what is foreign aid 
the term foreign aid refers to any type of assistance that one country voluntarily transfers to another which can take the form of a gift grant or loan most people tend to think of foreign aid as capital but it can also be food supplies and services such as humanitarian aid and military assistance broader definitions of aid include any assistance transferred across borders by religious organizations non governmental organizations ngos and foundations u s foreign aid usually refers to military and economic assistance provided by the federal government provides to other countries understanding foreign aidforeign aid is any type of assistance that one country s government provides to another nation usually from developed to developing nations governments may issue aid in the following forms governments may make agreements with the countries to which they provide assistance for instance a developed nation may agree to provide grants to those in need after a natural disaster or during times of conflict whether they provide any type of capital or humanitarian aid alternatively a government may agree to issue loans to an allied nation that experiences economic uncertainty with special repayment provisions concerned about where foreign aid goes only a small portion of american assistance goes to federal governments while the rest is assigned to non profits ngos and other organizations according to the organisation for economic co operation and development oecd an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries aimed at promoting sustainable economic growth member countries contributed a record 223 7 billion in international aid in 2023 the united states is the most generous according to the oecd providing 66 04 billion in foreign aid in 2023 the remaining countries that were among the top five donors included the united nations un calls for economically advanced countries to spend at least 0 7 of their gross national income gni on international aid norway luxembourg sweden germany and denmark are the only countries that met or exceeded this level the total contribution of member countries though averaged 0 37 much lower than the un target the countries that received the most foreign aid from the u s for 2023 include ukraine israel ethiopia jordan and egypt special considerationsforeign aid estimates tend to vary given the different agencies funding methods and aid categories associated with u s foreign assistance efforts for instance the congressional research service crs a nonpartisan arm of congress the country spent 69 01 billion in foreign assistance during the 2023 fiscal year that figure amounted to 1 to 1 5 of the total federal budget authority aid can be provided by governments directly or through special federal agencies for instance the united states agency for international development usaid was created in 1961 to provide civilian aid it provides assistance with education environment climate change global health crises and conflicts food and agriculture water and human rights history of foreign aidforeign aid also commonly referred to as international aid and economic aid isn t a new concept the colonies were recipients of foreign military aid particularly from france during the american revolution during world war i the u s government loaned the committee for relief in belgium 387 million much of which it later forgave u s foreign aid began in earnest during world war ii before entering the war the government began funneling funds and materials to the allied nations under the lend lease program which totaled 50 1 billion by august 1945 the united states also contributed 2 7 billion through the united nations relief and rehabilitation administration unrra beginning in late 1943 for the four years following 1948 the u s gave 13 billion in aid to countries affected by the war such as the united kingdom france and west germany through the marshall plan the mutual security act of 1951 authorized around 7 5 billion in foreign aid per year until 1961 the amount of aid authorized by the mutual security act in 1951 was approximately 2 2 of the country s gross domestic product gdp 