# **III. STRENGTHENING INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY: NEW SOURCES, MORE PRODUCTIVE USES**

3.1 **This section discusses innovative efforts to strengthen international solidarity** **_inter alia_ by increasing the scale and effectiveness of ODA.** An overarching priority for the development community is to augment aggregate official flows by expanding solidarity mechanisms and simultaneously improving their effectiveness.

## **<u>A. New Sources of Solidarity</u>**

_Support from Emerging Donors for Country-Based Aid_ 3.2 **Since the publication of the 2002 Zedillo report, the only substantial alternative** **<u>source of concessional finance</u> was aid from emerging** **_non-DAC sovereign donors_ . Estimates indicated that annual ODA commitments from these donors reached US$3 billion by 2006.** While data on emerging sovereign donors are not collected systematically by DAC, their role is becoming increasingly visible. Chinese ODA in particular has grown rapidly in recent years. Estimates for the current level of Chinese ODA vary from US$1.1 to $2.5 billion annually.

3.3 **The World Bank Group has helped broaden the base of support for country-based solidarity efforts. Cash and promissory note contributions from non-DAC sovereign donors through the Bank Group, to IDA and trust funds, totaled US$2.1 billion over the 2001–8 period** (Table 3.1) **.** The number of non-DAC donors has steadily grown since IDA12. Even though non-DAC donors have participated in a number of IDA replenishments, the support of several first-time non-DAC donors during the most recent IDA15 replenishment is particular noteworthy. These included China, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Latvia, Singapore, and Slovenia. Contributions in cash and notes to IDA from all non-DAC donors totaled US$1.32 billion over the fiscal 2001–8 period. Non-DAC donors have also contributed a total of US$780 million over the 2001–8 period to Bank-administered trust funds to lower and middle income countries.<sup>19</sup>

**<u>Table 3.1: Emerging Sovereign Donor Contributions through World Bank Group, FY2001–8</u>**

|**_(US$ million)_**|**2001**|**2002**|**2003**|**2004**|**2005**|**2006**|**2007**|**2008**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**_Non-DAC Sovereign Donors_**|**186**|<br>**136**|**205**|**189**|**166**|**253**|**679**|<br>**283**|**2,097**|
|IDA|159|<br>104|119|124|113|189|377|<br>131|1,316|
|Trust Fund|27|31|86|65|53|64|302|<br>152|<br>780|

## _National Lotteries_

3.4 **In addition to bringing in new donors, international solidarity efforts have also benefitted by tapping** **_national lotteries_ . To date, Belgium and the United Kingdom have financed aid programs through their national lottery funds.** Since 1987, Belgium has mobilized nearly €330 million in ODA from its national lottery fund for the Belgian Survival Fund (BSF). BSF funds long-term projects carried out by Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC), NGOs, and international organizations to improve food security in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, for every £1 that the public spends on Lottery

> 19 This figure includes contributions to Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs), which _inter alia_ support pass through arrangements for global funds. The World Bank often does not play an operational role in these funds.

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