Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2011
Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA)

Official Development Assistance (ODA) refers to grants and loans with lightened conditions that are given to developing countries and regions that are included on the list of aid recipient countries and regions created by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), mainly for the purpose of contributing to the improvement of economic development and welfare.
ODA consists of bilateral aid, which is used to support developing countries directly, and multilateral aid, which is support provided through international organizations. Bilateral aid can be divided into two categories: grants and government loans. Grants constitute cooperation that is provided to developing countries without compensation. There are two types: grant aid and technical aid. On the other hand, government loans are given on the assumption that the developing country will repay the loan in the future. This type of loan takes the form of loan aid (ODA loan). Multilateral aid includes contributions to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), contributions and investment for the World Bank, and other such activities.