World leaders gathered for the opening of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, making it a good time to think critically about the billions of dollars that the U.S. government doles out to the rest of the world — and whether it’s using this money wisely.
In particular, it’s an opportune moment to address the double standard in how carefully the United States monitors taxpayer dollars spent on domestic projects and how carelessly they’re shelled out to countries that often don’t share our values or allegiances.
The U.S. gives out massive sums of aid to countries that rank among the worst in their treatment of women and girls.
The disconnect is no starker than in the arena of gender equity. The U.S. gives out massive sums of aid to countries that rank among the worst in their treatment of women and girls and disregard for their rights. It’s time that foreign aid was conditioned on these places cleaning up their acts, just as federal dollars are only given to institutions that adhere to standards prohibiting discrimination.
As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, our government doles out approximately $49.87 billion in economic and military assistance to countries around the world in any given fiscal year. Much of this money is earmarked for improving the economic, educational and health conditions of women in these (largely developing) countries, yet it often remains in the hands of corrupt dictators or equally corrupt nongovernmental organizations.
While politicians hoarding and mismanaging funding is a universal problem, many of the recipient countries are not just committing financial atrocities — they are also committing atrocities against their own women.
Since 2001, the U.S. government has given billions of dollars in aid to countries that are repeat historical offenders for serious women’s rights violations. Among them are Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen — nations that have recently received at least $1 billion in U.S. aid while scoring less than 0.6 on the World Bank’s Global Gender Gap Index. (A score of 1 means a country has total parity between men and women on 14 different indicators.)
Afghanistan, Iraq, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali are not included in the Gender Gap Index because they refuse to supply the World Bank with the necessary data. But the abuses in these countries, which also receive more than $1 billion from the U.S., are well documented elsewhere.
For example, the U.S. committed $837 million in aid to Pakistan in 2017, yet the U.S. has done little to nothing to hold the country accountable for the offenses committed against its women. Human Rights Watch, an independent watchdog group, notes that “violence against women and girls — including rape, so-called honor killings, acid attacks, domestic violence and forced marriage — remains a serious problem.”
Honor killings, jailings and similar punishments regularly occur in other recipient countries, specifically those in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, American administration after administration, Republican and Democrat, have continued to open their wallets for these countries.
While the U.S. has additional interests at play in giving money to Pakistan and other aid recipients — often out of concern for regional security and preventing local wars — this still doesn’t justify giving aid without careful requirements for recipients. And an in-depth academic study by the University of Utah found numerous examples of the misuse of military aid, which prevents the U.S. from achieving its security objectives in any case.
This doesn’t mean the U.S. should cease to provide assistance. When used correctly, foreign aid can be a crucial component in helping economically developing countries become self-sufficient by fostering stability, promoting economic growth and reducing poverty, not to mention boosting America’s influence and image.
One of the most well-known success stories is the assistance the U.S. gave to Japan following World War II. Less familiar is the fact that “promoting greater rights and privileges for women” was one of the key tenets of Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur’s rehabilitation plan. Having recovered from the devastation of that conflict, today Japan boasts a steadily improving World Bank gender gap ranking, as well as one of the highest female literacy rates and life expectancies in the world.