Essay on the United States of America as the Largest Source of Foreign Aid and Humanitarian Assistance

The United States of America ranks as the largest source of foreign aid and humanitarian assistance to all parts of the world, especially developing countries. The essence of donations is an extension of the sense of humanity. Americans are encouraged by the American dream of giving to charity as a means of alleviating the challenges that locals and foreign countries experience. For instance, natural calamities including drought, famine, tornadoes and earthquakes often result in the large-scale destruction of livelihoods hence continued the commitment of US government to provide humanitarian support. Some examples of situations that have led to widespread local support include the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and the most recent Orlando Nightclub shooting. Examples of Foreign aid given by the US government to other countries include the 2010 Haiti earthquake and 2011 Japan tsunami. Despite the nobility behind any charitable exercise in which Americans participate, there is increasing sensitivity on the accountability of the charity institutions to the funds that they get from different sources in the United States.

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In most cases, the media coverage exemplifies multiple cases in which charitable organizations source funds in the United States of America but do not use them proactively to meet the demanding needs of the suffering and devastated people. It is true that US-based missions that are not profitable and non-governmental bring together individuals with a resolve to enhance the welfare of humanity across the world (Friedman & McGarvie, 2003). Some of these organizations include the World Vision that provides sanitation, food, and water to refugee camps. Based on available information, it is true that reports of charity funds mismanagement have significantly reduced the American donors zeal to provide continued support to some of the critical humanitarian need situations.

My conception of the foundation of giving aids as evident among Americans is to help the unfortunate in society. This intervention corresponds with the religious notion of selfless giving. Therefore, I believe that just as the Americans have expressed, giving donations and financial support should be an endless process since calamities are often unprecedented (Friedman & McGarvie, 2003). However, it is important for the Philanthropic individuals and organizations to undertake an extensive legitimacy search on the charity organizations to which they give their funds.

I conceive that an adequate historical information about the organizations renews the confidence of donors. One such background verification on humanitarian agencies and their workers is to request for their employee organization number and a strict verification of institutions registration (Friedman & McGarvie, 2003). The institutions should be expressly no- profit and have a reliable record of accomplishment in community development and enhancement of human welfare. In essence, giving material or financial support to individuals through charitable organizations is just one step towards alleviating their situations; the most critical approach is to ensure the credibility of the processes involved in ensuring that such help reaches the intended people in the desired way.

For a long time, Americans have offered charities to charitable organizations based on the principles of trust and honesty. Based on this traditional approach to giving assistance to needy populations, the groups are duty bound to remain accountable to both the donors and the people on whose behalf they source funds. On the other hand, the American donors have to foster trust in the institutions with which they deal (Nemeth & Luidens, 2003). Nonetheless, the declining US public confidence in the credibility of most charitable institutions implies a need to track their performance, which included a verification of adherence to existing financial laws and US Internal Revenue Service regulations.

As long as the US government, its citizens, and nonprofit agencies determine that their funds are well accounted for, I think there should be no limits on how much donations and length of time within which they can remain philanthropic. Most of the US-based charities and foreign humanitarian institutions follow the existing regulations. However, a small number of these agencies are fraudulent and engage in different forms of swindles that undermine their legitimacy (Friedman & McGarvie, 2003). Such fraudulent organizations invoke the sympathy of American social networks and swindle such funds for private gains. These illegal activities of the charities have a general effect on the donor trust for virtually all such organizations.

Donors can assess the credibility of charities based in the US or the international community. However, the general perception those developing countries have about the US as a well-off country result in some sense of donor fatigue. So many donation requests come from different sectors across the world leading to the potential overstretching of Amercian charitable capacity (Friedman & McGarvie, 2003). I believe that when so many applications requesting various assistance some all at the same time, the ability of American citizens to give compassionately is overshot leading to a situation called over saturation. Having overwhelming requests makes prioritization of assistance difficult since donors have specific areas that they target. Diversion of the donations forms the donor's focus has a potential of reducing their morale to participate in such activities.

Church missions chaperoned by religious Americans to the rest of the world should embody the values that come with such religions (Nemeth & Luidens, 2003). In most cases, the faiths that they profess encourage selfless giving hence they attain personal satisfaction from donating to and solving the challenges that other societies face just like Mother Teresa did. It is imperative that there would be no saturation in charitable contributions among Americans as long as they are satisfied that their interventions change the lives of the poorest and underprivileged across the world.

References

Friedman, L. J., & McGarvie, M. D. (2003). Charity, philanthropy, and civility in American history. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Nemeth, R. J., & Luidens, D. A. (2003). The religious basis of charitable giving in America. Religion as social capital: Producing the common good, 107-120.