Aid
EU aid
In 2005, encouraged by a wave of support from millions of Europeans, EU member states collectively agreed to establish timetables to increase their ODA towards 0.7%. This was a historic step, as it was the first concrete plan made by a group of developed countries to deliver on the 0.7% commitment, first made in the United Nations General Assembly in 1970. Coming hot on the heels of the Millennium Review Summit and agreement of the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development (FfD), this step also promised to usher in a new era for EU development assistance.
Last year, the world came face to face with the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. As the impact swept across countries, the poorest regions, those more vulnerable to any type of shock, were set to lose the most. As other financial flows dried up, aid was in many cases the only financial resource available to protect the lives and jobs of millions of people. 2009 aid levels are, therefore, a good indicator of the European commitment to the development agenda.
The 2010 AidWatch report says that official aid figures show that European countries have failed to pass the test. In 2009, aid decreased from €50bn in 2008 to €49bn. Despite the drop in absolute numbers, aid in % of GNI increased in 16 out of the 27 European countries, reaching an average 0.42% in 2009 (up from 0.40% in 2008). However, in most cases the advances are small and reflect impact on the crisis on national economies rather than a real effort to increase aid levels.
Read more about the 2009 AidWatch report
Read more about the 2010 AidWatch report
UK aid
The UK's ODA increased to €8.3 billion in 2009, equivalent to 0.52% of GNI - up from 0.43% in 2008 - and is expected to reach about 0.6% of GNI by end of the financial year 2010/11. Only 0.5% of UK ODA was debt relief in 2009, down from 5.7% in 2008.
The 3 major UK political parties have committed to increasing the UK's aid to 0.7% of GNI by 2013 and to introducing a law that will make delivering at least 0.7% of GNI as aid a legally binding commitment for all future governments from 2013 onwards
Some progress at Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness
In September 2008, donor and Southern governments, international civil society and other stakeholders met in Accra, Ghana, for the 3rd High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. Expectations for the Forum were high. However, the agreed Accra Agenda for Action offers only limited progress for delivering on concrete commitments to make aid work for the poor.
Agreement was reached on improving the predictability and transparency of aid flows as well as on strengthening country systems. Yet, no strong commitments were made in critical areas such as tied aid and conditionality. The final agenda endorsed by Ministers still fails to remove damaging restrictions which force poor countries to purchase donor goods and services, or to agree a reduction in harmful policy conditions that undermine democratic processes and constrain developing country choices.
Read more on the Accra High Level Forum
What is Bond doing?
Through CONCORD, Bond keeps putting pressure on the EU to deliver more and better aid. Since 2005, European NGOs collectively monitor EU member states' official development assistance quantity and quality through the Aid Watch initiative.
Bond also works very closely with the UK Aid Network to keep up the pressure on the UK government on UK aid effectiveness.
Furthermore, Bond has produced a number of publications and submissions on EU aid, which can all be found in the resources library of the Bond website.
What you can do...
Promote the messages of the Aid Watch report and reinforce the demands to the UK and other European governments in your advocacy work
Join campaigners working with UK, European and international colleagues on aid issues, as well as keeping up the pressure on the UK Government to honour commitments to more and better aid. For more information, please contact the Bond Advocacy team.
Get more involved with Bond's work on Europe and join the Bond European Policy Group or the Bond EC Funding Working Group.
