PMFORUM Breaking News
Breaking News in the Project Management World
Friday, April 11, 2008
World Bank says Rich Nations way behind on Pledges to Aid Developing Economies
According to the World Bank on Friday, April 4, "Overseas aid crawled higher last year but left most rich countries well behind successive pledges they have made to increase assistance to the developing world." Stories in the global press reflect this condition.
Figures released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), obtained by the FT, show that excluding one-off effects of debt relief, which can cause large year-on-year movements in the data, aid increased by 2.4 percent. OECD member countries gave on average 0.28 percent of their national income in aid in 2007, well below the 0.7 percent target set by the UN. In real terms, overall net aid from the world's rich countries fell 8.4 percent last year to $103.7 billion. ... The US gave the least as a share of national income, 0.16 percent, with the UK at 0.36 percent, Germany at 0.37 percent and France at 0.39 percent. ..." [The Financial Times (UK)]
Reuters reports that "Development aid from the EU's 27 countries fell last year, the bloc's top aid official said on Friday, urging governments to live up to their commitments to give more to poor nations. EU aid amounted to EUR 46.1 billion euros ($72 billion) in 2007, down about EUR 1.7 billion euros from 2006, officials said, adding that other major donors had also failed to fulfill their pledges.
'2007 was a serious failure for financial aid to development,' EU aid and development Commissioner Louis Michel (pictured) wrote together with Luxembourg's aid minister Jean-Louis Schiltz, in a letter obtained by Reuters. ... Aid relief from major donors had grown in previous years thanks to debt relief packages for countries such as Iraq and Nigeria. One EU official said last year's reduction was largely explained by the end of the rise in debt relief. ...
'The EU is still the biggest donor in the world, with Official Development Assistance amounting to EUR 93,' the official said, adding aid was equivalent to EUR 53 per person in the United States and EUR 44 in Japan. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]
The Independent notes that "The UK seems to be sticking to its commitment to international development. Open House can exclusively reveal that the Department for International Development (DfID) will announce tomorrow figures confirming that the UK will reach an EU commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on aid in 2013, two years ahead of schedule. ...
The UK's aid giving has been boosted by a cash injection by the Treasury last year, with DfID's budget increasing by 11 per cent each year until 2011. It will push the UK's total spending on aid to over GBP 9.1 billion by the end of the decade, the highest level in the country's history.
Increased aid spending has also seen the UK become the biggest donor to the World Bank, overtaking the US. It will give the bank $4.3 billion over three years, topping the $3.7 billion pledge by the US. ..." [The Independent (UK)/Factiva]
AFP reports that "British charity Oxfam released Friday figures on aid spending showing that rich countries had broken promises made to substantially increase assistance to developing countries. ... 'These figures don't lie,' said Jeremy Hobbs of Oxfam International. 'They show a clear lack of leadership on bringing much needed funding to poor countries.' ... 'We must see emergency plans announced to rapidly increase aid at the G8 this summer.' Oxfam used figures from the OECD for its development spending data." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
Source: World Bank Press Review, April 4, 2008.
Reuters reports that "Development aid from the EU's 27 countries fell last year, the bloc's top aid official said on Friday, urging governments to live up to their commitments to give more to poor nations. EU aid amounted to EUR 46.1 billion euros ($72 billion) in 2007, down about EUR 1.7 billion euros from 2006, officials said, adding that other major donors had also failed to fulfill their pledges.
'The EU is still the biggest donor in the world, with Official Development Assistance amounting to EUR 93,' the official said, adding aid was equivalent to EUR 53 per person in the United States and EUR 44 in Japan. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]
The Independent notes that "The UK seems to be sticking to its commitment to international development. Open House can exclusively reveal that the Department for International Development (DfID) will announce tomorrow figures confirming that the UK will reach an EU commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on aid in 2013, two years ahead of schedule. ...
The UK's aid giving has been boosted by a cash injection by the Treasury last year, with DfID's budget increasing by 11 per cent each year until 2011. It will push the UK's total spending on aid to over GBP 9.1 billion by the end of the decade, the highest level in the country's history.
Increased aid spending has also seen the UK become the biggest donor to the World Bank, overtaking the US. It will give the bank $4.3 billion over three years, topping the $3.7 billion pledge by the US. ..." [The Independent (UK)/Factiva]
AFP reports that "British charity Oxfam released Friday figures on aid spending showing that rich countries had broken promises made to substantially increase assistance to developing countries. ... 'These figures don't lie,' said Jeremy Hobbs of Oxfam International. 'They show a clear lack of leadership on bringing much needed funding to poor countries.' ... 'We must see emergency plans announced to rapidly increase aid at the G8 this summer.' Oxfam used figures from the OECD for its development spending data." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
Source: World Bank Press Review, April 4, 2008.
