Brussels, 04/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Unless the European Union keeps its commitments in respect of official development aid (devoting 0.7% of its GNI to such aid by 2015), 90 million children in the developing world will be deprived of education, the NGO for development, Oxfam International, warns, alarmed by the fall in the volume of EU aid for the second year running. Preliminary figures for the year 2012 were published on Wednesday by the development assistance committee (DAC) of the OECD (see EUROPE 10819).
“Aid is not a charity, it's a tiny but crucial investment to build a better, safer world”, comments Catherine Olier, who is a specialist in development at the European office of Oxfam. She adds: “These cuts mean too many farmers won't get the help they need to grow more food and too many children won't get the education for better jobs. This wholesale disinvestment means that poor countries will suffer more from the mess made by rich country bankers, and have less to contribute to helping drive the world economy forward”.
Although the tendency towards contracting aid budgets is general, the NGO underlines that the countries of western Europe have done less well than the general trend. The biggest cuts have been made in Spain (-49%) and Italy (-34%); Belgium and Ireland have made significant reductions, and major economies such as France and Germany have also reduced their aid. “Germany”, the NGO denounces, “does not even reach the average EU15 aid level”.
Such meagre performances contrast with those of the United Kingdom which “despite having been in economic recession” has “budgeted to meet the 0.7 target this year”, Oxfam International points out, saying this is the proof that other donor countries could also stick to their pledges if they cared enough. “It is not an issue of money but of political will. Aid builds hospitals, pays doctors' salaries and buys textbooks and medical equipment. Countries such as Germany - the economic powerhouse of Europe - and France, which are traditionally big donors, must consider the human cost of not boosting their aid and do the right thing”, the Oxfam expert goes on to say.
Oxfam International welcomes the fact that Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands will continue to abide by their pledge to allocate over 0.7%, and calls on the 11 countries that are going ahead with a financial transaction tax (FTT) to spend a significant part of the money raised to help poor people hit by the economic crisis and climate change. (AN/transl.jl)