In order to understand the United States' approach to its federal humanitarian programs, you should read their recent white paper: "Foreign Aid in the National Interest." It's a 'non-policy' report (meaning that politicians and committees are not responsible to act on its conclusions). It can be tedious in parts, but overall it shows awareness of the problems encountered by over 1 billion people who live on less than $1 a day.
Foreign Aid in the National Interest: The United States government issues its "non-policy" document on the problems around the world and America's response to them. Sub-Saharan Africa features prominently, as in the graphic on the right.
Among the other conclusions of this document:
U.S. strategy for reducing poverty in developing countries must focus on promoting growth in poor countries.
Trends guarantee that [the international community's] humanitarian aid will remain enormously important.
Twenty years ago, Official Development Assistance (ODA) was the largest source of aid to the developing world. Today, private flows from U.S. foundations, private and voluntary organizations, corporations, churches and individuals remittances exceed ODA -- primarily because of the unique US tax structure and the country's strong tradition of private giving.
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