When asked how much of the federal budget the U.S. Government spends on foreign aid, the average American response is “25 percent.” Shockingly, the real answer is less than one percent!

I attended a Speaker Series on The Power of One Percent at the Newseum on Monday, October 3, which discussed how 1 percent of the U.S. federal budget builds stronger economies, ensures better health for some of the most vulnerable people worldwide, and strengthens national security. Speakers from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), World Vision International, the ONE Campaign, Population Services International, PATH, and FHI 360 elaborated on these topics and shared their experiences working abroad.

Each of the speakers expressed a similar message about the importance of foreign aid. They spoke about how difficult it is to justify the budget for development assistance since we are facing an economic dilemma in the United States, However, they said we should look at this activity as an investment in health, societies, and building markets abroad. Investing in foreign aid is one of the best things we can do, because it leads to growth and greater export opportunities. Right now, approximately half of all U.S. exports go to developing nations, and these exports have grown six times faster than exports to wealthier countries. According to USAID, we exported around half-a-trillion dollars in U.S. goods and services to developing countries, and 97 percent of those export revenues went to U.S. companies. If we reach out to the two to three billion poverty-stricken people around the world now, the speakers noted, we can position American companies to sell them goods. Therefore, we should view these situations as global opportunities, not burdens.

The speakers also mentioned that investing in foreign aid promotes security, because when we provide vaccinations for diseases like measles, polio, and tuberculosis to people in developing countries, we reduce the risk of allowing these diseases to enter the United States. So by donating our resources, we save lives abroad, protect our own citizens, and save money that we would have otherwise used to analyze and treat an epidemic outbreak on American soil.

It is amazing to think about how little of the federal budget we spend on foreign aid but how effective our efforts can be if we support these projects. There is still much work to be accomplished in developing countries around the world.