8/10/2004
Poland Emerges As A Donor Of Foreign Aid

Poland, one of the European Union's new member states and until recently a recipient of aid, has pledged to devote some $230 million to development assistance by 2006, with most of it going to help poor African and Asian countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The amount is equal to 0.1 per cent of Poland's gross domestic product (GDP) and would be an increase from the $27 million contributed last year.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said this week that a public opinion poll showed 63 per cent of Poles in favour of contributing aid to developing nations. The country joins Brazil and India, which also have been major recipients of development assistance in the past but are now emerging as international donors.

"Based on experiences from transformation, new European Union members have particular tasks and capabilities in development cooperation," said Ben Slay, Director of UNDP's Regional Office in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Poland's role as an emerging donor country was spotlighted this week in Warsaw as UNDP and the Polish Government presented a joint campaign to promote the MDGs. These are a set of eight time-bound targets, agreed by world leaders at a summit in 2000, that seek to restructure the world's social fabric. They include cutting extreme poverty and hunger, curbing infant mortality and major diseases and improving access to education and health care for all – all by 2015.