DATA Report

G8 accountability report: read the small print

May 20th, 2011 10:34 AM UTC
By Friederike Röder

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.

It is also good to draw attention to the commitments on food security and maternal health, the focus of this year’s report. The report has the merit of establishing a baseline for the different commitments, reporting back on disbursements already made and giving a time line for outstanding disbursements.  So far, so good.  But…

There is a massive “but”. The G8 have found an artful way to embellish their performance. The report puts the spotlight on figures in today’s prices and tracks progress against them. It is a major issue, because current prices cannot be compared properly across years. This is why the OECD recommends using constant prices, prices that take into account changes in exchange rates and inflation from year to year and give an honest picture of the real efforts that were made. To put it simply $1 in 2010 doesn’t buy as much as $1 in 2005.

The result of tracking progress in current prices? Forgetting inflation suddenly makes the G8 look much better than it really is. Gleneagles’ targets are missed, but only by a “little” $1.27bn. Great success. Pat on the back. Except that taking inflation into account shows a very different picture. The G8 shortfall is in fact $19bn!

Careful readers will notice that the report also mentions the $19bn shortfall. Very careful readers, in fact. The figure is dropped in passing, immersed in a sea of data and tables all in current prices. Predictably, it is a blessing for countries that haven’t performed well and can conveniently quote the report to avoid facing their failure. Take Germany. The Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a press release yesterday, which selectively quotes the report to give itself a pass, when Germany’s under performance is in reality costing $ 4bn to the developing world.

As ONE’s Executive Director, Jamie Drummond, said yesterday:

“We cannot allow countries who are breaking promises to the world’s poor to hide behind misleading figures. When the G8 leaders gather in France next week they must acknowledge that accountability is more than just a PR exercise.”

This year’s G8 meeting on Africa (with the African Union and founding members of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development – NEPAD) will also examine the first accountability report prepared by the African side. We can only hope that Africa will have the courage to look shortfalls in the eyes.

G8 countries show mixed results in efforts to meet aid targets

May 16th, 2011 1:59 PM UTC
By Katie Martin

New analysis published by ONE today has given the final verdict on the aid promises that were made by world leaders at the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005. The DATA Report 2011, also sets out the steps that need to be taken to make a renewed push towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals. It suggests new innovative finance schemes and identifies other measures to support proven smart aid programmes that help the poorest people in the poorest nations build a path out of poverty.

Key points from the report are:

• Collectively the G7 delivered 61% of the increased aid they promised in 2005 to sub-Saharan Africa by 2010.
• The increases were largely a result of the UK making commendable progress towards its very ambitious target, and the US, Japan and Canada surpassing their relatively modest targets.
• Yet again Italy’s performance is condemnable, falling far short of its promises to the world’s poorest people.
• France and Germany have also failed to meet their ambitious targets.
• The failure of the G8 to keep their promises deprived the world’s poorest people of $7bn in financing for effective and life-changing programmes in 2010 alone.
• Despite the overall shortfall, there have been historic increases in aid to sub-Saharan Africa since 2000, and especially since 2005 and the promises of the Gleneagles G8 Summit which was a response to the global Make Poverty History campaign.
• Much of this smart aid went towards programmes that are delivering real results in sub-Saharan Africa. Together with African efforts, aid has helped to avert the deaths of 750,000 children from malaria; allowed 46.5 million children to enrol in school for the first time; provided 4 million Africans with anti-AIDS drugs; and helped boost agricultural productivity by 50% in 17 African countries.
• Emerging economies such as Brazil, India, China and Russia have been steadily increasing their aid to sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, along with increased trade and investment with African countries. However, because most of these new donors do not report their development assistance data to the DAC, the DATA Report does not compare them with traditional donors.

Launching the report Jamie Drummond, Executive Director of ONE, said:

“Unfortunately it comes as no surprise that Prime Minister Berlusconi has yet again abjectly failed to deliver on his promises – and we continue to call for Italy to be at least temporarily removed from the G8 for this reason. But it’s worrying that President Sarkozy and France are so far behind in a year when so much is expected of them as hosts of the G8 and G20, and at a time when African development, peace and democracy is at the top of the global agenda. It is also hugely disappointing that Germany – which has weathered the economic storm so well – has performed so badly on its development promises. These three nations must urgently get back on track by setting out clear timetables to meet the promises they made to give 0.7% of their national incomes as overseas aid by 2015. At the same time, non-European G8 countries like the US, Canada and Japan should set new, ambitious commitments for aid to sub-Saharan Africa.”

