USAID VP VOICE | BY RANDY CHESTER AFSA NEWS Contact: chester@afsa.org | (202) 712-5267 You’d think after 21 years my relatives would get it, but every year over pumpkin pie, the same questions are asked: Who do you work for? What do you do? Why should my tax dollars pay for this? Today, answering these questions is even more important. Not just for family, but because with a new administration, we all need to be able to explain the important work we do at USAID. Who do you work for? The Foreign Service officers (FSOs) of the U.S. Agency for International Development represent the U.S. government and its citizens overseas to foreign governments and their people. At USAID, more than 1,900 career FSOs and 500 noncareer officers are working alongside nearly 8,000 other employees in more than 150 countries, implementing the president’s foreign and development policy, regardless of party or individual political affiliation. Why should I pay? We get results. With an annual budget of less than 1 percent of the total federal budget, USAID supports expanding economic opportunities led by the private sector, countering the growing threat of Chinese expansion, and increasing opportunities for local community groups and faith-based organizations to design and participate in activities that support their growth, to name a few. Our work makes the U.S. safer, Why USAID? 52 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL expands economic opportunities for U.S. businesses, and promotes U.S. values abroad. Supporting private sector–led opportunities. In Fiscal Year 2023, USAID mobilized $2.1 billion in private sector investment. The recently concluded INVEST project, for instance, was begun in 2017 and, with $101 million in USAID seed funding, mobilized more than $1.6 billion from private sector investors. According to the 2024 INVEST Final Report, this was a more than 15:1 return. Additionally, in FY23, other USAID investments increased annual agriculture sales by $5.7 billion, improving access to food and raising food security for some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Our private sector–driven investments create and expand markets for U.S. companies, increase jobs that can lower illegal migration to the U.S., and raise food security in countries experiencing damaging natural disasters, lowering the need for costly humanitarian assistance. Limiting Chinese influence. With our partners in the State Department and other U.S. agencies, USAID is engaged in supporting countries staving off the growing economic influence and power of China in the Indo-Pacific region, a vital U.S. economic and security interest. Our program aims to enhance economic ties between the United States and region governments, support efforts to improve government capacity, and bolster regional security and stability. Expanding partnerships with local and faith-based partners. While our private sector partnerships are helping significantly scale up our efforts, we also work closely with local community and faith-based organizations, which are well placed to reach rural communities and underserved populations. Currently, about 10 percent of USAID funding is through local organizations. In Africa, more than 20 percent of USAID funding goes to local and faith-based organizations. Plans are for 50 percent of USAID funding to be implemented by local groups by 2030, an ambitious but achievable target that will help us reach more people, do more, lower costs, and improve the image of the U.S. overseas, according to the USAID Localization Report for FY23. But the cost … The USAID FY 25 budget request is $28.3 billion, or $7/month per capita, according to the FY25 Congressional Budget Justification. With this funding, in addition to the above, USAID investments will reduce food insecurity, promote global health security, improve literacy and access to primary education for children, strengthen communities’ ability to respond to and recover from natural disasters, and increase the adoption of digital technologies. Finally, what makes USAID great is our inherent ability to adapt and respond to an ever-changing world. The agency I joined in 2004 is not the agency of 2025. We have changed the way we do business, incorporating lessons learned from engaging with the private sector and adopting innovative financing models. We’ve expanded opportunities to develop, promote, and utilize pioneering technologies and information and communication technology (ICT) tools, shifted focus toward empowering local communities, and strengthened measures to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse while maintaining oversight of U.S. taxpayer funds. We are a vital tool supporting any president’s foreign policy agenda, and, at all times, we act with the highest professional standards to ensure its implementation and success. n USAID investments increased annual agriculture sales by $5.7 billion.
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