State Department Turns to Faith-Based Groups in Major Shift on US Foreign Aid

The U.S. State Department has announced a historic partnership pledging nearly $2 billion to faith-based organizations for global health and humanitarian aid.

Under the “America First Global Health Strategy,” groups like World Vision, Compassion International, and Samaritan’s Purse will receive up to $850 million over five years. Another $1.4 billion will support some 2,500 faith-based hospitals and clinics, while also training and paying frontline community health workers.

The assistance follows recent massive cuts to USAID and comes as the Trump administration reshapes how the United States delivers foreign aid. That is just one of a growing list of challenges facing the State Department, from Iran and Gaza to visa security here at home.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott recently sat down with CBN News National Security Correspondent Caitlin Burke for a wide-ranging conversation about how the U.S. is confronting those challenges.

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Turning to Faith-Based Organizations

The administration is also reshaping U.S. foreign assistance, including turning to faith-based organizations to help get aid directly to people on the ground.

Burke: Can you talk about why those partnerships with those faith-based organizations are important?

Pigott: Oftentimes, it’s expertise. It’s making sure that money, when it’s spent, actually goes to the people that need it. It’s trusted partners that have a track record of delivering that assistance in a way that is effective.

In Cuba, the U.S. has committed up to $100 million in humanitarian assistance. Pigott says the goal is to get that aid to the Cuban people, without it being diverted by the government.

Pigott: We’re partnering with trusted third-party validators such as the Catholic Church. They can actually deliver this assistance through their local parishes, where they know the people, they know who needs it, and they can deliver that assistance where it’s not going to be taken by the regime.

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