Contents Overview of Australia's aid program Bilateral aid Multilateral aid Aid: A great teaching resource Documents and Materials Overview of Australia's aid program AusAID, the Australian Agency for International Development manages the Australian Government's overseas aid program which promotes ecologically sustainable development in the world's 130 developing countries. The aid program exists because Australians are concerned about the welfare of people in developing countries and want to build positive cultural and economic relationships and promote political stability in the region. Through the aid program, Australians help build a better world in partnership with the people of developing countries. Developing countries are generally the world's poorer countries which are in the process of developing their human and physical resources in order to improve the standard of living of their people. Developed countries are the world's richer countries and are in a position to offer assistance to developing countries. Substantial aid is provided to African countries, but most of Australia's overseas aid assists countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The region has the most people living in poverty and includes the developing countries closest to Australia. All aid projects are designed to promote development in ways that are ecologically sustainable and which take into account the special needs of women and children. Australian overseas aid is distributed in a number of forms, the two main forms being bilateral aid and multilateral aid. Go to top Bilateral aid Bilateral aid is given in a partnership between governments of two countries, in this case, Australia and a developing country. Australia provides assistance following assessment of the specific needs of each country and in full cooperation with the governments and communities involved. Bilateral aid is distributed as: project aid for specific projects such as eradicating disease, improving water supplies or enabling reforestation education and training programs, often a part of project aid, but which also involve students receiving education in Australia to develop skills which their countries need technological aid, in the form of equipment and expert knowledge provided for agriculture, industry and other activities, with an emphasis on the technology and advice being appropriate to local environments and people food aid, such as emergency food aid given during crises, or development food aid, often provided to the governments of developing countries who can sell the food to fund development projects or use it as payment for project workers emergency relief, such as food, medicines, shelter materials and clothing made available to people affected by natural or human disasters, or war, and often distributed by non-government aid organisations community based projects, such as those involving construction of local wells and schools, as well as community health care assistance, often coordinated by non- government aid organisations Go to top Multilateral aid Multilateral aid is given by the governments of many countries and is commonly distributed through international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Multilateral aid is used to fund: emergency relief projects, such as those assisting large numbers of refugees transboundary projects, such as those involving research into global warming and diseases large-scale development projects , such as the building of roads and railways Go to top Aid: A great teaching resource The nature and scope of the Australian aid program provides rich and diverse contexts for teaching and learning in Australian schools - in the Arts, English, Health and Physical Education, Mathematics, Science, Studies of Society and Environment and Technology. The emphasis on building positive relationships with Asia also concur with the educational rationale of Studies of Asia: A Statement for Australian Schools prepared by the Asia Education Foundation in 1995. The Australian aid program provides teachers and students with opportunities to investigate pertinent local, regional and global issues and to encourage positive attitudes and behaviours which will benefit the global community well into the future. Go to top Documents and Materials Aid Budget Summary 2000-01 Basic Facts and Figures about Australia's Aid program AusAID Corporate Plan 2001-2003 Global Partners Annual Report 1999-2000 Frequently Asked Questions Brief History of AusAID Related documents     ARCHIVE CONTENT AusAID materials have been preserved for archival purposes only. For up to date information, visit the revised AusAID Global Education Website at www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au © Commonwealth of Australia