
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC2151-1]

 
               TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
 
                     CHAPTER 32--FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
 
                 SUBCHAPTER I--INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 
  Part I--Declaration of Policy; Development Assistance Authorizations
 
Sec. 2151-1. Development assistance policy


(a) Principal purpose of bilateral development assistance

    The Congress finds that the efforts of developing countries to build 
and maintain the social and economic institutions necessary to achieve 
self-sustaining growth and to provide opportunities to improve the 
quality of life for their people depend primarily upon successfully 
marshalling their own economic and human resources. The Congress 
recognizes that the magnitude of these efforts exceeds the resources of 
developing countries and therefore accepts that there will be a long-
term need for wealthy countries to contribute additional resources for 
development purposes. The United States should take the lead in concert 
with other nations to mobilize such resources from public and private 
sources.
    Provision of development resources must be adapted to the needs and 
capabilities of specific developing countries. United States assistance 
to countries with low per capita incomes which have limited access to 
private external resources should primarily be provided on concessional 
terms. Assistance to other developing countries should generally consist 
of programs which facilitate their access to private capital markets, 
investment, and technical skills, whether directly through guarantee or 
reimbursable programs by the United States Government or indirectly 
through callable capital provided to the international financial 
institutions.
    Bilateral assistance and United States participation in multilateral 
institutions shall emphasize programs in support of countries which 
pursue development strategies designed to meet basic human needs and 
achieve self-sustaining growth with equity.
    The Congress declares that the principal purpose of United States 
bilateral development assistance is to help the poor majority of people 
in developing countries to participate in a process of equitable growth 
through productive work and to influence decisions that shape their 
lives, with the goal of increasing their incomes and their access to 
public services which will enable them to satisfy their basic needs and 
lead lives of decency, dignity, and hope. Activities shall be emphasized 
that effectively involve the poor in development by expanding their 
access to the economy through services and institutions at the local 
level, increasing their participation in the making of decisions that 
affect their lives, increasing labor-intensive production and the use of 
appropriate technology, expanding productive investment and services out 
from major cities to small towns and rural areas, and otherwise 
providing opportunities for the poor to improve their lives through 
their own efforts. Participation of the United States in multilateral 
institutions shall also place appropriate emphasis on these principles.

(b) Form of assistance; principles governing assistance

    Assistance under this part should be used not only for the purpose 
of transferring financial resources to developing countries, but also to 
help countries solve development problems in accordance with a strategy 
that aims to insure wide participation of the poor in the benefits of 
development on a sustained basis. Moreover, assistance shall be provided 
in a prompt and effective manner, using appropriate United States 
institutions for carrying out this strategy. In order to achieve these 
objectives and the broad objectives set forth in section 2151 of this 
title and in subsection (a) of this section, bilateral development 
assistance authorized by this chapter shall be carried out in accordance 
with the following principles:
        (1) Development is primarily the responsibility of the people of 
    the developing countries themselves. Assistance from the United 
    States shall be used in support of, rather than substitution for, 
    the self-help efforts that are essential to successful development 
    programs and shall be concentrated in those countries that take 
    positive steps to help themselves. Maximum effort shall be made, in 
    the administration of subchapter I of this chapter, to stimulate the 
    involvement of the people in the development process through the 
    encouragement of democratic participation in private and local 
    governmental activities and institution building appropriate to the 
    requirements of the recipient countries.
        (2) Development planning must be the responsibility of each 
    sovereign country. United States assistance should be administered 
    in a collaborative style to support the development goals chosen by 
    each country receiving assistance.
        (3) United States bilateral development assistance should give 
    high priority to undertakings submitted by host governments which 
    directly improve the lives of the poorest of their people and their 
    capacity to participate in the development of their countries, while 
    also helping such governments enhance their planning, technical, and 
    administrative capabilities needed to insure the success of such 
    undertakings.
        (4) Development assistance provided under this part shall be 
    concentrated in countries which will make the most effective use of 
    such assistance to help satisfy basic human needs of poor people 
    through equitable growth, especially in those countries having the 
    greatest need for outside assistance. In order to make possible 
    consistent and informed judgments in this respect, the President 
    shall assess the commitment and progress of countries in moving 
    toward the objectives and purposes of this part by utilizing 
    criteria, including but not limited to the following:
            (A) increase in agricultural productivity per unit of land 
        through small-farm, labor-intensive agriculture;
            (B) reduction of infant mortality;
            (C) control of population growth;
            (D) promotion of greater equality of income distribution, 
        including measures such as more progressive taxation and more 
        equitable returns to small farmers;
            (E) reduction of rates of unemployment and underemployment;
            (F) increase in literacy; and
            (G) progress in combating corruption and improving 
        transparency and accountability in the public and private 
        sector.

