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 According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC), development aid among its members rose in 2008 to its highest recorded level. Total net official development assistance (ODA) from rose by 10.2% in real terms to $ 119.8 billion, representing 0.3% of members' combined gross national income (GNI).
Most countries still fell far short of the United Nations target 0.7% of GNI, which was only exceeded by Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. The largest volume increases in 2008 were achieved by the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Japan and Canada. The OECD notes that "significant increases" were also recorded in Australia, Belgium, Greece, New Zealand and Portugal. The European Commission's net ODA rose by 6.8%, "mainly due to an increase in technical cooperation activities and humanitarian aid". While progress has been made since the pledges to increase ODA made at the Gleneagles G8 and UN Millennium summits, the OECD states that "the current outlook suggests that at least USD 10-15 billion must still be added to current forward spending plans if donors are to meet their current 2010 commitments." The OECD names Austria, Italy and Greece as countries likely to have significant shortfalls in meeting their 2010 targets, and concludes: "Only a special crisis-related effort can ensure that the 2010 targets for aid are met, which is even more important now that the economic crisis is reducing developing countries' growth prospects and their ability to make progress towards the Millennium Development Goals." Source: |
