International Donor Internet Guide
(updated December 2003)

Multilateral Development Banks || Bilateral Donors || European Commission
OECD/DAC || Group of 8 || United Nations

Most international donors have established presence on the Internet through web sites where they provide a wide range of information on their policies and activities. This Internet Guide aims to assist the user in finding these sites. The Guide provides a comprehensive, annotated list of URLs that will give the user an idea of what each site offers before delving into a particular site. The Guide will be periodically updated to reflect any changes in URLs.

MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS

African Development Bank (AfDB)
Homepage of the African Development Bank. The site is not always up to date.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Homepage of ADB Online
ADB Online is the ADB's official home page. The site is user-friendly, comprehensive, and consistently updated. ADB's coverage includes East & Central Asia, MeKong, the Pacific, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Homepage of the EBRD. The site mostly focuses on projects and operations.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) or (IADB)

• Homepage of the IDB
  Available in English, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese.
• RES - IDB Research Department
  Previously the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE). Useful page with full text of working papers and publications.
• The Sustainable Development Department provides technical advisory support to Bank project teams and quality review of projects. The Department is structured along five main themes: Human Resources and Social Development; Environment and Natural Resources; and Infrastructure, Financial Markets and Private Enterprise; State and Civil Society; and Information Technology for Development.

The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD and The International Development Association, IDA)

• Homepage of the World Bank group
• World Bank Research Page 
  This site offers easy access to a wide range of Bank research, data and analysis. Here you will find links to the Bank's major publications like the World Development Report.  The site also allows you to search by topic, project or key outputs.
• Documents and Reports
  Search for World Bank documents and reports by country, sector, or document type. Includes both project information, evaluations, country economic and sector work, and country strategies.
• Projects, Policies, and Strategies
  A more targeted location for World Bank project, policy, and strategic information.
• Data and Statistics
  This site allows you to search for statistical data by country, topic or both. The site has links to the WDI and other standard indications. It also provides a link to visual presentations of data through maps.
• Official site of the Joint Bank-Fund Library Network (JOLIS)
  Useful online library catalogue.
• Debt Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
  Central Bank site for background, key documents, and progress on HIPC.
• Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)
  Site for updates, key documents, and public discussion of the PRSP process. Available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Russian.

BILATERALS

AUSTRALIA

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) is an independent agency within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is a very useful and comprehensive web site.

AUSTRIA

Homepage for the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs Austria. The site is easy to use and fairly comprehensive.

BELGIUM

The Directorate-General for Development Cooperation, DGDC (formerly known as the Directorate-General for International Cooperation, DGIC) is a part of the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Development Cooperation.

CANADA

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is the lead player in delivering Canada's official development assistance program. This is an excellent web site with useful information on CIDA's activities and links to other donors.

DENMARK

DANIDA is Denmark's development assistance agency. It is closely associated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most of its publications on the web site are in Danish. Also useful is a related site on Aid Management Guidelines, which provides many documents on Danish aid policies. The html is: http://www.um.dk/danida/amg/.

FINLAND

The Department for International Development Cooperation is a part of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and is responsible for implementing Finland's development policies.

FRANCE

• French Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site. The English version of the site is very brief.
• The International Cooperation web site. This web site is currently only available in French.
• Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) implements French aid. (Available in English).

GERMANY

• BMZ is Germany's main development aid agency. Most of the web site is in German. The English translated website is not usually up to date.
• GTZ implements technical cooperation activities of the government. It is present in 142 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America and in the transition countries of Central Europe. The policy information provided in English is scant.
• KFW is Germany's promotional bank for the domestic economy and the official development bank for countries in transition and developing countries. The bank is owned by the German federation and the federal states (Länder). Information in both English and German.

ICELAND

The Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) is within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Not much information on the web site due to the limited scope of the agency. ICEIDA's major projects are all related to fisheries. Presently ICEIDA is working in cooperation with four countries in Africa, Cabo Verde, Malawi, Namibia and Mozambique.

IRELAND

Development Cooperation Ireland is the Irish government's official Development Cooperation program, which is administered by the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

ITALY

Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs site provides information about the country's development and economic cooperation strategies. Some of the pages are only available in Italian.

JAPAN

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). Umbrella agency for the Government of Japan's development institutions.
• Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) was created on October 1, 1999, by merging JEXIM and OECF.
• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is responsible for the technical cooperation aspect of Japan's ODA programs. Excellent web site as well.

NETHERLANDS

Development Assistance is through the Ministry of Foriegn Affairs.

NORWAY

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) is under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD).

SPAIN

The Government of Spain's Agency for International Cooperation program is housed in its Ministry of Foreign Affairs (both sites in Spanish).

