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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
African churches find it difficult to deal with AIDS
Somalia
BMZ suggests utilising new dynamism in Africa
Development assistance rising
“The trade in used capital goods must be regulated”
Austrian Development Agency starts working
Expert discussion: Speed up poverty reduction
40th GDI training course
3/2004
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[ DAC Report 2003 ]
Development assistance rising
For the first time in years, official development assistance (ODA) of OECD countries rose significantly in 2002 – nominally to US$ 58.3 billion compared to US$ 52.3 billion in 2001. Taking account of exchange rate fluctuations, the total input increased by more than 7 per cent in real terms. These are figures from the latest annual report of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and DAC Chairman Richard Manning presented in Berlin in late January. In absolute terms, the biggest donors in 2002 were the USA (US$ 13.3 billion), Japan (US$ 9.3 billion), France (US$ 5.5 billion) and Germany (US$ 5.3 billion). Measured by the ODA ratio of gross national income, Denmark (0.96 per cent), Norway (0.89 per cent), Sweden (0.83 per cent) and the Netherlands (0.81 per cent) were the most generous donors. On average, OECD countries spent about 0.41 per cent of their gross national income for development assistance in 2002. (In April, the DAC is expected to present an estimate of the ODA figures for 2003.)
According to the DAC, Germany's ODA in 2002 rose nominally by more than US$ 330 million, but fell in real terms by 0.2 per cent. The nominal growth of Germany's development assistance and that of other Eurozone countries is due largely to the declining value of the dollar. However, the growth is real insofar as a stronger euro means greater development assistance inputs as transfers are internationally made in dollars. Wieczorek-Zeul reaffirmed the pledge of the Social Democrat-Green coalition government to boost the German ODA ratio from a current 0.27 per cent to 0.33 per cent by 2006.
The DAC report criticised the fact that the emergency aid proportion of ODA was growing continually while long-term structural assistance was being put on the back burner. According to the report, the decline in funding in the sectors of agriculture and rural development is particularly worrying. The DAC appeals to donor countries to better coordinate their development efforts and to harmonise processes. "The closer we coordinate our activities internationally the more efficiently can the money be used, and the more the people in the developing countries will benefit from our assistance," Wieczorek-Zeul agrees. Johannes Wendt
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