The US currently gives around 0.16% of its GDP in foreign aid, which amounts to around $16 billion or 0.55% of the federal budget. This is significantly lower than what most Americans estimate, and is the lowest percentage of GDP given by advanced nations, whose average is 0.22% of GDP. Increasing US foreign aid to the UN recommended level of 0.44% of GDP could help achieve goals like reducing extreme poverty, child mortality, and increasing education access set out in the Millennium Declaration.

1. Foreign Aid

2. Foreign Aid DebateResolved: The US should increase foreign aid.

3. How much aid does the US give? Draw a circleYour circle is $100Your circle represents the U.S. GDP (The total market value of all goods and services produced in the US in a given year)How much of the circle does the US government send in foreign aid?

4. Opinions of amountIn March 1997, a joint poll by the Washington Post, Harvard University and the Kaiser Family Foundation asked Americans which area of federal expenditure they thought was the largest. Was it Social Security (which actually constituted about a quarter of the budget)? Medicare? Military spending? Sixty-four percent of respondents said it was foreign aid—when in reality foreign aid made up only about 1 percent of total outlays (Washington Post, 3/29/97). Today, Americans think about 20 percent of the federal budget goes toward foreign aid. When told the actual figure for U.S. foreign aid giving (about 1.6 percent of the discretionary budget), most respondents said they did not believe the number was the full amount (Program on International Policy Attitudes, 3/7/05)

5. How much is it?The answer is .16% of our GDP that is…16 pennies per $100 we have or .55% of our budget that is…55 pennies per $100 our government spends or $16 billion

6. How does that compare to others?

7. How does that compare to military spending by the US?

8. How does our spending on the military compare to the rest of the world?

9. What could you do with more aid?Millennium Declaration September 2000Goals to reach by 2015Half the number of people living in extreme poverty2/3 reduction in child mortalityreversal of spread of HIV/AIDSprimary education for children worldwide Advanced nations average 0.22% of GDP on foreign aid. The US is last.The UN’s Zedillo commission found that it could reach the millennium goals by increasing the average aid budget in rich countries to 0.44% of GDP.Now, Let’s try this again…

10. Foreign Aid DebateResolved: The US should increase foreign aid.Explain your answerList pros and cons of increasing foreign aid