However, it is clear that even if G8 donors meet all their existing and future promises on aid, much more money needs to be invested in developing countries if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals and pull millions of people out of poverty.

That is why the DATA Report outlines 6 options for the G8 and G20 to generate innovative financing for development. These range from financial sector levies to African diaspora bonds, and could each help to raise billions of dollars to help fund smart aid programmes.

In this time of global austerity, the DATA Report also looks at how donors have performed against targets to improve the effectiveness of aid to ensure that their investments have the biggest possible impact, although a thorough analysis of progress was not possible due to a lack of available data. However the report did note that some donors, notably the UK, US and Canada, are increasingly emphasizing results by setting clear targets for the outcomes they intend to achieve with their aid. When countries meet for the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in South Korea later this year they should set clear standards for monitoring these results. They should also renew their efforts to improve aid and budget transparency and meet their commitments from previous aid effectiveness forums in Paris and Accra.

Check out the report, including interactive datasets, at one.org/data

2010 DATA Report launches in Ottawa

May 25th, 2010 9:56 PM UTC
By Nora Coghlan

We just wrapped up a press conference launching the 2010 DATA Report in Ottawa. ONE’s President and CEO, David Lane, was joined by two powerful Canadian advocates – Belinda Stronach, and Yasmin Warsame, Somali-Canadian model and humanitarian. Canada – who will be hosting the G8 and G20 summits next month – met its Gleneagles commitment last year, but despite its pledge to champion maternal, newborn and child health and accountability at this year’s G8, it but has yet to outline a new partnership with Africa moving forward.

We’ll have video from the launch shortly.

The DATA Report hits Germany

May 25th, 2010 9:55 PM UTC
By Sergius Seebohm

The DATA Report was launched today– Africa Day– in Berlin. A strong panel addressed the messages of the report. Hon. Zitto Kabwe, Member of Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania, gave a fascinating insight to the African perspective of development cooperation. He also explained how aid has helped to bring about concrete improvements in his very own constituency.

Prof. Helmut Reisen, head of research of the OECD Development Centre, took a look at the G8 commitments altogether and alerted the audience to the so called “new donors”. Prof. Dr. Robert Kappel, President of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) highlighted the economic prospects and challenges of African countries.

Germany’s final report card is not outstanding, as ONE’s Germany director Tobias Kahler pointed out. Only 25% of its Gleneagles promise was kept, especially since Berlin did not direct as much of its ODA raises to Africa as committed.

We also had a DATA Report launch in Ottawa, Canada that just wrapped up. We’ll have a report from that event soon. And we’ll have lots more on the 2010 DATA Report in coming days.

Presenting The DATA Report 2010

May 25th, 2010 2:47 PM UTC
By Erin Thornton

Today, ONE is launching its fifth annual DATA Report— our annual exercise in accountability and the final chapter in a series reviewing progress on commitments to Africa since 2005. This year’s report gives a final verdict on the G8’s progress in meeting their Gleneagles commitments to sub-Saharan Africa and recommends a renewed strategy for 2010-2015.

Background
The idea for the DATA Report began in 2005. When we reacted to the unveiling of the historic Gleneagles communiqué, ONE knew that the commitments it included would have a tremendous impact on Africa’s development efforts— but only if they were delivered. The importance of accountability rang clear, even back then, and so every year since Gleneagles we take a day to reflect on the progress made and what has been delivered.

This year’s report follows that same approach, but it takes on special significance because it’s 2010 ¬- the deadline the G8 gave themselves to deliver the Gleneagles commitments to ‘help Africa build the successful future all of us want to see.’ In addition to tracking the commitments and offering a final verdict on progress to date (based on available data and projections of 2010 figures), the 2010 DATA Report draws on the lessons learned over the past five years to offer recommendations for the years ahead, especially the final five years to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The report also evaluates some of the new realities facing Africa, including new stakeholders, new challenges like climate change and the critical importance of African governments’ commitments to their own development efforts.

The Findings
The 2010 DATA Report evaluates the G8’s collective progress on the main commitments and also reviews each country’s progress towards its individual promises.

On Development Assistance:
The DATA Report finds that the G8 will deliver 61% of their promised increases in development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2004-2010, the G8 have delivered an historic increase of $13.7 billion, the largest on record from the G7 to sub-Saharan Africa over a six-year time period.

