Emerging as donor of foreign aid, Poland pledges $230 million by 2006 – UN

After a decade of receiving foreign aid, Poland 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 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said today.

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.

Poland’s role as an emerging donor country was spotlighted today in Warsaw as UNDP and the Government presented a joint campaign to promote the MDGs, a set of eight time-bound targets that seek to restructure the world’s social fabric, from slashing extreme poverty and hunger to curbing infant mortality and major diseases to improving access to education and health care for all – all by 2015.

The effort seeks to raise awareness of the country’s responsibility as a participant in global development cooperation, as Poland joins countries like Brazil and India, which also had been major recipients of development assistance in the past but are now emerging as donors of international aid.

A new public opinion poll shows that 63 per cent of Poles favour contributing aid to developing nations, UNDP said.

“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.

“This potential is yet to be resolved. National experts, entrepreneurs and non-governmental organizations have unique experiences which could be shared not only with the former Soviet states and Eastern European countries, but also with developing nations from other parts of the world.”