        (5) United States development assistance should focus on 
    critical problems in those functional sectors which affect the lives 
    of the majority of the people in the developing countries; food 
    production and nutrition; rural development and generation of 
    gainful employment; population planning and health; environment and 
    natural resources; education, development administration, and human 
    resource development; and energy development and production.
        (6) United States assistance shall encourage and promote the 
    participation of women in the national economies of developing 
    countries and the improvement of women's status as an important 
    means of promoting the total development effort.
        (7) United States bilateral assistance shall recognize that the 
    prosperity of developing countries and effective development efforts 
    require the adoption of an overall strategy that promotes the 
    development, production, and efficient utilization of energy and, 
    therefore, consideration shall be given to the full implications of 
    such assistance on the price, availability, and consumption of 
    energy in recipient countries.
        (8) United States cooperation in development should be carried 
    out to the maximum extent possible through the private sector, 
    including those institutions which already have ties in the 
    developing areas, such as educational institutions, cooperatives, 
    credit unions, free labor unions, and private and voluntary 
    agencies.
        (9) To the maximum extent practicable, United States private 
    investment should be encouraged in economic and social development 
    programs to which the United States lends support.
        (10) Assistance shall be planned and utilized to encourage 
    regional cooperation by developing countries in the solution of 
    common problems and the development of shared resources.
        (11) Assistance efforts of the United States shall be planned 
    and furnished to the maximum extent practicable in coordination and 
    cooperation with assistance efforts of other countries, including 
    the planning and implementation of programs and projects on a 
    multilateral and multidonor basis.
        (12) United States bilateral development assistance should be 
    concentrated on projects which do not involve large-scale capital 
    transfers. However, to the extent that such assistance does involve 
    large-scale capital transfers, it should be furnished in association 
    with contributions from other countries working together in a 
    multilateral framework.
        (13) United States encouragement of policy reforms is necessary 
    if developing countries are to achieve economic growth with equity.
        (14) Development assistance should, as a fundamental objective, 
    promote private sector activity in open and competitive markets in 
    developing countries, recognizing such activity to be a productive 
    and efficient means of achieving equitable and long term economic 
    growth.
        (15) United States cooperation in development should recognize 
    as essential the need of developing countries to have access to 
    appropriate technology in order to improve food and water, health 
    and housing, education and employment, and agriculture and industry.
        (16) United States assistance should focus on establishing and 
    upgrading the institutional capacities of developing countries in 
    order to promote long term development. An important component of 
    institution building involves training to expand the human resource 
    potential of people in developing countries.
        (17) Economic reform and development of effective institutions 
    of democratic governance are mutually reinforcing. The successful 
    transition of a developing country is dependent upon the quality of 
    its economic and governance institutions. Rule of law, mechanisms of 
    accountability and transparency, security of person, property, and 
    investments, are but a few of the critical governance and economic 
    reforms that underpin the sustainability of broad-based economic 
    growth. Programs in support of such reforms strengthen the capacity 
    of people to hold their governments accountable and to create 
    economic opportunity.

(c) Worldwide cooperative effort to overcome aspects of absolute poverty

    The Congress, recognizing the desirability of overcoming the worst 
aspects of absolute poverty by the end of this century by, among other 
measures, substantially lowering infant mortality and birth rates, and 
increasing life expectancy, food production, literacy, and employment, 
encourages the President to explore with other countries, through all 
appropriate channels, the feasibility of a worldwide cooperative effort 
to overcome the worst aspects of absolute poverty and to assure self-
reliant growth in the developing countries by the year 2000.

(Pub. L. 87-195, pt. I, Sec. 102, as added Pub. L. 95-424, title I, 
Sec. 101, Oct. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 938; amended Pub. L. 96-53, title I, 
Sec. 104(a), Aug. 14, 1979, 93 Stat. 360; Pub. L. 99-83, title III, 
Sec. 301, Aug. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 213; Pub. L. 106-309, title II, 
Sec. 203(b), Oct. 17, 2000, 114 Stat. 1092.)

                       References in Text

    This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original ``this 
Act'', meaning Pub. L. 87-195, Sept. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 424, as amended, 
known as the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. For complete classification 
of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2151 
of this title and Tables.


References to Subchapter I Deemed To Include Certain Parts of Subchapter 
                                   II

    References to subchapter I of this chapter are deemed to include 
parts IV (Sec. 2346 et seq.), VI (Sec. 2348 et seq.), and VIII 
(Sec. 2349aa et seq.) of subchapter II of this chapter, and references 
to subchapter II are deemed to exclude such parts. See section 202(b) of 
Pub. L. 92-226, set out as a note under section 2346 of this title, and 
sections 2348c and 2349aa-5 of this title.


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (b)(4)(G). Pub. L. 106-309, Sec. 203(b)(1), added 
subpar. (G).
    Subsec. (b)(17). Pub. L. 106-309, Sec. 203(b)(2), added par. (17).
    1985--Subsec. (b)(13) to (16). Pub. L. 99-83 added pars. (13) to 
(16).
    1979--Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 96-53, Sec. 104(a)(1), inserted 
applicability to energy development and production.
    Subsec. (b)(7). Pub. L. 96-53, Sec. 104(a)(2), inserted 
applicability to promotion of development and production of energy.


                    Effective Date of 1985 Amendment

    Section 1301 of Pub. L. 99-83 provided that: ``Except as otherwise 
provided in this Act, this Act [see Short Title of 1985 Amendment note 
set out under section 2151 of this title] shall take effect on October 
1, 1985.''


                    Effective Date of 1979 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 96-53 effective Oct. 1, 1979, see section 
512(a) of Pub. L. 96-53, set out as a note under section 2151 of this 
title.


                             Effective Date

    Section effective Oct. 1, 1978, see section 605 of Pub. L. 95-424, 
set out as an Effective Date of 1978 Amendment note under section 2151 
of this title.

                         Delegation of Functions

    For delegation of functions of President under this section, see Ex. 
Ord. No. 12163, Sept. 29, 1979, 44 F.R. 56673, as amended, set out as a 
note under section 2381 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2151u, 2151v, 2293, 3502 of 
this title.
