WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Vice President Mike Pence announced a new policy at the In Defense of Christians annual summit in Washington, promising direct aid to persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
The Obama administration previously gave over a billion dollars in aid to the Middle East through the United Nations. However, little of that money made it to Christians and other vulnerable religious minority groups in that region. The Trump administration has now promised to bypass the United Nations and give the funds directly through the United States Agency for International Development to organizations on the ground to help victims of persecution and genocide.