OECD
Sliding in just before the holidays, the OECD-DAC released its final update to the 2010 data on official development assistance (ODA) flows. The DAC — or, Development Assistance Committee — is a grouping of the world’s wealthiest donor countries. It tracks donor spending on development finance and helps coordinate development policy globally to improve spending practices.
The adjusted numbers released in December 2011 reflect final spending by countries in 2010, updating the preliminary figures released in April, and what ONE used in the 2011 DATA Report monitoring the G7’s commitments to Africa. As such, we can look at these numbers as the final report for how the G7 countries met their 2005 Gleneagles commitments to increase development assistance to Africa.
Based on the preliminary figures, ONE’s DATA Report found that the G7 delivered 61 percent of the Gleneagles commitments for sub-Saharan Africa. The final figures show that in fact the G7 delivered 60 percent of their total promises. The difference was mostly due to Japan, Italy, the UK and the US all delivering lower amounts of ODA than they originally reported in April. However, despite the revised figures, there were no changes in whether or not a country met its Gleneagles commitments. Net of bilateral debt relief, the G7 delivered a total of $28.5 billion of ODA to sub-Saharan Africa in 2010.
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Jose W. Fernandez, assistant secretary of economic, energy and business affairs at the US State Department, talks to ONE in honor of the OECD’s 50th anniversary in this exclusive interview.
The US is launching a new DF4D program. Could you tell us more about it?
President Obama announced the new DF4D initiative this past March during his trip to El Salvador and Secretary Clinton will speak to the basic components of DF4D at the OECD ministerial conference today [26 May]. Briefly, DF4D represents the United States government’s combined and elevated focus on three separate, but mutually reinforcing areas of its development agenda: enabling developing countries to self-finance more of their own needs or “domestic revenue mobilization,” improving fiscal/budgeting transparency, and fighting corruption.
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Brian Atwood, chair of the DAC-OECD and former head of USAID, looks back at five decades of international development in honor of the OECD’s 50th anniversary in this exclusive interview with ONE.
What is the one thing with which the DAC has changed the face of development over the last 50 years?
The DAC has been a part of the evolution of development thinking over those fifty years and there have been many paradigm shifts during that period. One was the report “Shaping the 21st Century” written by the DAC in the 1990s. With that, the DAC moved from just exclusively looking at volume issues –- the 0.7 percent and other volume targets -– to goals. The development goals were then adopted by the G8 and eventually by the UN.
With the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Action Agenda, we have engraved in stone principles such as local ownership, being more predictable and transparent and trying to harmonize our activities. All of these principles define “development cooperation.” The DAC is no longer responsible for a one-dimensional relationship called aid, which in my mind smacks of charity and gives the impression that developing countries are the ailing partner and need help. We’re in this together.
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This week, ministers and officials from more than 50 countries and international organizations are gathering in Paris, France to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Under the theme “Better Policies for Better Lives,” this year’s annual OECD Ministerial Meeting and Forum will focus on sharing policies “to build a resilient and balanced world economy, supported by new sources of growth and jobs in developed and developing countries.”
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We have another new face on the ONE Blog, Friederike Röder. She is ONE France’s new policy manager and we are very excited to have her on board. Say hi in the comments below!
Following the tradition started last year at the G8 in Canada, this year’s French presidency prepared an accountability report together with the other G8 countries, which outlines the state of delivery and results of the G8’s commitments on fighting extreme poverty.
Let’s start with the positives: it is commendable that the G8 continues with preparing such reports. Great promises are one thing, but keeping them and proving to have kept them is equally important. This is exactly what ONE has been saying for years (and showing the example for) with the DATA report.
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According to new projections from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Africa will be badly hit by unfulfilled aid promises this year.
The OECD reports that the continent is likely to get only about US$12bn of the US$25bn annual aid increase envisaged at the Gleneagles Summit in 2005. The main culprits singled out as responsible for the deficit are France, Germany and Italy, whilst the UK, Scandinavian and Benelux countries are the top performers.
African countries have been buffeted by the global economic crisis and need smart, well-targeted aid more than ever. But the performance of Italy, France, and more recently Germany is undermining hard work by others. Yet the fact that some donor countries are honouring their commitments shows it can and must be done.
Over the past decade in Africa, effective aid and debt relief have helped put 42 million children into school and more than three million people onto AIDS treatment. Failure to scale up these programmes can be measured in lost opportunities for children and lost lives from diseases that are preventable and treatable.
The UK is among the group of good performers in the 2010 projections. It has surpassed the promise by EU countries to spend 0.51% of Gross National Income on development assistance by this year, and is keeping its commitment to Africa. The USA has greatly exceeded its more modest promise, whilst Canada has also met its pledge.
A report released this morning shows that the world is falling short of the promises it made to developing nations.
Each year in early April, the independent nonprofit Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports on each donor nation’s contributions to the world’s poorest people. This year’s report shows that the world is not keeping pace with what’s needed to make good on their promises to help countries out of extreme poverty by 2015.
The United States has the ability to be the shining beacon of hope for the world’s poorest people. Right now, that beacon needs a voltage boost. Not counting debt relief (looking at the figures like this keeps everyone from overstating the cost to the donor or assistance provided to developing countries), United States foreign assistance to the world declined 3.55 percent last year, in big part because of a drop in aid to Iraq. For sub-Saharan Africa, American assistance last year increased by 8 percent. The United States spent $5.7 billion (2006 prices) on assistance to Africa last year.
The United States promised in 2005 to double foreign assistance to Africa by 2010. This would help end needless suffering across the continent and provide hope and opportunity for millions. While projections indicate that the U.S. is likely to meet its pledge to Africa by 2010, the pace has been slower than expected.
Looking ahead for the rest of this year, the United States is poised to increase aid through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). These relatively new initiatives are expected to scale up in the years to come.
The ONE Campaign applauds Congress and President Bush for boosting funding that targets diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Just this week, the House of Representatives voted by an overwhelming majority to reauthorize America’s HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, for another 5 years. This vote signals a commitment to build on the early successes of the program with the goal of saving millions more lives. Based on this Congressional action and what we already know about funding for initiatives already underway, future foreign assistance levels are promising. But there is a long way to go to meet America’s promise to double assistance to Africa by 2010.
Learn more about the OECD’s new statistics, or check out the stats for yourself. Many of ONE’s partners are talking about the OECD report as well. Our sister organization, DATA, offers its analysis of the numbers. Check them out here.
-Sara Rogge, ONE Senior Trade Advisor