Within the 61%, donor performance varies – the UK is on track to deliver an ambitious commitment (though it is not yet clear how close they will come to the target), while the US, Canada and Japan are on track to meet or surpass relatively modest commitments. France and Germany both set ambitious targets and are on course to deliver about a quarter of them by 2010, while Italy is in a category of its own as the only G7 country to have cut development assistance from 2004 levels. By the end of 2010, Italy will be responsible for an estimated one-third of the G8’s shortfall.

On debt, trade and aid effectiveness:
Despite the historic cancellation of 100% of debt for African countries, the global economic crunch and new lending mean that many countries could be facing a new debt crisis in the coming years. While the commitments on trade and investment were vague and weak, the G7 donors have delivered very little to advance them. Further, while some countries have at least developed country action plans, overall progress has been slow.

On health, education, agriculture and water and sanitation:
Where commitments have been delivered and matched with investments from African governments, impressive results have been achieved: 3 million people with HIV now have access to antiretrovirals in Africa, 42 million children were enrolled in school between 1999 and 2007 and the Global Fund has delivered 104 million bed nets to protect against malaria.

In general, the most progress has been made on certain health commitments but not on building sustainable systems to address basic health in Africa; progress has been impressive getting children into school but more of a focus is needed in improving quality and completion rates; the most ambitious commitments on agriculture are too recent to monitor but funding trends have turned around in recent years while donors may have delivered on the letter of the commitment to water and sanitation, the very vague commitment means that there is little improvement on the ground to show for it.

Looking ahead:
In addition to looking back at progress made, this year’s DATA Report also looks beyond 2010 to what is needed accelerate Africa’s progress towards the 2015 deadline for the MDGs, with an eye to the UN High-Level Summit in September. A new strategy should both take stock of lessons learned since Gleneagles (such as the need for stronger accountability and incorporating new partners) as well as target progress in governance, equitable and sustainable economic growth and further increases in smart, effective development aid that is tailored to achieve results.

(G)O, Canada!

Jun 29th, 2009 2:55 PM UTC
By Nora Coghlan

According to this year’s DATA Report, while the G8 are collectively failing to follow through on their 2005 Gleneagles promises to Africa, three countries are successfully meeting or beating their targets. One of the surprising front-runners in this group is Canada. At Gleneagles, Canada pledged to double its development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa: $1.5 billion by the end of 2008. It has not only met this target, but exceeded it, directing $1.9 billion to Africa by the end of last year. This means that it has delivered 206% of increases promised by 2010.

Canada remains a strong supporter of basic education, health, and more recently agriculture and food security. Canada has also emerged as a new leader on the aid effectiveness front, promising to untie all development assistance by 2012–2013.

Canada should be applauded for meeting its commitment to Africa, particularly in a year where countries like Italy and France are threatening to drag down the entire G8’s efforts. Accountability is more important than ever in an increasingly unpredictable financial climate, which has left the world’s poorest countries struggling maintain recent gains in the reduction of poverty and disease. Canada should use its good performance as leverage at the upcoming G8 in Italy to push the group to develop a recovery plan for countries who are behind to get back on track towards Gleneagles.

As host of the G8 Summit in 2010, Canada must also look ahead to create bold, new aid, trade and investment commitments to Africa. Despite already meeting its target, Canada has yet to indicate any increased spending plans to Africa over the next few years. While the Canadian government has said that its new aid strategy—which focuses the majority of bilateral aid on 20 focus countries (seven of which are in Africa)—does not indicate a shift, it still hasn’t shared detailed plans to prove this. These plans should include a clear timetable for delivery and a roadmap for increasing development assistance to reach 0.7% of GNI within ten years.

Over the past few years, Canada has worked hard to strengthen the G8’s relationship with Africa. It was instrumental in launching the historic 2005 Gleneagles commitment, and in 2009, it hosted the Kananaksis summit (where the G8 announced its support for the newly-formed NEPAD). To build upon this leadership, Prime Minister Stephen Harper should announce that when Canada hosts the G8 Summit in 2010, Africa and the Millennium Development Goals will be at the heart of their agenda. What better way to demonstrate Canada’s clear commitment to Africa’s future.

