The year 1959 marked a major shift in Taiwan’s international status. After a decade of US aid, a mature and prosperous Taiwan reached the point where it could, in turn, lend a helping hand to the rest of the world. “Taiwan’s transition from aid recipient to aid donor constitutes a rare historical achievement,” says Weber V.B. Shih, secretary general of the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF).

More than a half century after Taiwan dispatched its first agricultural team to Saigon, Vietnam, governmental and nongovernmental foreign assistance has marched steadily forward. From the earliest work in the African nation of Liberia, initiatives have since crisscrossed the Middle East, Central and South America, and the Asia‡Pacific, addressing various needs from agriculture and fishery techniques to irrigation projects and disease prevention. Indeed, there seem to be few regions receiving foreign aid that have not felt the presence of Taiwan’s assistance.    

In 1996, the ICDF inherited the foreign aid responsibilities of two earlier government bodies—the Committee of International Technical Cooperation and the International Economic Cooperation Development Fund. In the 20 years since, the ICDF has brought Taiwan closer to the global community by implementing effective agricultural, medical, educational, and other programs both in countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and in those that don’t.

Countries like Nauru and Kiribati, where the climate makes it difficult to grow fruit and vegetables, have made use of the assistance of ICDF technical teams to get better harvests.

Changing with the times

Today, international cooperation programs directed at improving agriculture and public health are still an important part of the ICDF’s work. Yet, from early agricultural missions to today’s technical assistance teams, the ICDF’s foreign assistance has continued to change with the needs of recipients. Initiatives have become more comprehensive and more detailed, and today cover a broader range of aid programs, including information and communications, the environment, and education. As a result, foreign assistance is producing more tangible results.

In the agricultural sector, for example, the ICDF in coordination with its technical teams established São Tomé and Príncipe’s first multifunctional agricultural center, which incorporates a farmers’ market and wholesale distribution. In the past, famers sold their crops by the roadside after the harvest, but this resulted in wildly fluctuating prices and exploitation by wholesalers. After learning the lessons introduced by the technical teams and combining wholesale and retail strategies, the farmers saw a rise in income as the public proved to be keen buyers for their produce.

Other ICDF assistance programs have rivaled agricultural programs in importance, and none so much as the numerous medical aid initiatives that have saved countless lives.

In 1962, several decades before the ICDF’s founding, Taiwan dispatched military doctors to Libya to offer medical assistance. Subsequent army medical teams were sent to Saudi Arabia, Liberia, and Kiribati. And for many years, Taiwan has provided medical aid to the West African nation of Burkina Faso. This long-lasting aid mission epitomizes Taiwan’s commitment to the world of international assistance.

Just after its formal establishment, the ICDF dispatched a medical aid team to the Friendship Hospital, located in Koudougou, Burkina Faso’s third largest city, where it offered emergency medical services to local residents. Aside from treating patients at the hospital, the Burkina Faso medical mission traveled to country villages some 40 or 50 kilometers from Koudougou, where they provided a mobile medical clinic every two months.

Aside from treating patients directly, ICDF personnel also sought to address local deficiencies at a more basic level by training local medical personnel. As a result, the overall quality of the area’s medical treatment improved. In 2011, for example, ICDF medical staff taught local students basic medical procedures, such as how to administer first aid and provide checkups for pregnant women. And in 2005 the ICDF launched the Healthcare Personnel Training Program, which instructs frontline medical personnel at hospitals in Taiwan. Since then, the program has trained more than 300 healthcare workers from more than 30 countries.

At the ICDF’s 20th anniversary celebration, Secretary General Weber V.B. Shih expressed his hopes that Taiwan’s aid programs would help share the “Taiwan experience” with the rest of the world. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan)

Meeting local needs

In terms of information and communications technology, the ICDF is currently engaged in various joint IT initiatives. Generally, this entails helping local governments implement “e-government” projects. During this year’s annual WTO trade facilitation workshop, an ICDF initiative intended to streamline the collection of customs duties in Belize was presented as a successful case study.

