Poland

Total aid in 2011: €299m

About Poland's aid commitments:

Changes in 2011

In 2011, the quantity of polish ODA did not change and remained at its level of 0.085% of GNI. Unfortunately poverty eradication is not in the center of Polish ODA interest, which is shown in the governments first Multiannual Program and ongoing projects. However some main changes in 2011 were started by the endorsement of the Act on Development Cooperation by the Parliament, coming into force in January 2012. The Act has significant impact on the system of Polish ODA as it implies the establishment of the International Solidarity Fund “Knowing How”. The Foundation is a re-granting governmental body which mostly funds „pro- democracy” projects. In the first half of 2011, MFA held multistakeholder consultations on 1st Multiannual Program. However there will be no change in the list of the priority countries. Poland also organized European Development Days during its EU Presidency where it reaffirmed its focus on democracy which is more understood as sharing transition experiences than poverty eradication.

Aid Quantity

ODA levels showed a slight increase of € 15 million compared to 2010, which equals of 0,08 % of GNI as in 2010. Poland has no plans to reach its 2015 commitments, yet it keeps a level of 0.08% by slightly increasing ODA levels every year. The main components of inflated aid are students’ costs. Other doubtful components are export credits to China.

System

The main coordination body for Polish ODA is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Undersecretary of State has a specific portfolio focusing at Development Cooperation and Eastern Partnership Affairs. Within the MFA Development Cooperation Department, the minister is responsible for policy management of development cooperation. Poland does not have a separate agency for the implementation if the development cooperation projects. However a separate department within the MFA is responsible for implementing projects (Department for Implementing Cooperation Programs) . From January 2012 a new body was established called the International Solidarity Fund with the aim to support project focusing on supporting democracy.

Countries and sectors

The main focus is the promotion of democracy. The list of the priority countries does not reflect the Polish ODA focus and rather reflects the own interest of Poland. The two biggest recipient of Poland are China and Afghanistan. Large number of partner countries belongs to the EU Neighborhood and only one (Angola) is a least developed country from Sub Saharan Africa. The selected sectors of Polish ODA do not necessarily reflect the main objective of the EU development cooperation as stated in the Lisbon Treaty which is the eradication of poverty Challenges in 2012 and beyond

Ensure that Polish ODA will focus mainly on the eradication of poverty. This can be done by increasing ODA to least developed countries which can be specified by changing the list of the partner countries. Another challenge is the implementation of the Act on Development Cooperation and the Multiannual Program of Polish ODA.

Recommendations

 Significantly increase the total amount of ODA

 Increase the ODA for Sub Saharan Africa

 Challenge quality of aid by introducing system of impact assessment and independent evaluation

 Sign up to IATI and publish implementation plans by the end of2012

 Ensure the systematic involvement of different key actors of development cooperation mainly the partner government and CSOs in the preparations of the programmes for partner countries