Brussels, 22/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Will development aid soon become aid for everything? Development NGOs have raised concerns in the wake of a decision taken in Paris by the OECD development assistance committee (DAC) in Paris on Friday 19 February.
The development ministers of the OECD's member states decided to broaden existing reporting rules so that official development assistance (ODA) can be used to cover more peace and security costs.
They also discussed current rules allowing them to use development aid to fund the costs of the refugee crisis at home. It having proved impossible to reach agreement on excluding such costs from their aid reporting, the issue remains open.
“These developments risk leading to an erosion of already limited overseas aid funds. Aid should be focused on tackling poverty in the poorest countries”, stated Tamira Gunzburg, Brussels director of ONE.
ONE, an NGO campaigning against extreme poverty in the world, “urges leaders to find vital resources for refugees arriving in Europe without pitting the world's most vulnerable against each other”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)