Date of Entry: September 27, 1979

National Day: March 25

Type of Government: Parliamentary republic

Head of State: President Karolos Papoulias (March 12, 2005)

Head of Government: Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras (since June 20th, 2012)

Permanent Observer: Ambassador Vassilis Kaskarelis (June 24, 2009)

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Dimitris Avramopoulos (since June 21st, 2012)

Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation: Constantinos A. Papadopoulos

Director of Hellenic Aid: Director General Athanassios Theodorakis

Areas of Cooperation with OAS: Promotion of democracy (SER/DIA); Promoting Human Rights (IACHR); Multidimensional Security (CICAD).

ECONOMIC INDICATORS / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011
Population (in millions) / 11.112 / 11.137 / 11.161 / 11.187 / 10.767
GDP (US$ in billions) / 311.236 / 348.674 / 327.331 / 305.415 / 312
GDP per capita (US$) / 28,008.98 / 31,307.74 / 29,328.08 / 27,301.54 / 27,600
GDP, PPP (Current International Dollar in billions) / 323.421 / 333.868 / 330.039 / 318.082 / 308.3
GDP growth (annual %) / 4.472 / 2.015 / -1.963 / -3.971 / -6

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database

CASH CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE OAS 2003-2011:

Year / Greece / All POs / %
2003 / 20,000 / 12,125,944 / 0.2%
2004 / 11,908,651 / 0.0%
2005 / 30,000 / 11,650,039 / 0.3%
2006 / 20,000 / 19,080,470 / 0.1%
2007 / 30,000 / 20,298,894 / 0.1%
2008 / 40,000 / 25,865,002 / 0.2%
2009 / 40,000 / 19,618,820 / 0.2%
2010 / 0 / 15,791,980 / 0.0%
2011 / 40,000 / 15,766,615
Total US$ / 220,000 / 152,106,415 / 0.1%

GREECE CONTRIBUTIONS:

Year / Area / Cash Contributions
2003 / Office of External Relations- Conference Series / US$20,000
SUBTOTAL / US$20,000
2005 / Department of Communications and External Relations (DCER)- Lecture Series of the Americas / US$15,000
DCER- Meeting of Government Spokesperson of the Americas / US$15,000
SUBTOTAL / US$30,000
2006 / Multidimensional Security- Study of Gangs Involved in Human Trafficking / US$10,000
Department of External Relations- Lecture Series of the Americas / US$10,000
SUBTOTAL / US$20,000
2007 / Multidimensional Security – Human Trafficking / US$30,000
SUBTOTAL / US$30,000
2009 / CICAD – General Fund / US$40,000
SUBTOTAL / US$40,000
2011 / Inter-American Commission on Human Rights / US$20,000
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission / US$20,000
SUBTOTAL / US$40,000
TOTAL / US$220,000

Foreign Ministry – GOAls/Areas of Responsibility:

  • Safeguarding the rights and interests of the Greek State and implementing international conventions and international law.
  • Promoting international cooperation, security and peace, protecting human and minority rights, world solidarity in dealing with humanitarian issues through participation in international initiatives, and providing humanitarian and development aid.
  • Enhancing the image of Greece and of Greek culture abroad and promoting international cultural cooperation, and informing the international community about the possibilities for economic and business cooperation with Greece.
  • Safeguarding the rights and interests of Greek citizens abroad and providing assistance with their administrative affairs.
  • Fostering closer relations between the Greek Diaspora and their homeland, and supporting them in preserving their mother tongue and their distinctive cultural identity.
  • Coordinating Greek ministries, and other authorities and agencies on issues relating to the country’s foreign relations.

International Development Cooperation:

Development cooperation is an integral part of Greece’s foreign policy. Greece is committed to the undertaking of coordinated processes at national and international levels and in cooperating with partner countries and donors alike, in order to achieve the MDGs. In this framework, Greece reviews its instruments in order to facilitate the aid effectiveness agenda in the form of strategic country programs based on partners’ needs and own strategies and reviews joint approaches with other donors. Moreover, Greece gradually develops a strategic approach to multilateral assistance considering international evolutions and utilizing its experience from the EU, UN and OECD memberships. Furthermore, legislative amendments are underway in order to modernize both the legal framework of Greek development cooperation, as well as organizational and administrative issues of HELLENIC AID.

Policy coherence between the Greek development cooperation policy and other sectoral policies is the most important prerequisite for effective aid delivery. By following EU prospects and policy coherence in various sectors, Greece strives to improve administrative procedures. Efforts are especially focused on enhancing coherence in the sections of migration, climate change, environment, by developing a systematic formal framework for inter-ministerial coordination. The “Inter-Ministerial Committee for Organization and Coordination of International Economic Relations” plays a pivotal role in this effort.