-Nora Coghlan

CNN at the DATA Report Launch

Jun 15th, 2009 2:09 PM UTC
By Chris Scott

Yesterday, as you know, ONE launched the 2009 DATA Report in London and CNN was there to cover the event. They sat down with panelist Bill Gates to discuss the Report and the state of global development this year.

Check it out:

You can read more from CNN here.

-Chris Scott

DATA Report Launch Videos

Jun 11th, 2009 4:42 PM UTC
By Virginia Simmons

Thanks to the handy work of our Weldon and Kimberly, we now have videos from this morning’s launch of the ONE DATA Report 2009 in London.

Here’s a 6 minute highlight reel of all of the speakers.

[Panelists: Bill Gates, co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bob Geldof anti-poverty activist and ONE adviser, Dr. Francoise Ndayishimiye, Senior Gender Adviser, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Arunma Oteh, Vice President for Corporate Services, African Development Bank, Archbishop Desmund Tutu, ONE's International Patron and Jamie Drummond, ONE's Executive Director]

And below, a video of the whole event.

DATA Report Key Findings

Jun 11th, 2009 1:59 PM UTC
By Chris Scott

In 2005 at the Gleneagles Summit, the G8 made a host of historic promises to Africa, including doubling development assistance by 2010, promoting increased trade and investment, cancelling debt, improving health, and achieving universal primary education by 2015.

Today in London, ONE released the 2009 DATA Report, its annual in-depth look at how the G8 are progressing towards these targets. This year’s report is divided into four parts: aid quality and quantity, trade and investment, debt cancellation and investing in people (a look at the progress made in the health, education, agriculture and water and sanitation sectors). What does this year’s report reveal? Here’s a look at a few key findings.

Development Assistance

• By 2008, the G8 had delivered only a third of their commitment—just $7 billion of the total $21.5 billion increases promised to Africa by 2010. Some countries fared better than others: the US, Canada and Japan are meeting or beating modest targets; Germany and the UK are striving to meet their more ambitious commitments. France’s delivery is disappointing, and Italy—the host of the upcoming G8 Summit—has utterly failed to make progress on its promised aid.
• Looking ahead to 2009, ONE estimates that the G8 will have delivered only a half of their commitment. 80% of the 2009 shortfall will be due to France and Italy. That means that in 2010, the G8 must deliver the entire other half to reach their target.
• In 2008, the G8 met in Accra to review progress on improving aid effectiveness. While the forum helped accelerate progress towards achieving better aid, more must be done to reach the 2010 goals.

Debt

• The steps taken by the G8 since 2005 have brought them close to fulfilling their commitments on debt. At the end of 2008, Africa had been relieved of $92.8 billion of its debt obligations.
• But the global financial crisis threatens to overturn these advances. Among the 20 African countries that reached ‘completion point’ in the debt cancellation process, 11 now face a risk of debt distress through reaccumulation of debt.

Trade

• The G8 are not living up to their promise to “make trade work for Africa.” Despite an increase in exports, Africa accounts for only 3.5% of global trade—the lowest share of any region in the world.
• Making trade work for Africa will require a combination of: increased access to developed country markets; reduced agricultural subsidies; improved aid for trade; stronger regional integration; and more policy space.

Investing in People: Health, Education, Agriculture and Water

• When the G8 made their 2005 commitment to double ODA to Africa by 2010, they also promised to make sure that this aid would meet specific development outcomes in health, education, water and agriculture.
• Progress has been made on some of these goals, including getting children into primary school, supporting AIDS treatment for those who need it, and distributing bed nets to protect mothers and children from malaria.
• Progress towards other outcomes has been rather slow, such as increasing access to improved drinking water and sanitation and increasing agricultural productivity. Greater details on all of these investments can be found in the full DATA Report.

The findings above are just a small sampling of the information you’ll find in the 2009 DATA Report. To view the full report online, please click here.

-Kara Arsenault

Watch the 2009 DATA Report kick-off event live in London

Jun 11th, 2009 9:30 AM UTC
By Aaron Banks

The 2009 edition of the DATA Report, ONE’s annual assessment of the G8′s progress on their commitments to global development, is launching this morning in London at a special kick-off event featuring Bill Gates, co-Chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bob Geldof, anti-poverty activist and ONE principal, Dr Francoise Ndayishimiye, of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria; Arunma Oteh, of the African Development Bank, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Visit the DATA Report website to watch the event live beginning at 10:30a.m. GMT.

-Aaron Banks