Transparency of U.S. Government Foreign Assistance Funding

Government's foreign assistance funding is reported through two primary websites: ForeignAssistance.gov and Foreign Aid Explorer. These websites provide stakeholders with access to data on U.S. foreign assistance investments, allowing users to track and analyze funding by country, fiscal year, agency, and implementing agency. ForeignAssistance.gov reports aggregate planned, obligation, and disbursement data from 2006 onwards for 10 agencies, as well as quarterly data from 2011 onwards for eight agencies. The data are available in XML format, adhering to the International Aid Transparency Initiative's (IATI) common data standard. In contrast, the Foreign Aid Explorer includes comprehensive, aggregate historical and disaggregated obligation and disbursement data on U.S. Government agencies implementing foreign assistance. The Foreign Aid Explorer collects data quarterly, depending on the reporting agency's capability, and posts data periodically throughout the year. USAID uses the Foreign Aid Explorer to fulfill reporting requirements, including the U.S. Government's IATI commitments and the President's Open Government initiative. The website also supports the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the U.S. Annual Assistance Report. USAID is responsible for reporting official U.S. Government foreign aid to the OECD and maintains the Foreign Aid Explorer. The Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources (State/F) operates ForeignAssistance.gov and registers U.S. Government data with IATI. However, not all agencies report to FA.gov in sufficient detail to fulfill official U.S. Government foreign assistance reporting requirements. A transition period is in place for agencies to provide additional information to fulfill reporting requirements. The long-term vision for the two websites is to combine the sites to reduce duplication and present a single, authoritative source of foreign assistance data. This will enable stakeholders to access comprehensive and detailed information on U.S. foreign assistance investments.