Brussels, 08/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - Following a peak in 2013, the level of Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the countries of the OECD remained stable in 2014, at $135.2 billion, but bilateral aid to the poorest countries fell by 16% to $25 billion, according to the preliminary figures on official development assistance for 2014, which were published on Wednesday 8 April by the OECD in US dollars and converted into euros by the European Commission. The definitive figures will be published in December.
Having collectively allocated €58.2 billion, or 2.4% more than the previous year (€56.5 billion in 2013, €55.3 billion in 2012 and 53.1 billion in 2011), the EU has maintained its aid at 0.42% of its GNI and once again holds on to its place as the largest donor in the world, having contributed to more than half of global flows of ODA, according to the analysis of the European Commission. This analysis covers all of the member states of the EU, just 19 of which are also members of the OECD. The sum of €58.2 billion includes ODA provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The ODA of the member states of the EU alone stood at €56.1 billion last year (0.41% of GNI), compared to €54 billion in 2013.
Collective ODA at 0.42% of GNI is slightly below the level achieved in 2013 (0.43%), but this slight decline can be put down to a change in the methodology used by most of the member states to calculate their GNI, the European Commission stresses. Without this change, it explains, the EU would have collectively allocated 0.44% of its GNI, which is far higher than the average level of ODA of the other donors, which stands at 0.28% of their GNI.
Neven Mimica, the European commissioner for international cooperation and development, is proud of this European score, which allows it to “uphold its place as the world's leading provider of ODA in recent years, despite the difficult economic situation”. However, he notes that the EU is “still some way” from meeting the commitment it made in 2005 of allocating 0.7% of its GNI to ODA by 2015 - a commitment which the European Council of June 2014 confirmed as a continuing priority to achieve the millennium development goals. “2015 is a crucial year for the future of sustainable development”, he stressed, highlighting the need to reconfirm this commitment as a decisive contribution to an ambitious result of negotiations for post-2015. The third UN conference on the financing of development, which will be held in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July, is a key stage ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in September, which is to adopt these future sustainable development objectives post-2015 (see EUROPE 11288).
The individual performances of the member states of the EU vary considerably. Four member states did better than 0.7% - Sweden (1.1%), Luxembourg (1.07%), Denmark (0.85%) and the United Kingdom (0.71%). They were also top of the table in 2013.
15 member states have increased their aid and the greatest increases in the ODA/GNI ratio were to be seen in Croatia (from 0.07% to 0.11% of its GNI), Finland (from 0.54% to 0.60%), Germany (from 0.38% to 0.41%), Luxembourg (from 1% to 1.07%), Romania (from 0.07% to 0.1%) and Sweden (from 1.01% to 1.10%). In 13 member states, on the other hand, this ratio fell in 2014: these include France (0.36% from 0.41% in 2013), Ireland (0.38% down from 0.46%), the Netherlands (0.64% from 0.67%), Portugal (0.19% from 0.23%), Spain (0.14% from 0.17%).
In nominal terms, the increase in ODA in 15 countries totalled €3.4 billion, whilst the decrease seen in the other 13 amounted to €1.3 billion.
NGOs express concern. Aidwatch, the monitoring initiative of European ODA launched by CONCORD - the largest federation of European development NGOs - laments the fact that just four member states of the EU have kept their promises. “The EU's aid promised to poor countries has been another victim of austerity (…). Despite some positive exceptions, the EU missed its overall aid target in 2015. The figures are a huge blow to the credibility of the EU”, said Zuzana Sladkova of CONCORD. The NGO ONE, which fights extreme poverty throughout the world, is concerned that “collectively, the EU will not meet its target of 0.7% of GNI in 2015”. It adds that a “re-commitment of the EU together with a timetable in May will be of decisive importance” for the decisions to be taken this year at international level. The NGO also expresses concern at the spectacular drop in bilateral aid to the least-developed countries, “which reflect a lack of commitment to eradicating extreme poverty by 2030”, which is a UN objective. (Aminata Niang)