About CONCORD
CONCORD is the European Confederation of NGOs working on sustainable development and international cooperation.
We envision a world where people live free of poverty and exploitation. This must be achieved by a citizen-led transformative agenda based on social justice and gender equality and respecting diversity and the limits of our planetary capacity.
We are the main interlocutor with the EU institutions on sustainable development policy and international cooperation.
We work together to ensure that European policies promote sustainable economic, social and human development, addressing the causes of poverty, based on human rights, gender equality, justice and democracy.
Our impact
NGOs represented in our network
people listened to our "Talking Development" podcasts
people attended our events and meetings last year
downloads of reports and publications last year
Our priorities
We work on three projects, tracking developments in these areas, advocating for change and working in a cross-cutting manner between them.
Financing and funding for sustainable development
equality and leaving no one behind
Civil Society power
Other topics
Policy coherence for sustainable development
Global Citizenship Education
Gender Equality
Regional Alliances
AidWatch 2024: Whose Interests Does Official Development Assistance Truly Serve?
The headline figures for Official Development Assistance (ODA) tell an alarming story. Half a century after the deadline by which “economically advanced countries” committed that their ODA would amount to at least 0.7% of their GNI, European ODA levels continue to fall short. This continues a decades-long trend of under-delivery, which we estimate means a loss of over EUR 1.2 trillion of ODA for partner countries since the original 1975 deadline.
The headline figures also conceal over EUR 18.9 billion of ODA from the 27 EU Member States that did not meet the basic ODA eligibility criteria set by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This means that in 2023, more than one in every five euro of European Member States’ reported ODA was not ODA at all.
There are additional ODA areas for which it is highly likely that spending decisions are motivated primarily by EU Member States’ short-term commercial or political self-interests and therefore that ODA eligibility criteria are not met.
Latest resources
Stepping up EU international cooperation through the next Multiannual Financial Framework
Joint Statement: Disastrous Omnibus proposal erodes EU’s corporate accountability commitments and slashes human rights and environmental protections.
Development cooperation, Human rights, Sustainability, 2030 Agenda
The human face of inequalities. What makes the difference for equality? Voices on what the EU can do
Latest news
The EU’s short-sighted aid cuts are a choice – so is the way forward!
Brussels, [16 April 2025] – The early figures for 2024 Official Development Assistance (ODA) confirm a deeply troubling trend: Europe’s richest countries per capita— such as Germany, Netherlands and Finland—are cutting back their commitments to international...
Director’s blog: Do partner country interests matter to the EU anymore?
Tanya CoxDirector of CONCORDI recently participated in the CSO Advisory Platform meeting dedicated to the Global Gateway. By now, we’re all fairly familiar with what the Global Gateway is – in general – about: large investment projects in infrastructure, connectivity,...
Whose Interests does ODA Truly Serve? AidWatch 2024 Launch Event
On Tuesday 22 October, CONCORD launched the 2024 edition of its AidWatch report. This year, the report posed the question, ‘Whose interests does ODA truly serve?’ and found that a significant portion of European ODA provision is being shaped by self-interests instead of the wellbeing of partner countries.
