MFAN Report Discusses Key Issues for State Department's Emerging Foreign Assistance Funding Modalities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 3, 2026 (WASHINGTON) – The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) today released Following the Money: Emerging Foreign Assistance Funding Modalities in the Trump Administration, a policy report examining four channels the U.S. Department of State is now using to deliver development and humanitarian assistance.

The report details these modalities, compares them with prior U.S. assistance practices, and raises key questions about their potential, how they will work in practice, and what is needed to align them with core aid effectiveness principles. The paper also highlights key areas to guide congressional oversight.

Since assuming responsibility for U.S. development and humanitarian assistance, the State Department has begun directing billions of dollars through channels that are new or new at this scale:

• Government-to-government (G2G) health agreements, with 36 signed and more than $16.1 billion in U.S. commitments in the coming years
• An Annual Program Statement (APS) of up to $4.5 billion for nongovernmental global health partners
• $3.8 billion in contributions to pooled funds managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) across 21 countries
• A small number of large, multi-country humanitarian "global awards" to UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations

The report measures these channels against the standards the Administration has set for itself: faster timeframes, more resources reaching the front lines, and shared responsibility with partner countries. It identifies five key areas for attention: making funding decisions transparent, designing for impact and measuring results, supporting local organizations with partnership and resources, matching ambition with staff capacity, and setting precedent and guardrails that last.

"It’s imperative that these funding mechanisms for development and humanitarian assistance be grounded in core aid effectiveness principles," said Tod Preston, MFAN Executive Director. "This will impact millions of lives and shape U.S. assistance well beyond this Administration — and impactful results are by no means guaranteed. Our report details the key issues and what's needed to deliver them."

Read the full report here.

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About MFAN:

‍The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) is a bipartisan coalition of international development practitioners, policy advocates, and experts committed to making U.S. foreign assistance more effective, accountable, and results-driven. For media inquiries, please reach out to MFAN@modernizeaid.net.