SWEDEN

Homepage for Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).  The press releases are not always up to date and the web site uses a database format to organize information.  As a supplement, check out the Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site where there is a link to a database on Sweden's work in Central and Eastern Europe.

SWITZERLAND

The Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) is responsible for three areas of activity of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs: development cooperation,
humanitarian aid, and technical co-operation with Eastern Europe.  It is easiest to access SDC through the Foreign Affairs web site so that you can select from various languages.  The site is useful and kept fairly up-to-date.

UNITED KINGDOM

The Department for International Development (DFID) is responsible for the UK government's bilateral and multilateral development programs. Somewhat difficult to navigate.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The Commission is the executive body of the European Union. One of its responsibilities is aid and development programs in third-world countries.

• Home page of the European Union Comprehensive web site and available in several languages.
• Web site of the EU delegation in the U.S. (Washington D.C.). Provides information on how to contact the delegation and links to the Europa web site. Excellent for current news and press releases.
• RAPID is a database giving a daily view of the activities of the European Union as presented by the Institutions in their press releases. Excellent for cudient news and press releases.  

Directorates-General of the Commission:

• Home pages of the Directorates-General and Services of the Commission. This site contains links under four categories: General Services, Policies, External Relations and Internal Services.
• Development  Find information about EU development policy, countries, regions and operational sectors and activities. In addition, the site has links to publications including weekly and archived news.
• External Relations  News, speeches, events, along with a search engine and other links, can be found on this web site. The External Relations Directorate General coordinates the external relations activities of the Commission, making sure it has a clear identity and coherent approach. This DG coordinates with the EU’s General Affairs Council and the Common Foreign and Security Policy representative.
• Enlargement The Enlargement site gives background information on the enlargement process and lists the countries, strategies, key documents and speeches that relate to accession of new members to the EU.

EuropeAid - Co-operation Office EuropeAid implements the external aid instruments of the European Commission. From identification and appraisal to implementation and evaluation, the Office is responsible for all phases of the project cycle. EuropeAid's structure is made up of eight Directorates. Five manage programs in specific regions and one manages an issue-based program. These six line Directorates are backed by an Operational Support Directorate and a General Affairs Directorate.

• The Phare Programme is the European Union's assistance effort for central and eastern Europe.
• Humanitarian Aid Office - ECHO ECHO’s operations are designed to meet immediate humanitarian needs. It implements EU decisions regarding humanitarian assistance to victims of natural disasters or armed conflict in non-member countries. Specialized and non-governmental organizations usually cadiy out these operations.
• Trade The Trade Directorate-General, under the direction of Commissioner Pascal Lamy, conducts the EU’s commercial policy with the goal of promoting the economic and political interests of the European Community.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
/ Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC)

• OECD home page. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization made up of 29 democratic nations with advanced market economies. The scope of work carried out by the OECD is broad, covering such diverse areas as general economic policy, energy, environment, education, social affairs, science and technology, agriculture, trade, development, and public management.
• OECD/DAC home page. The OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is a forum in which bilateral donors discuss and cooperate on emerging international development issues.
• DAC statistics on official development statistics (ODA). DAC is the authoritative source for ODA figures.

GROUP of 8 (G-8)

The Group of Eight (G8) is composed of the leading industrialised democracies which discuss economic and political issues in annual informal consultations.  The G8 was built on the 'Library Group' of Finance Ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the US (named after their meetings in the White House library), which operated during the early 1970s. This original 'Group of Five' were joined by Italy, Canada and the President of the European Commission in 1976-77. This configuration became known as the Group of Seven (G7).  The Group was renamed the G8 with Russia's inclusion in the 1997 Denver Summit. The 1998 Birmingham Summit was the first full G8 Summit.

University of Toronto web site Comprehensive source for G-7 and G-8 official documents, news and issues.

1998 Birmingham Summit. Useful section on G8 background.

GROUP of 15 (G-15)

The G-15 promotes South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue. Based on the common goal of enhanced growth and prosperity, the G-15 was established during the Ninth-Non-Aligned Summit in Belgrade in September 1989 and includes an important cross-section of countries from Latin America, Africa and Asia. The G-15 member countries are: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. At the VIII Summit, the Group agreed to admit Sri Lanka as a new member.

UNITED NATIONS

• Official Web Site Locator for the United Nations System of Organization. Helps find web sites for the UN, UNESCO, ECLAC, ESCAP, ECA, FAO, UNDP, UNIFEM, UNICEf, etc.
• ReliefWeb. A project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, this site contains a wide variety of news stories, field reports, and general information. Of particular interest is the financial tracking database for complex emergencies.
• International Labour Organization (ILO). An indispensable web site for employment, poverty, and worker issues.

For information regarding this guide, please contact:

  Updated May 10, 2004