In the field of education, the ICDF has established the Taiwan International Cooperation Alliance, which coordinates an international scholarship program with 21 participating Taiwanese educational institutions. To date, 35 courses have been set up to meet the needs of students and their employers. Short-term training courses, in fields such as business management and ICT, are also on offer for nationals from both diplomatic and non-diplomatic partners.   

The increasing diversity and complexity of its assistance programs notwithstanding, the ICDF has not wavered from its commitment to the spirit of the OECD’s Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. “Localization, consistency, coordination, a focus on results, mutual cooperation and trust are all guiding principles for the international cooperation programs undertaken by the ICDF,” Shih explains. “Our programs are not intended to deliver aid blindly. In each case, the remedy must fit the problem.”

Belize, for example, originally sought help controlling kidney disease. After a medical team was dispatched to investigate, it discovered that the incidence of kidney disease was extremely high and that late-stage treatment was no substitute for early prevention and public education. Thus, the medical aid program was fine-tuned in response to suggestions from the ICDF specialists.

Volunteers with a medical mission to Guatemala, a diplomatic ally of Taiwan, provide free clinics for local residents who have limited access to medical treatment.

Technical missions and the Taiwan experience

The ICDF’s assistance programs have not only ­substantially improved local economic and living conditions, they have also introduced the diet, culture and lifestyle of Taiwan, bit by bit, into the societies of the aid recipients. A good example is the farmers’ market established by the ICDF in São Tomé and Príncipe.

Weber Shih, the IDCF secretary general, points out that because of the geographic and climatic conditions in São Tomé and Príncipe, there were only potatoes and other root and tuber crops in the market in the past. But walking through the market now, one can find green beans, leeks, and other leafy green Taiwanese vegetables. And in Papua New Guinea, the haggling over prices during market weeks carries a strong Taiwanese flavor. “Without realizing it, you feel like you are back in a traditional market in Taiwan,” Shih says with a smile.

In both the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, fruit and vegetables were once rare sights in traditional markets due to the local climate. Yet after the ICDF established a presence in the countries, fruit and vegetables become a regular offering, signifying not only the successful development of new crops but also the acceptance of Taiwanese dietary habits into the daily life of the local population.

Each humanitarian and public health assistance initiative strengthens the bonds of friendship between Taiwan and other countries, whether they are formal diplomatic allies or not. And behind the scenes, it is the blood, toil, tears and sweat of the frontline personnel that make this possible.

At a banquet celebrating the ICDF’s 20th anniversary, attendees stopped to remember 39 colleagues who have perished in the field. The aid organization is most active in developing countries, in which conditions can be hazardous. For technical teams stationed abroad and manning the frontlines of aid work, hardship is commonplace. Difficult conditions, however, will not prevent this important work from being carried out. Over 100 of the ICDF’s frontline aid workers are active in 33 countries today, working tirelessly to improve the lives of local people.

After reaching its 20th anniversary, the ICDF will continue to open up new opportunities for international assistance. Shih hopes that through each of its international aid initiatives Taiwan will be able to share its own unique experience with the rest of the world.

Aside from the well-known agricultural and medical assistance, information and communications technology and environmental programs are today important facets of the ICDF’s work.

Children in St. Lucia attend classes provided by volunteers from the ICDF’s Overseas Services Corps.

Taiwan has a long history of assistance to El Salvador, a diplomatic ally, including aid programs for aquaculture and agriculture. Pictured here, Hugo Roger Martínez Bonilla, foreign minister of El Salvador, meets with Weber V.B. Shih, ICDF secretary general, in Taiwan in 2014.

An ICDF technical team and local partners build a tourism farm from scratch in St. Kitts and Nevis.

The ICDF has dispatched agricultural and public health aid teams to Tuvalu, Kiribati, and other nations in the South Pacific. Shown here, children in Kiribati dash about playfully.