ITALY's PROGRESS 2004-10

Italy's record of honouring its development commitments over the past five years has been dismal. In 2010, it directed $1.2 billion (€906 million) in development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, a level lower than its 2004 baseline. In total, Italy delivered -2% of the increases it promised to the region in 2005.3 Although Italy slightly increased its development assistance in 2008, cuts in development assistance of $759 million (€545 million, or 20%) in 2009 and $109 million (€82 million) in 2010 mean that it has barely progressed since 2005.

As the 2009 G8 President, host Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promised to deliver a national plan to restore Italy's development assistance levels ('piano di rientro'). He also committed to backdate the country's unpaid pledges to the Global Fund (along with an additional €30 million)4 and pledged $428 million5 for the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative. While Italy has made some progress on its commitments under the L'Aquila Initiative and has paid the Global Fund arrears pre-2009, its Global Fund payments for 2009 and 2010 have not yet been made.

LOOKING AHEAD: 2010–15

There is no indication that Italy will get on track to meet its development assistance commitments in the near future. To address one of the highest levels of public debt in the world (equivalent to 115.8% of the national budget in 2009), the country's budget in 2011 included a cut to bilateral ODA from €327 million to €179 million, with increasing proportions being absorbed by administrative costs. This makes it almost inconceivable that Italy will meet its development assistance commitments by 2015.

A strong political signal from the government is needed. Italy should produce the 'piano di rientro' promised by Berlusconi in 2009. Even with a recovery plan, however, Italy's poor performance will continue to undermine the EU's chances of meeting its development assistance targets by 2015. In an effort to better monitor resource flows between Italy and developing countries, the government has proposed a plan to track spending by private foundations and NGOs. While enhanced monitoring and transparency of these flows is welcome, it should not count towards official development assistance targets.

At a minimum, Italy should fully deliver its commitments to the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative (including the Rome Principles for effective agricultural development assistance) and pay its overdue pledges to the Global Fund. It should also maintain its support for GAVI and encourage other countries to become GAVI donors at this year's pledging conference.

Italy has taken steps to improve the impact of its development programmes in recent years, which indicates that it could improve its reputation on development once the economy stabilises. In 2009 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established an Aid Effectiveness and Peer Review Working Group, which produced an aid effectiveness action plan that included policy coherence for development, aid untying, enhanced cooperation with a smaller number of countries, improved monitoring and evaluation and engagement with civil society.6 The Group delivered an assessment of progress in December 2010, which showed some improvement in focusing on a smaller number of countries and better monitoring, as well as a second action plan in January 2011. However, the impacts of this progress will be limited unless Parliament approves adequate resources.

Polling indicates that the majority of Italians (73%) support honouring Italy's development commitments, suggesting that an aid recovery plan, along with the efforts in improving aid effectiveness, would not only have an impact in the world's poorest countries but would also be well received by the Italian public.