Oxfam’s updated Foreign Aid 101 report is a quick and easy way to study up on what US foreign aid is, what it’s doing, and how we can make it better.
When foreign aid comes up in the US, people often believe we spend far more than we do. In fact, many believe the US spends more than 26 percent of its budget on aid (hint: it’s less than 1 percent!). There are also lots of other myths about what aid is, how it works, and its impact that often go unchallenged.
For example, would you guess that Americans spend more on candy, sporting goods, and jewelry each year than we do on poverty-focused foreign assistance?
The good news is there’s a new resource to help you get all the facts on US foreign aid: Oxfam’s newly-updated Foreign Aid 101 report. Foreign Aid 101 tackles the big questions on US foreign aid: What it is, why the US gives it, why it matters, and how we can make it a better tool for fighting poverty around the world.
The report also contains all-new stories of people around the world who are using foreign aid to improve their own lives and their communities. Stories of people like Claudine Nyiraminani whose participation in a USAID-funded workforce training program enabled her to become one of Rwanda’s only female welders -- blazing trails while making an independent life for herself, and pursuing her dream of starting her own welding business so she can help others do the same. US foreign aid is supporting leaders like Nyiraminani, and must do more to empower leaders around the world in the fight against poverty and injustice.
After all, aid doesn’t end poverty, people do.
Get the facts in the 4th Edition of our Foreign Aid 101 report.