Brussels, 04/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - At €53 billion in 2011 (0.42% of EU GNI), the volume of the EU's official development aid (ODA) dropped slightly compared to the previous year, according to the preliminary figures published by the OECD on Wednesday 4 April. This €53 billion represents €800 million less than in 2010, which was a record year (0.43 percent of GNI), and is still a very long way from the 0.7% of GNI to be achieved in 2015, but is still enough to allow the EU to keep its position as the world's largest donor. However, performances vary considerably among the 27. “At a time of heavy budgetary constraints, 16 member states manage to increase their aid, three of them are ranked among the five largest donors worldwide and four of them have already reached the target of 0.7%”, said Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, who stressed the need to redouble efforts between now and 2015.
In view of the crisis, Greece and Spain are the countries which have cut their development aid expenditure the most, followed by Austria and Belgium.
On the other hand, Denmark and Luxembourg continue to be the champions of ODA, giving more than 0.7% of their GNI. The Netherlands, at 0.7%, is planning to cut its volume of aid.
The United Kingdom remains committed to achieving the target of 0.7% by 2013. Germany and Sweden have both increased their aid budget. Italy is doing better than last year.
Whilst recognising that Europe is doing well, Oxfam has another interpretation of these figures. The NGO points out that the EU's objective was 0.51% of GNI in 2010, which is a deficit of €7.7 billion, meaning that “around 600 million children in developing countries will not be vaccinated against deadly diseases, and 500 million mosquito bed nets that protect against malaria will not be handed out ". (AN/transl.fl)