Official development assistance in decline

Last year, official development assistance (ODA) the world over fell for the first time since 1997. In 2006, the 22 biggest donor countries that make up the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) transferred a total of $ 103.9 billion to developing countries and multilateral aid organisations – 5.1 % less than a year earlier. The drop came as no surprise: the record high of almost $ 107 billion in 2005 was attributed for the most part to debt relief for Iraq and Nigeria. Since these items turned out to be considerably smaller last year, registered aid dropped accordingly. If the debt cancellations are disregarded, ODA by DAC members fell only slightly, by 1.8%. Aid for Africa, excluding debt relief, increased by two percent. According to an OECD press release, the challenge remains to double aid for the continent by 2010, as promised at the last G8 summit in Gleneagles (see interview with Ulla Tørnæs, Denmark’s minister for development cooperation on p. 216). The DAC is reckoning on a further decrease in international aid next year because debt relief for Nigeria and Iraq will be concluded then. (ell)