Download the latest results of the opinion poll 2009

2009

The study on Poles' opinions on development assistance, conducted by TNS OBOP in November 2009, for the sixth time in a row, shows that the vast majority (83%) of Poles agree that Poland should offer development assistance. The support for the idea of helping poorer countries has been considerably growing within the last 5 years, from 63% in 2004.

The key reason, mentioned by over half (56%) of the respondents who want Poland to support less developed countries, was moral duty to help poorer countries. An only slightly smaller proportion pointed to the fact that richer countries helped us, so now we should help others (45%).

Poles consider 91 countries on average to be poorer and less developed than Poland. Only every fourth respondent believes that the number of countries poorer than Poland exceeds 100, i.e. is relatively close to the truth (the actual number of such countries is ca. 150). The respondents who underestimate this number consider Poland a poor country, and they cannot estimate its position accurately.

In the respondents' opinion, Poland should provide assistance primarily to African countries. This opinion was shared by 49% of those surveyed. They were followed by our Eastern neighbours, i.e.  Ukraine and Belarus (39%). The respondents far less often talked about Asian countries (15%), other former Soviet republics in Caucasus and Asia (14%) as well as South-Western European countries (11%).

Those who are against Poland's involvement in providing development assistance to other countries believe, above all, that Poland is too poor to help others (52%). According to 43% of such individuals, we should first solve our own problems.


Results of the opinion poll commissioned by the Development Co-operation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conducted by TNS OBOP in November 2009

2008


Should Poland provide development assistance?

The vast majority of Poles (84%) believe that Poland should support the development of less developed countries. 24% respondents strongly support this view. 12% respondents express
a contrary opinion. 
The belief that less developed countries should be supported by Poland prevails in all socio-demographic groups. It is worth noting that the better education and financial situation of
the respondents, the stronger the belief in the necessity of development assistance. That
belief is also more common among the teenagers (98%), managers and specialists (99%). 
Since the first survey (in 2004) the number of people supporting Poland's assistance to less developed countries has grown systematically. Meanwhile, the share of citizens who are against provision of such assistance has been shrinking: from 35% to 12% (i.e. 23 percentage points).

Those who supported the idea of Poland's providing assistance to less developed countries were asked about reasons why such assistance should be offered. The most common answers include: moral obligation to help the less privileged (58%) and the need to return the assistance Poland received in the past (47%). One in five respondents (19%) thinks that foreign aid provision could bring benefits by raising Poland's prestige abroad. Also every fifth respondent points to Poland's obligations resulting from international commitments.

Those who declare a negative attitude towards Poland's involvement in foreign aid stress, above all, that Poland cannot afford to provide assistance (62%), and that it should deal with its own domestic problems first (48%).

Results of the opinion poll commissioned by the Development Co-operation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conducted by TNS OBOP in December 2008

2007

Results of the opinion poll commissioned by the Development Co-operation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conducted by TNS OBOP in November 2007 

2006

According to 75% of Poles, Poland should support the development of poorer countries.
This opinion is common across all socio-demographic groups.
Support for Polish development assistance activities has risen by 12 percentage points over
the last two years. Gradually, there are fewer and fewer people who declare a negative attitude
towards involvement of Poland in development assistance activities.Moral obligation to support poorer countries, together with the need to give back assistance received by Poland in the past, were the most commonly mentioned reasons explaining why Poland should be involved in development co-operation activities.
Among people who are reluctant to involvement of Poland in supporting less developed countries, the dominating idea is that our priority should be solving our own problems, and that Poland is not rich enough to be able to offer assistance to other countries. Nonetheless, the argument saying that Poland is not wealthy enough gradually looses importance according to public opinion.
When asked about the number of countries that are poorer and less developed than Poland, respondents pointed out 76 out of 200 countries in the world (while Poland is among the top forty countries according to the Human Development Index, and is among the first fifty countries in terms of national income per capita).
22% of Poles declare that they have heard about the Millennium Development Goals.
In the opinion of Poles, the biggest challenges on the path to the development of less developed countries are infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS), military conflicts and other internal conflicts as well as access to potable water.
Two areas that are most often pointed out as those where Polish contribution can be greatest are education and health care.
Among preferable ways of providing development assistance to poorer countries respondents have chosen giving foreign students from those countries an opportunity to study in Poland, sending volunteers, investments of Polish companies in these countries, and also further opening up of our market to goods coming from developing countries.
In the opinion of Poles, Poland should focus its development assistance activities on African countries as a priority region, followed by our Eastern neighbours, namely Belarus and Ukraine.
The majority of Poles state that development assistance should be mainly provided by international organisations and NGOs specializing in these activities.
Poles refer to youth exchange programmes, support for independent television and radio stations broadcasting from abroad, as the best means to promote democracy in countries with non-democratic governments. Another very useful means to achieve that goal, according to the respondents, is raising the issues of promoting democracy at the international organisations forums. 
Tree-fourths of Poles would agree that the Polish government devote some part of their taxes for development assistance to poorer countries. 55% of Polish citizens approve of the government assigning monthly PLN 3 or more out of their tax payments to development assistance provided to poorer and less developed countries. 

2005

In December 2005, the UNDP commissioned TNS OBOP to hold a public opinion poll entitled
"The Opinions of Polish People on Development Assistance". The majority of the respondents
expressed the opinion that Poland should support the development of less developed countries
(12% stated that it definitely should, 57% that it rather should). This idea was opposed by
merely 25% of the respondents.

2004

In 2004, a public opinion poll was held with regard to the perception of the issue of foreign assistance by the Polish society. As many as 63 % of the respondents said that we should provide development assistance to third countries. Every fourth respondent expressed the opinion that we should support our eastern neighbours: the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia in such areas as the improvement of the condition of the health care system and education as well as the prevention of conflicts and reconstruction after conflicts.

Individuals interested in obtaining raw and/or semi-raw data (i.e. full report of TNS OBOP and/or database with responses) - for research, academic or teaching purposes - are requested to contact Development Co-operation Department of the MFA at polskapomoc@msz.gov.pl