what is the u s agency for international development 
the u s agency for international development usaid is an independent federal agency that provides civilian aid to foreign countries by providing development and humanitarian assistance the agency aims to further american interests abroad while improving lives in the developing world understanding the u s agency for international development usaid in 1961 president john f kennedy signed the foreign assistance act into law and created usaid by executive order the agency is tasked with administering the federal government s civilian foreign aid programs which include disaster relief technical assistance poverty alleviation and economic development 1while usaid is independent it is subject to the guidance of the president the secretary of state and the national security council 2 the agency s administrator and deputy administrator are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate 4usaid is responsible for implementing more than 20 billion in combined annual appropriations most of which come from the u s state department the agency provides assistance to more than 120 countries the top 10 recipients in order of funding are jordan afghanistan ethiopia yemen the democratic republic of congo nigeria syria south sudan kenya and iraq sub saharan africa receives 39 of usaid distributions with the majority of funding going toward health and humanitarian efforts 53history of usaidu s civilian assistance to foreign nations began in the 19th century with informal technical missions in which experts often with government assistance traveled to asia and latin america to spread knowledge of industrial techniques economic policy sanitation and other fields in 1919 congress formed the american relief administration to provide humanitarian assistance to post war europe 6following world war ii the marshall plan launched in a speech delivered by secretary of state george marshall on june 5 1947 is considered by many historians to have been the most effective u s foreign aid program ever this plan saw the u s spend roughly 13 3 billion or 143 billion in 2017 dollars in real terms if we consider inflation to rebuild war ravaged european economies 7the cold war led to competition between the soviet union and the u s to win the favor of third world countries that is outside the first world west or second world communist bloc while much of this effort was focused on military aid civilian assistance also played a part president harry s truman built upon the marshall plan by making international aid a key part of u s foreign policy the goal was to to create markets for the u s by reducing poverty and increasing production in developing countries it was in this context that president kennedy ordered the state department to create an independent agency to coordinate civilian foreign aid 1