Combating poverty, ensuring peace and preserving the environment: These are the three major goals of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). FMEIA plans the strategy, ADA implements the projects.

The Austrian Development Agency was founded in 2004 as the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation. The Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs is responsible for the strategic planning and alignment of Austrian Development Cooperation. In dialogue with partner countries and the Austrian Development Agency, it designs programmes and projects to provide long-term help towards self-help and improve the standard of living in developing countries with the focus on poverty reduction, natural resource conservation and promoting peace and human security in partner countries.

Austria’s development-policy positions are set out in the Three-Year Programme, which is co-prepared by other federal ministries and civil society organisations with specialist expertise. The programme is based on international commitments and the Austrian Federal Development Cooperation Act.

FINANCING

All funding from the Federal Government, the federal states and municipalities approved by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) counts as official development assistance (ODA). This includes the ADA budget, which comprises the ongoing projects that Austria implements jointly with local partners (bilateral development cooperation). Some projects and programmes are directly funded by MFA via international organisations (multilateral development cooperation).