New strategy for Polish foreign assistance

The decision to initiate works on the new strategy for Polish foreign assistance has been made in relation to expanding the scope of Polish activities undertaken in the field of foreign assistance (traditionally limited to development assistance sensu stricto), so that it also includes activities promoting democracy in Eastern European countries.
Some new international circumstances have also come to existence, namely closer co-operation between the EU and the OECD in the field of development assistance programming and combining efforts to increase its efficiency. These new circumstances make us change the existing approach to the development assistance activities.
The new strategy applies to the years 2007-2013. The most crucial elements of this strategy are the following:
* aims of Poland’s development assistance * instruments to achieve these aims * financing of Poland’s foreign assistance * forms of assistance and its priorities * decisions about co-operation with other donor countries * decisions about education and promotion of international development issues in Poland.
The Act on Polish Development Assistance
Works on the draft of the Act on Polish Development Assistance
Polish collaboration in the international development co-operation and effective implementation of the programme of foreign assistance are new fields of foreign policy which have not been yet covered by exhaustive legislation. In the MFA the works on the draft of the act have already commenced. It will define Poland’s foreign assistance as activities pertaining to the realm of foreign policy that will include:
* enhancing and promoting of democracy and civil society building * Polish development assistance
The works on and the approval of the act are indispensable due to the following reasons:
* the need to assure properly co-ordinated development assistance (in compliance with the requirements of the EU) * the need to create effective and efficient financial mechanism * creating clear institutional and legal frame * the necessity to implement and apply solutions successfully tested in other developed countries. This will guarantee the continuity of the Polish development policy and effective achievement of the set goals.
Information taken from: http://www.polskapomoc.gov.pl/New,strategy,for,Polish,foreign,assistance,252.html