Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It is widely used as an indicator of international aid flow. It refers to material resources given by the governments of richer countries to promote the economic development of poorer countries and the welfare of their people. The donor government agency may disburse such resources to the government of the recipient country or through other organizations. Most ODA is in the form of grants, but some is measured as the concessional value in soft (low-interest) loans.
Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developmental aid, development assistance, official development assistance, development policy, development cooperation and technical assistance. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by aiming at a sustained improvement in the conditions in a developing country, rather than short-term relief. Development aid is thus widely seen as a major way to meet Sustainable Development Goal 1 for the developing nations.
In international relations, aid is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.
An export credit agency or investment insurance agency is a private or quasi-governmental institution that acts as an intermediary between national governments and exporters to issue export insurance solutions, guarantees for financing. The financing can take the form of credits or credit insurance and guarantees or both, depending on the mandate the ECA has been given by its government. ECAs can also offer credit or cover on their own account. This does not differ from normal banking activities. Some agencies are government-sponsored, others private, and others a combination of the two.
Australian Aid is the brand name used to identify projects in developing countries supported by the Australian Government. As of 2014 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has been responsible for Australia's official development assistance to developing countries.
Japan emerged as one of the largest foreign aid donors in the world during the 1980s.
Tied aid is foreign aid that must be spent on products & services provided by companies that are from the country providing the aid or in a group of selected countries. A developed country will provide a bilateral loan or grant to a developing country, but mandate that the money be spent on goods or services produced in the selected country. From this it follows that untied aid has no geographical limitations.
The World Bank’s assistance program of foreign aid to Vietnam has three objectives: to support Vietnam's transition to a market economy, to enhance equitable and sustainable development, and to promote good governance. From 1993 through 2004, Vietnam received pledges of US$29 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA), of which about US$14 billion, or 49 percent, has been disbursed. In 2004 international donors pledged ODA of US$2.25 billion, of which US$1.65 billion was disbursed. Three donors accounted for 80 percent of disbursements in 2004: Japan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. During the period 2006–10, Vietnam hopes to receive US$14 billion–US$15 billion of ODA.
International aid has been provided to Palestinians since at least the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The Palestinians view the aid as keeping the Israeli–Palestinian peace process going, while the Israelis claim that it is used to fund terrorism and removes the imperative to Palestinians to negotiate a settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian National Authority (PA), within the West Bank and Gaza Strip, receives one of the highest levels of aid in the world. Aid has been provided to the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian non-governmental organizations (PNGOs) as well as Palestinian political factions by various foreign governments, international organisations, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and charities, besides other sources.
The Directorate-General for International Partnerships is the European Commission department responsible for international development policy. It operates under the authority of the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is a forum to discuss issues surrounding aid, development and poverty reduction in developing countries. It describes itself as being the "venue and voice" of the world's major donor countries.
The Netherlands Development Cooperation is an important branch of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is responsible for development and funding, particularly in the developing world in poverty stricken areas of Africa, and allocates €4 billion a year on tackling it.
The Official Development Assistance is an arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). The goal of the office is to help developing nations with supplies, civil engineering and other assistance. The ODA was started in 1954 after Japan signed the Colombo Plan, which pledges to provide aid to nations who need it. As of 2003, the ODA has provided over $221 billion USD to 185 nations and regions. The main institution that is managing Japanese ODA is Japan International Cooperation Agency.
AidData is a research and innovation lab located at the College of William & Mary that seeks to make development finance more transparent, accountable, and effective. The AidData website provides access to development finance activity records from most official aid donors. The AidData portal provides access to development finance activities from 1945 to the present from 95 donor agencies. In addition, the AidData program works on other projects that make it easier to access and analyze aid information, such as the World Bank Institute's Mapping for Results Initiative and the Development Loop application.
Chinese foreign aid may be considered in this article as both governmental (official) and private development aid and humanitarian aid originating from the People’s Republic of China.
Irish Aid is the Government of Ireland's official international development aid programme. Irish Aid is managed by the Development Co-Operation and Africa Division (DCAD) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) . The Irish Government allocated €870 million to official development assistance (ODA) in 2019, mainly focused on overseas aid to reduce poverty and hunger, and to improve education, healthcare and governance in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. The Irish Aid programme is an integral part of Ireland's foreign policy.
Foreign aid from the United Arab Emirates is provided in the form of assistance, grants and loans through both the government and nongovernmental organizations. These projects provided to other countries deal with healthcare, infrastructure, development, alleviating poverty, responding to natural disasters, refugees and internally displaced people.
The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) is a Saudi Arabian government agency that provides development assistance to developing countries by financing social and infrastructure projects with the aim of improving lives and communities, which leads to supporting the economies of recipient countries by enhancing growth and job opportunities. SFD was established in 1974 and began operations in 1975. SFD's activities include development, finance, trade and funding. SFD is led by H.E. Mr. Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-khateeb who is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia. Dr. Khalid S. Alkhudairy is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SFD.
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