The European Union is consistently one of the largest contributors to foreign aid in the world. This organization continuously contributes more than €50 billion. Its goals are to alleviate global poverty and advance international development. Additionally, the European Union’s foreign aid works to institute global agreements that improve foreign aid and its effectiveness.

The European Union dedicated roughly €264.2 million to nutrition programs globally in 2018. As a result, more than 26 million people received food assistance. Also, more than 17 million women and young children received nutrition-related aid. In addition, about 6.9 million small agricultural farm owners received support. This improved the sustainability of their production and profitability.

Furthermore, roughly 77 million 1-year-olds received immunizations. Meanwhile, about 23 million students entered secondary education due to the European Union’s education efforts. The European Union also ensured that 723,000 people had access to sanitary drinking water. Moreover, more than 16 million people in developing countries received access to electricity. The European Commission planned to contribute €123 billion to foreign aid between 2021 and 2027. This is a 30% increase of its original budget toward foreign aid.

The European Commission suggested allocating $18.2 billion USD to the European Union’s foreign spending on COVID-19 aid packages in May 2020. This decision pleasantly surprised many NGOs and other organizations. The pandemic has caused economic stress and many believed this would result in foreign aid budget cuts. However, this was not the case in the European Union. The European Union has committed €5 billion euros to humanitarian aid and €10.5 billion to support the development of impoverished countries. Furthermore, about €1 billion has contributed to the European Union’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Its most immediate goal is to support countries recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, many NGOs have praised the European Union’s foreign aid budget plan.

About 3.8 billion COVID-19 response packages went to Africa. This decision occurred because of the documentation of 10,000 cases of COVID-19 in a particular week in April 2020 and more than 500 deaths in Africa. Countries that were more vulnerable during this crisis received foreign aid first. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development provide financial resources to these foreign aid COVID-19 response packages. Furthermore, the packages address a country’s most immediate needs during the pandemic and aid in reconstructing economies.

The European Union pledged more than $18.4 billion to foreign aid in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. Additionally, the President of the European Union Commission stated in a press release that ‘the virus knows no borders. This global challenge needs strong international cooperation. The European Union is working tirelessly to fight the pandemic.”

The European Union’s foreign aid contributions are impressive and successful. Also, the European Union continues to act charitably to foreign countries even when its own economy is facing issues due to the pandemic. Furthermore, the European Union has taken leadership in responding to the global pandemic.