U.S. announces $2 billion for faith-based aid

On Aug. 6, the U.S. Department of State announced nearly $2 billion in partnerships with faith-based and community organizations to support global health and humanitarian efforts worldwide. This announcement represents the largest allocation of U.S. global health foreign assistance to faith-based organizations in more than two decades.

The assistance comes after the administration’s massive cuts to global support once offered by the U.S. Agency for International Development and is intended to benefit U.S.-based internationally recognized humanitarian aid groups such as World Vision, Compassion International, and Samaritan’s Purse, among other recipients.

The announcement claims the effort “underscores the Trump Administration’s commitment to partnering with organizations that demonstrate faith in action and have proven their ability to deliver health and humanitarian assistance in the world’s most difficult environments.”

The effort is part of the America First Global Health Strategy, released by the U.S. State Department in September 2025. The strategy seeks to shift U.S. international health assistance away from broad, open-ended funding toward direct partnerships with individual countries.

These partnerships focus on shared financial commitments, strengthening disease monitoring, and helping countries become more self-reliant in managing their own health needs.

Under the strategy, the State Department reserved $1.4 billion to support “life-saving health services through faith and community-based hospitals and clinics in more than 20 countries.”

Millions will go to World Vision

The department will provide up to $850 million over five years directly to World Vision and a coalition of local partners under a “Faith and Community Initiative Award.”

The initiative is meant to strengthen over 2,500 faith-based hospitals, clinics, and community hubs across 17 countries and to pay, train, and supply over 30,000 community health workers.

An additional $570 million will be provided to faith-based and community hospitals and clinics directly through government agreements tied to the same strategy.

“In many of the countries where the United States provides foreign assistance, faith-based healthcare providers represent 40 percent or more of all health facilities,” said the announcement.

The department says these organizations will now direct at least 80 percent of their resources toward frontline healthcare services—more than double the 35 percent to 40 percent that historically went toward such services in State Department-funded programs.

Separately, the department is providing $538 million to Samaritan’s Purse and a consortium co-led by World Vision and Compassion International for disaster response efforts expected to reach 7 million people across 16 countries. More than $100 million will be available for immediate use, while the remaining funds will support disaster preparedness and readiness efforts in 23 countries vulnerable to disasters.

“Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, and Compassion International exemplify the Administration’s commitment to partnering with faith-based and community organizations that responsibly steward taxpayer dollars while delivering lifesaving assistance to those in need,” said the announcement.

None of the organizations named in the humanitarian awards is a non-Christian U.S.-based group.

Separately, the State Department recently announced funding for secular organizations providing international humanitarian assistance. The department also said it had released $600 million in congressionally approved funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to expand access to vaccines around the world.