USAID Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)
![Link to Recovery.Gov](images/recoverygov.gif) The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into
law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to
jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on
addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The
Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and
includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy
independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health
care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.
Implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)
Implementation details on the progress of USAID programs that are impacted by the Recovery Act will be made available here.
Agency Plans and Reports
Agency plans and reports will be made available here to ensure transparency.
Learn more about our programs
The United States has a long history of extending a helping hand to those people overseas struggling to make a better life, recover from a disaster or striving to live in a free and democratic country. It is this caring that stands as a hallmark of the United States around the world -- and shows the world our true character as a nation.
U.S. foreign assistance has always had the twofold purpose of furthering America's foreign policy interests in expanding democracy and free markets while improving the lives of the citizens of the developing world. Spending less than one-half of 1 percent of the federal budget, USAID works around the world to achieve these goals.
USAID's history goes back to the Marshall Plan reconstruction of Europe after World War Two and the Truman Administration's Point Four Program. In 1961, the Foreign Assistance Act was signed into law and USAID was created by executive order.
Since that time, USAID has been the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.
USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. Our Work supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting:
- economic growth, agriculture and trade;
- global health; and,
- democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance.
We provide assistance in five regions of the world:
- Sub-Saharan Africa;
- Asia;
- Latin America and the Caribbean,
- Europe and Eurasia; and
- The Middle East.
With headquarters in Washington, D.C., USAID's strength is its field offices around the world. We work in close partnership with private voluntary organizations, indigenous organizations, universities, American businesses, international agencies, other governments, and other U.S. government agencies. USAID has working relationships with more than 3,500 American companies and over 300 U.S.-based private voluntary organizations.
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