAID, Asia Foundation and National Endowment for Democracy.” [3] The University of the Philippines (Filipino: Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) or U.P. or State U is the premiere state university of the Philippines. ... The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983, purportedly to help train people in democracy and manage money grants from the U.S. Congress to that effect. ...


Eva Gollinger, for example, writes that USAID "functions as an instrument of CIA penetration into civil society" and maintains that the USAID was being used by the CIA as recently as the 2002 attempt to bring down the government of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. [4] Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (IPA: ) (born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd[1] and current President of Venezuela. ...


Iraq

Syndicated columnist John McCaslin wrote: Reconstruction of Iraq is the term used for attempts to both improve upon and make repairs and improvements to the infrastructure of Iraq. ...

So who rebuilds Fallujah now that the U.S. military is mopping up its operations and securing the Iraqi city? We do, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Prior to the recent fighting, USAID workers were already in Fallujah working with the district government, moderate sheiks and tribal leaders on 17 projects totaling $2.3 million. (Hopefully, all were spared during the fighting.) Now, as soon as security is in place, USAID in Washington says it will re-enter Fallujah and begin neighborhood cleanups, clinic rehabilitation and municipal building repairs, all the time providing short-term employment to residents who will be returning to the city. Upwards of 250,000 residents fled Fallujah, and USAID has been providing many of them food and relief supplies, such as tents, blankets, mattresses, plastic sheeting, jerrycans, buckets, and hygiene and health kits. [5]

Rebuilding Iraq - C-SPAN 4 Part Series In June 2003, C-SPAN followed USAID Admin. Andrew Natsios as he toured Iraq. The special program C-SPAN produced aired over four nights. [6]


USAID itself is transparent on the information distributed to the public about its operations in Iraq. Detailed weekly reports, contracts and special reports are a part of the agency's web site on Iraq. [7]

Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOV Wikipedia policy is that all articles should be written from a neutral point of view. ...

Related links

Randall L. Tobias, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, was sworn in on October 6th, 2003. ... Andrew Natsios Andrew Natsios is well known liar in the Bush administration. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Mexico City Policy, named for the place of the population conference where it was announced, was instituted by United States President Ronald Reagan in 1984 to make the issue of abortion a condition for providing funds from the US foreign aid agency USAID. Called the global gag rule by... The Mutual Security Act of 1951 distributed $7 billion in foreign aid. ... This is a list of organizations focused giving development aid. ... Search for Common Ground [1] (or SFCG) is an international non-profit organization operating in 16 countries whose mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict – away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative solutions. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ... The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (FBCI) is an department under the Office of the President of the United States established during the presidential administration of George W. Bush. ...

External links



 

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