January 1 2010 saw the fusion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Office of the Committee for European Integration (OCEI).The Development Co-operation Department is responsible for planning development cooperation activity, including the definition of geographic and thematic priorities and allocation of funds.  The practical implementation of the projects (including calls for proposals) and their monitoring is the responsibility of the new Department of Implementation of Development Programmes, which also handles other tasks previously assigned to the OCEI.

Since January 1 2010, the two departments constitute the MFA Development Cooperation Branch. 

Priority aid areas in 2011:
• Good Governance
• Migration And Border Management
• Development Of Rural Areas And Agriculture
• Small And Medium Enterprises

Priority Countries:
• Afghanistan
• Belarus
• Ukraine
• Moldova
• Georgia
• the Palestinian Authority
• Angola

POLISH AID IN 2009 AND 2010:

Multilateral Assistance: 75%
Bilateral Assistance: 25%

Polish Assistance in Figures:
• The value of Polish aid provided to developing countries has doubled, and in 2009 it amounted to over PLN 1 billion (PLN 1164.92 million/USD 374.67 million), which represents 0.09% of GNI.
• In 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded 319 aid projects for partner countries, the vast majority (219) of which were the initiatives implemented for the priority countries. 

1. Multilateral assistance:
Amounted to PLN 285.55 million (USD 91.84 million).
Contributions to the European Union development budget is the main channel of multilateral assistance flow.
Other important channels of Poland's multilateral assistance are the United Nations System institutions and the World Bank Group. We also support the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

2. Bilateral assistance:
Bilateral assistance is addressed mainly to priority countries. Currently, the countries receiving Polish priority aid:

a. BELARUS
Projects carried out in 2010 covered areas of media initiatives, the promotion of democracy, good governance and stability (especially in the economy), civil society building and support for welfare programmes. 2010 saw the implementation of 17 development projects Belarus costing over PLN 22.5m was allocated to aid programmes in Belarus.

b. UKRAINE
Projects carried out in 2010 foreign consisted of institutional development and promotion of good governance, local government cooperation, European and Euro-Atlantic integration (including reforms of the judiciary system, customs and border services, as well as rural development) and energy efficiency. In 2010, 44 aid projects were implemented in Ukraine and the cost of activities implemented was ca. PLN 11.9m

c. MOLDOVA
Projects implemented in 2010 consisted of supporting and promoting good governance, agricultural and rural development, counteracting human trafficking and implementing European standards.
In 2010, 13 aid projects were implemented in Moldova. Total appropriations for activities implemented in Moldova in 2010 amounted to ca. PLN 2m.

d. GEORGIA
In 2010, 18 projects were implemented in Georgia, with appropriations of over PLN 7.5m.  More than half of the projects - valued at over PLN 4m - were implemented by NGOs, while the remaining projects (valued at around PLN 2.5m) were implemented by local government, public administration and research-and-development entities. Through the small grants programme, over PLN 1m in co-financing was provided to 8 projects initiated by the Polish Embassy in Tbilisi. 

e. AFGHANISTAN
In 2009 the volume of bilateral assistance to Afghanistan shall increase up to EUR 8 million (PLN 40 mln). Until 10 October 2009, 37 project proposals of the Polish team within PRT Ghazni amounting to 6,4 mln USD were accepted.

f. PALESTINIAN AUTONOMY
In 2010, over PLN 1.34m was channelled into the co-financing of aid projects for the Palestinian Autonomy.

g. ANGOLA
In 2010, Poland implemented 4 aid projects in Angola, transferring over PLN 700 000 from the MFA's target reserve fund.
In 2011, aid activities will focus on the following areas of agriculture and environmental protection, education and health protection.

h. Remaining countries:
Other beneficiaries of the Polish bilateral aid include selected countries in Southeastern Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Serbia), the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).  A significant part of Polish development co-operation funds is also directed towards projects in countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. 

3. The Small Grants Fund:
In the framework of the Small Grants Fund, Polish diplomatic mission pursue small-scale initiatives (e.g. renovating school roofs, purchasing computers for cultural centres culture and building wells) which bring positive effects for the everyday lives of local communities. Such projects are financed in countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

4. Technical assistance:
The key segments of the Polish technical cooperation include:

a. Government scholarship programs - In 2009, 4,337 students and 417 graduate students and trainees were provided with free education in Poland. The costs amounted to over PLN 33 million.

b. Trainings - The "Nieśwież Academy" International Postgraduate Summer School, established in 1995, trains college graduates from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, who professionaly deal with the protection and preservation of historical monuments.

c. Volunteering - Polish Aid Volunteering Programme allows the direct involvement of citizens in assistance targeted to people in developing countries. In 2009, in the second edition of the programme, 25 volunteers implemented projects in six Latin American countries (Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru), in six countries in Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, Tanzania and Zambia) and Asia (Bangladesh and Tajikistan) and in Georgia.

d. Expert support 

5. Food aid:
Polish contributions to the WFP amounted to about USD 691000 in 2010.

6. Humanitarian Aid:
Polish humanitarian aid will be provide mainly in the form of contributions to international institutions and humanitarian funds and in the form of co-financing actions of the humanitarian NGOs, above all in Sudan, Chad and Iraq.

Total Humanitarian Aid provide by Polish Aid in 2009 was PLN5.56 million.

7. Financial Aid:
In 2009, Polish financial aid amounted to PLN 149m.
Concessional Credits: China - PLN 107m (USD 34.44m) on the basis of an inter-governmental agreement from 2000, Angola - PLN 21.21m (USD 6.82m) on the basis of an agreement from 2006, Montenegro - over PLN 2m (EUR 466.000) on the basis of an agreement from 2006, Vietnam - PLN 1.63m (EUR 376.000) on the basis of an agreement from 2008.