2021 should have been the year to double down on ODA to counter compounding global challenges. Instead, 1 euro in every 6 from EU and Member States’ ODA budgets did not even go towards those left furthest behind.
On Wednesday 18th October, CONCORD launched its 2023 AidWatch report, ‘Bursting the ODA inflation bubble.’ The report analyses both the quantity and the quality of EU ODA, finding that although reported figures are at a record high, 22% of reported ODA did not meet the most basic criteria to qualify as such.
Since 2005, CONCORD’s AidWatch reports have monitored and made recommendations on the quantity and quality of aid provided by the EU and its Member States. With the AidWatch publications, CONCORD members want to hold EU leaders accountable for their ODA commitments, including the longstanding target of allocating 0.7% GNI to ODA.
While Official Development Aid (ODA) figures are reportedly at record highs, the AidWatch 2023 report shows how the EU and its Member States have managed once again to claim billions as aid that did not meet the most basic criteria to qualify as ODA.
2021 should have been the year to double down on ODA to counter compounding global challenges. Instead, 1 euro in every 6 from EU and Member States’ ODA budgets did not even go towards those left furthest behind.