The world is currently in an extremely critical context, for the first time in over three decades, the Human Development Index has fallen globally over the past two years, clearly indicating the huge setbacks that countries across the global south are confronting in terms of health, education and living standards. An estimated 100 million people have fallen into extreme poverty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and about 40 million more will follow due to the war in Ukraine. In this context, official development assistance (ODA) remains the main channel for international cooperation, notably for the least developed and low-income countries, based on country ownership of the development strategies pursued.

In 2022, DAC donors stepped up their ODA levels to unprecedented levels again. However, behind these headlines there is not much to celebrate, excluding the reported costs of hosting refugees in donor countries - 14,4 per cent of total ODA (equivalent to US$ 29.3 billion), ODA rose by only 4.6 per cent compared to the 2021 in real terms. As the war in Ukraine was leading to millions and millions of people having to quit their home; outside of Ukraine, the effects of the war in global markets and food supply worsened the existent hunger crisis. The amounts required to address the polycrises therefore needed to be significantly higher. The percentage of non-real ODA also skyrocketed in 2022, with US$ 30.9 billion (or almost 15 per cent of total ODA) to costs that, in our CSO view, do not fit the definition of ODA. This Twitter space will address these questions.

This event is an audio live conversation happening via Twitter Space, click here to join. 

Moderated by Wester van Gaal, journalist at the EU Observer

Guests:

• Vitalice Meja, Reality of Aid - Africa / DAC-CSO Reference Group
• Salvatore Nocerino Telleria, CONCORD 
• Nerea Craviotto, Eurodad