The initial time schedule for Greek ODA targets was to provide 0,33% of GNI for development assistance, in the form of ODA, to developing partner countries until the year 2007, 0,51% of GNI until the year 2010 (at a later stage deferred to 2012), the final target being, provision of 0,7% of GNI until the year 2015. Greece undertook its international commitments under the basic assumption that fiscal circumstances would be favorable and would allow for the anticipated significant increase of the ODA. Yet, the expected increase of ODA proved not to be feasible, due to fiscal restraints as well as very serious, unforeseen natural disasters. Furthermore, the current international financial crisis had a significant negative effect on the economic situation of all donors, including Greece. In this regard, the Greek government introduced in 2010 a three0year stabilization and reform program, supported by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, based on a loan amounting to 110 billion euro. Radical reforms were introduced to restore fiscal balance and international competitiveness. Consequently, efforts towards achieving internationally agreed targets will bw reactivated as soon as fiscal circumstances become favorable.

However, Greece remains strongly dedicated to the achievement of quality parameters of this development assistance in the framework of maximizing its aid effectiveness, as this was anticipated by a number of international Agreements since 2002. In addition, Greece will concentrate the allocation of its resources on a core group of partner countries and sectors in accordance with its comparative advances.

Organization and Management of Greek development cooperation is based on the Hellenic International Development Cooperation Department (HELLENIC AID) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Greece is in the process of consolidating its organization and management system with a view to strengthening its capacity. New ways of programming and delivering aid are developed. Furthermore, the new legislation that is under preparation provides far more thorough evaluation procedures. The tertiary scholarship scheme is reviewed as for its development impact. Moreover, efforts toward decentralizing the program and further delegating authority to the field are also foreseen.

Greece has incorporated the recommendations on Aid Effectiveness in the form of quantitative and qualitative targets that have arisen from the “Monterey Consensus” (2002), the “Paris Declaration” (2005), the “European Consensus on Development” (2005) that sets the framework of EU development cooperation, as well as the “Accra Agenda for Action-AAA” (2008). In this regard, Greece is implementing its aid effectiveness commitments according to the “Hellenic Aid Action Plan for Coordination and Harmonization of Development Cooperation Policy” drafted in 2004 and updated according to the latest international developments.

“Alignment” of development cooperation with the systems of developing countries (policies, priorities, structures), “harmonization of donors”, “results centered – managing for development results” and “aid predictability”, are a;; considered as significant parameters for the achievement of the MDGs. In the framework of aid effectiveness and harmonization, Greece seeks close cooperation with other bilateral and multilateral donors as determined by the DAC/OECD and the EU. Numerus such efforts have already been successfully implemented.

Greece is among the first countries to send emergency Humanitarian Assistance in order to provide relief to those in need, under coordination and guidelines provided by International Organizations, especially the United Nations and the European Union. Indeed Greece was characterized as a “global humanitarian power” by former UN Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan, illustrating the country’s commitment to humanitarian response “in every party of the world in need”. Greece has adopted the “Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship” (2003) and the “Europe Consensus on Humanitarian Aid” (2007). Thus, humanitarian and food aid provision is granted in the framework of the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. Since then, Greece has developed an explicit and more formal management system of coordination of its humanitarian aid provision within the government and with external actors. This effort was coupled with preservation of flexibility that always characterized the Greek humanitarian response.

Other Involvement in Latin America and the Caribbean:

Years 2009-2010
Country / Sector / MUSD
Argentina / Social/ welfare services, multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, imputed students’ costs. / 1,25
Bolivia / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, imputed students’ costs. / 0.02
Brazil / Social/ welfare services, multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, imputed students’ costs. / 0.96
Chile / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, material relief assistance and services, reconstruction relief and rehabilitation / 0.58
Colombia / Imputed students’ costs, Multisector education/ training (scholarships) / 0.16
Peru / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, imputed students’ costs, material relief assistance and services / 0.23
Uruguay / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, imputed students’ costs. / 0.14
Venezuela / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, imputed students’ costs. / 0.29
South America, REG. / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), education facilities and training, social/welfare services, material relief assistance and services, environmental policy and administrative management, STD control including HIV/AIDS / 1.21
Antigua & Barbuda / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), imputed students’ costs. / 0.14
Costa Rica / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), imputed students’ costs / 0.02
Cuba / Imputed Students’ costs. / 0.09
Dominican Republic / Imputed Students’ costs. / 0.03
El Salvador / Multisector education/ training (scholarships). / 0.04
Guatemala / Material relief assistance and services / 0.07
Haiti / Material relief assistance and services, emergency food aid / 0.78
Honduras / Imputed students’ costs. / 0.02
Mexico / Multisector education/ training (scholarships), education, imputed students’ costs. / 0.32
Montserrat / Imputed students’ costs. / 0.01
Panama / Education, imputed students’ costs. / 0.07
West Indies, REG. / Environmental policy and administrative management / 1.32

OTHER INFORMATION:

  • Greece maintains close ties with its citizens living abroad through the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and the World Council of Hellenes Abroad, providing information regarding Greek policies for its citizens abroad, host country laws regarding Greeks, and information on how Diaspora Greeks can return to Greece.
  • Two recurrent issues in Greek foreign policy are the Turkish occupation of Cyprus since 1974 and the resolution of the name dispute between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

SOURCES:

OAS | Department of International Affairs | 1

Organization of American States, Department of International Affairs

United Nations, Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance

Ministry of Foreign Affairs –Greece in the World

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

IMF, World Economic Outlook Database

The World Bank

OAS | Department of International Affairs | 1

This page was last updated on July 12, 2012

OAS | Department of International Affairs | 1