DI's response to new aid spending figures

Today, the OECD published aid spending figures from official donors in 2018, which show official development assistance has dropped, especially to countries with the highest levels of need.

Harpinder Collacott, Executive Director at Development Initiatives, said “ODA is a critical resource for financing efforts to end extreme poverty and support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals for many countries, especially those where other resources are limited. Furthermore, we are just over a decade away from the 2030 deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals but progress against most of the goals remains slow and a substantial financing gap estimated to be as high as US$3.1 trillion persists. Therefore, it is disappointing today to see ODA decrease at this critical juncture, especially as that decrease seems to be hitting some of the poorest people, and countries where the need is greatest.

“The figures released today should serve as a stark warning that we cannot get complacent about achieving the SDGs. Unfortunately, donors are not living up to the commitment they made in 2015 to increase financing to deliver the SDGs and the figures show only five out of 30 are giving 0.7% of their GNI in aid. If this decrease is not reversed, the world may be further off-track in fulfilling the global promise to end extreme poverty by 2030 and leave no one behind.”

Notes to editors:

1. Development Initiatives (DI) is an independent international development organisation that focuses on the role of data in driving poverty eradication and sustainable development. More information about DI and the work we do can be found at http://devinit.org/
2. Key data and evidence about historic aid spending trends and its unique role in poverty eradication are detailed in Development Initiatives report ‘Investments to End Poverty’

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