All about aid - observer new design

All about aid

The best intentions in the world will not be enough to undo the damage done by the global economic crisis to the hopes of fully achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. With just five years left to that target date, the 2010 edition of the OECD’s Development Co-operation Report alerts readers to the probable shortfalls in aid expected in 2010, as compared with commitments made in 2005 at the Gleneagles G8 and UN Millennium +5 summits. Since the report was published, new OECD data estimate a shortfall of $18 billion in 2010 compared with the 2005 pledges, largely because of reductions in gross national income among donor countries. Africa will be most affected, because some European donors who give large shares of their official development assistance to that continent will not meet their ambitious targets.

The report provides detailed statistics on 2007-08 bilateral and multilateral development aid from members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), and from selected countries and organisations that are not members of DAC, and on where that aid went. It also addresses a few pointed questions that have been raised both inside and outside the development community: Does development aid have an impact? How can it spur sustainable growth and foster more self-reliance among poor countries? How much aid money is squandered by corrupt governments?

Aid effectiveness is not just about numbers, it’s also about where and how the money is spent, the report says. It discusses the importance of aid for trade and incorporating policies to adapt to climate change in all projects and national strategies. It also focuses on policies for the world’s most fragile states–some 48 countries, plagued by violent conflict and poor governance, abject poverty and high child mortality rates.