Official Development Assistance (ODA)

Formal term for "aid". Most of this is of the bilateral variety, namely, government-to-government transfers from OECD member states to developing countries. Some ODA is provided by multilateral sources such as the United Nations, the European Development Fund and special funds of the World Bank and elsewhere. To qualify as ODA, a concessional transaction must:
be administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective, and
be concessional in character and containing a grant element of at least 25 per cent.