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List of 50+ Bilateral Organizations to work for

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by Henrik Rydén
CPO and Co-founder of Impactpool

A bilateral organization/agency is a government agency providing development assistance such as medical, disaster relief, economic aid, and military support solely for people in developing countries throughout the world. The main objectives are to alleviate poverty and improve the welfare of the citizens in the recipient country.

When Multilateral organizations (such as the United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group etc) are formed by three or more nations to work on issues of common interest.

Bilateral collaboration is formed by two parties that have agreed on a long-term collaboration to mutually work on issues of common interest.

The largest and most well-known bilateral organizations/agencies include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) (formerly known as DFID), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and China International Development Cooperation Agency.

The assistance provided by bilateral organizations is referred to as bilateral aid or Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The follow-up content on this topic by Impactpool Career Coach Ronda Ansted will discuss in-depth the budget and reach of bilaterals, and how the recruitment processes and hierarchy work differently to the UN and INGOs.

One criticism against the motives of bilateral aid is the "flagging", which refers to donors adding an EU/American/Chinese flag on every food package they deliver. A subtle strategy to create a debt of gratitude for the recipients.

There are many bilateral organizations, however the most commonly heard ones are: 

List of 50+ bilateral organizations

  1. International Development Research Centre - IDRC
  2. China International Development Cooperation Agency- CIDCA
  3. Danish International Development Agency - DANIDA
  4. European Aid Development and Cooperation
  5. French Development Agency
  6. Deutsche Gessellschraft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
  7. Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  8. Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation - NORAD
  9. Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development 
  10. Italian Agency for Development Cooperation - AICS
  11. International Cooperation and Development Fund
  12. Saudi Fund for Development - SFD
  13. Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation - AECID
  14. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency - SIDA
  15. United Kingdom Department for International Development -DFID
  16. United States Agency for International Development - USAID
  17. African Development Foundation - ADF
  18. Argentina White Helmets Commission (Comisión Cascos Blancos)
  19. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Development Cooperation Division)
  20. Austrian Development Agency - ADA
  21. The Austrian Development Cooperation
  22. Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft
  23. Azerbaijan International Development Agency
  24. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development: Belgian Policy Plan for Development Cooperation
  25. Belgian Technical Cooperation - BTC/CTB
  26. Agência Brasileira de Cooperação
  27. Canadian International Development Agency 
  28. Agencia de Cooperación Internacional de Chile - AGCI
  29. Czech Development Agency (CzDA)
  30. Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Development
  31. Finland Department for International Development Cooperation (FINNIDA)
  32. France Department for International Cooperation
  33. French Development Agency - AfD
  34. Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany
  35. Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  36. Organization for Investment, Economic, and Technical Assistance of Iran
  37. Irish Aid
  38. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: MASHAV - Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation
  39. Japan - Japan International Cooperation Agency - JICA
  40. Japan Bank for International Cooperation - JBIC
  41. Korea - Korea International Cooperation Agency - KOICA
  42. Liechtensteinische Entwicklungsdienst
  43. Lux-Development
  44. Mexico AMEXCID
  45. New Zealand Agency for International Development - NZAid
  46. Poland Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The Development Co-operation Department
  47. Portugal Camões - Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua
  48. Pakistan Technical Assistance Programme
  49. Palestinian International Cooperation Agency - PICA
  50. Romania Assistance for Development - AOD
  51. Russia Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation
  52. Slovak Aid
  53. Development Bank of Southern Africa - DBSA
  54. Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund - Taiwan ICDF
  55. Thailand International Cooperation Agency - TICA
  56. Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency - TİKA 

 

Can you work for a bilateral without being a national of the country of the bilateral agency?

Yes, you can. You do not have to be a national of the donor country to be working at a Bilateral Agency. Some positions outside of the headquarters are open to nationals of the recipient country, third-country nationals, or all groups of qualified individuals. I would say that there are two opportunities for non-nationals. If you are a national of a country where one of these organizations has programs, there is always a need for local experts. If you are an ex-pat looking for opportunities, there may be fewer opportunities though. 

Many of the donors fund sub-organizations as executors on the ground and in these sub-organizations you can find international ex-pats contracts. So, if you want to work for a project funded by a Bilateral, follow the funds and you can find interesting job opportunities in the organizations supporting the delivery. From my own experience, while living in Japan, I know that JICA and JBIC recruited many international experts for their programs.

 

Keep an eye out for the second part of this content by Impactpool Career Coach Ronda Ansted which we will share in the coming weeks.