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Polish aid

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Polish Aid 2012 in numbers

In 2012, Poland contributed PLN 1.42 billion to Official Development Assistance (ODA), including PLN 1.06 billion spent in the frame of multilateral cooperation. PLN 362.78 million was allocated to bilateral assistance. Development assistance expenditures accounted for 0.09% of Poland’s gross national income (GNI).

The largest share of Polish development assistance channeled through multilateral institutions and organizations was paid to the European Union funds that finance external development assistance. In 2012, Polish share in those activities accounted for PLN 1.007 billion. It consisted of a part of a contribution to the EU budget, which was allocated to that aim (PLN 861 mln[1]) and payment (PLN 146 mln[2]) to the European Development Fund (EDF) which is the main EU policy instrument different from the EU budget key for financing cooperation with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP)and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

Poland transferred PLN 33 million to entities operating in the United Nations System.

Development assistance provided directly by Poland (bilateral assistance) in 2012 went mainly to the Eastern Partnership countries, Central Asia, Afghanistan, East Africa and Palestinian Autonomy.

Since 2012, development cooperation has been conducted on the basis of the 2012-2015 Multiannual Development Cooperation Programme. According to the Programme, Polish development cooperation is implemented in the frame of geographical and thematic support areas.

Geographical areas has been divided into two groups. The first group includes six Eastern Partnership Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In this case, the aim of Polish assistance is to support democratic transformation and human rights.

The second group includes particular countries from Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, Middle East and Asia. There are eight East African countries (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda), two North African countries (Libya and Tunisia) as well as the Palestinian Autonomy, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These countries are characterized by high poverty level.

According to  the 2012-2015 Programme, Polish development assistance has concentrated on two areas of support, that is democratic transformation and human rights.

Above mentioned tasks stem from changes in Polish development assistance policy. On 1 January 2012, the newly passed Act on development cooperation entered into force. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was given a role of cooperation coordinator. By virtue of the Act, the Development Cooperation Policy Council has been appointed at the Ministry. Council is an advisory and consultative body. Furthermore, notions such as development cooperation, development assistance, humanitarian aid and global education were introduced for the first time into the Polish legal order. More information can be found on our website.

In 2012, the main recipients of the Polish bilateral assistance were: Belarus (PLN 51.74 mln), Ukraine (PLN 40.16 mln), Afghanistan (PLN 29.3 mln), Georgia (PLN 8.38 mln), Moldova (PLN 6.27 mln).

In 2012, Poland’s financial contribution to humanitarian relief and food aid under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) amounted PLN 13.96 mln.

More 30% of the Polish contribution to ODA were spent to help Syrian refugees. Since the beginning of conflict in March 2011, 600 thousand Syrians sought refuge in neighboring countries (Jordan, Libya and Turkey). Two million internal refugees (people who were forced to leave their homes within their own country), should be added to that number. Poland helped Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon through domestic non-governmental organizations: Caritas Poland and Polish Center for International Aid. The sum of Polish humanitarian assistance to Syria amounted PLN 4.29 mln.

An important project concerning access to clean water necessary not only for drinking but as well for industrial and farming purposes  is being implemented in the Palestinian Autonomy, on the West Bank. In year 2012 water tanks in Southern Hebron District was reconstructed.

The sum of PLN 1.39 mln was allocated to support food aid programme for Mali under World Food Programme.

The areas in Pakistan stricken by 2010 - 2012 floods were also supported. Construction and equipment for three temporary educational centers were financed in the Sidh province. The aid amounted PLN 499,99 thousand.

Education is an important aspect of Polish development assistance. In 2012, PLN 73.05 mln was spent on education, including scholarships. For instance, one of the problems in East Africa  is  lack of access to primary and vocational education Polish non-governmental organizations implemented projects aiming to even educational chances, activating teachers and using modern methods of conveying knowledge in the teaching process.

Similarly, an important task is to raise awareness of the Polish society about the processes and challenges in today’s world. Projects in this field are implemented in Poland. W 2012, PLN 2.4 mln was allocated to implementation of the projects regarding global education.

From July 2011 until July 2012, Poland and Germany co-chaired the Good Humanitarian Donorship group (Principles and Good Practice of Good Humanitarian Donorship). The aim of this group was to enhance co-ordination and improve the quality of humanitarian assistance. Its priorities included promoting greater involvement of donor states in disaster risk reduction, among others through creating local safety systems.

More information about Polish development assistance can be found in the booklet “Poland’s development assistance. Annual report 2012” available in PDF format.

 

[1] Poland pays one contribution to the EU budget, without separating individual programmes, funds or instruments. Polish share in the EU official development assistance is calculated in a following way: if one knows the size of the EU budget and the size of Poland’s contribution, one can calculate what percentage of the budget is constituted by Polish contribution. Assuming that Polish share in the UE official development assistance is the same as in the total EU budget, it can be calculated on the basis of data related to the EU budget’s execution. Final data regarding the execution of the budget is updated as successive European Commission’s reports arrive, therefore it may be significantly changed. The final data concerning the execution of the EU budget in 2012 indicates that Polish share in EU expenditures on official development assistance amounted PLN 780 mln.

[2] The amount of the Member States’ payments to the European Development Fund is determined every time by the European Commission on the basis of estimation of financial needs related to activities to be implemented in a given Fund’s edition. Unspent funds from a given edition are not returned to the payers, but accounted for the next Fund’s edition.

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