Eurodad Statement to the OECD DAC High Level Meeting
1. The European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) is a network of 46 non-governmental organisations from 20 European countries that advocate for an environmentally sustainable financial and economic system that works to eradicate poverty and ensure human rights for all.
2. Everyone has the right to live free from poverty and deprivation. Governments’ own budgets account for the majority of public resources in developing countries, but Official Development Assistance (ODA) will continue to be crucial for providing basic services, especially in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). For example, for many countries, aid has played a significant role in providing the resources that have allowed primary school enrolment in developing regions to reach 91%.
3. The high-level meeting (HLM) offers an opportunity for its member states to refine the definition of ODA to ensure it fully supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and to remove or improve several elements that do not belong. Given the current scandal surrounding the reporting of refugee costs, it also offers member states a chance to restore their credibility as champions of poverty eradication. While many of the issues up for discussion are seemingly technical, the decisions made will have a significant impact on the future content and character of financial resources dedicated to development cooperation.
2. Everyone has the right to live free from poverty and deprivation. Governments’ own budgets account for the majority of public resources in developing countries, but Official Development Assistance (ODA) will continue to be crucial for providing basic services, especially in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). For example, for many countries, aid has played a significant role in providing the resources that have allowed primary school enrolment in developing regions to reach 91%.
3. The high-level meeting (HLM) offers an opportunity for its member states to refine the definition of ODA to ensure it fully supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and to remove or improve several elements that do not belong. Given the current scandal surrounding the reporting of refugee costs, it also offers member states a chance to restore their credibility as champions of poverty eradication. While many of the issues up for discussion are seemingly technical, the decisions made will have a significant impact on the future content and character of financial resources dedicated to development cooperation.
Summary of recommendations
4. Elements that do not meet the criteria for ODA should not be allowed:
4. Elements that do not meet the criteria for ODA should not be allowed:
- Private finance instruments should not be counted as ODA until significant improvements have been made in their evaluating and monitoring.
- In-donor refugee costs should not count as ODA.
5. To prevent the serious risks of bad incentives that could encourage ineffective, expensive or counter-productive ODA, the following elements should not be allowed:
7. Items which are excluded from ODA could be quantified in other measures, to ensure a complete picture, with separate and balanced accounting to prevent bad incentives.
- All flows reported as ODA should be fully untied both in policy and in practice.
- There should be no dilution of the existing rules on security expenditures.
7. Items which are excluded from ODA could be quantified in other measures, to ensure a complete picture, with separate and balanced accounting to prevent bad incentives.