The objective of the Programme is to promote socio-economic progress of developing countries by raising the level of knowledge and education of their citizens in the form of scholarships for second-degree studies in Polish or in English at Polish universities supervised by the Minister of Science and Higher Education.

The NAWA scholarship may be applied for by citizens of the following countries: Albania, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia.

The Programme is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange in the form of Polish development aid.