On 2 July, the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD DAC) will decide whether to change the rules on how debt relief is reported as Official Development Assistance (ODA). There is a serious risk that these changes could create loopholes allowing donors that use debt-based instruments to inflate their aid levels at the expense of the poorest countries.

Last week the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) released its 2018 report on untying Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Tied aid is currently used to buy goods or services from the country providing the ODA. In other words, it puts the commercial objectives of companies in donor countries ahead of the priorities of people in the global south.

CSOs’ recommendations for the use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to support private investments in developing countries, ahead of future EU Multiannual Financial Framework discussions.

The Addis Ababa Agenda for Action (AAAA), agreed in 2015, was supposed to provide the framework for how the world would finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Europe's new plan for investing in Africa will see EU development support being channelled through private companies.

On 14 September 2016 the European Commission proposed an External Investment Plan (EIP) 'to encourage investment in our partner countries in Africa and the EU Neighbourhood region, to strengthen its partnerships and contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, helping to address some root causes of migration'.

The paper explores the relationship between two concepts: the objective of leaving no-one behind, and blended finance. Both are often cited, in different contexts, as central to realising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This is a background paper authored by Jesse Griffiths, Director of Eurodad, on the occasion of the UNCTAD intergovernmental expert group meeting in October 2017.