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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
WFP opposes strict WTO rules
G8 cancels debt and cuts aid
Climate protection after Kyoto
EU looks for its role in development policy
Africa suffers from lack of harmonisation
KfW Development Bank gains
Spam mails impede development
Aid does not reach the poor
Trade: Renminbi appreciation would have no effect
07/2005
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ActionAid: aid does not reach the poor
British aid organisation ActionAid has presented calculations which show only a third of the international development assistance actually reaches the poor in developing countries. 61 percent of the funds provided by the 22 biggest donors goes to consultants and technical cooperation advisers, flows into the administration or is debt relief and, as such, is not additional aid, according to ActionAid. This proportion of “phantom aid” in the respective development budgets ranges from 13 percent in Ireland to 29 percent in the United Kingdom and 65 percent in Germany, right up to almost 90 percent in the USA and France. According to British newspaper The Guardian, the British Department for International Development (DfID) rejected the figures, saying, “it’s absurd to argue that debt relief, or practical advice from technical experts, isn’t real aid.” The German Development Ministry called differentiating between good and bad aid “outrageous”. Both debt relief and technical cooperation make important contributions to development. “ActionAid’s calculations discredit significant leverage in the fight against poverty,” commented the Ministry.
The World Bank estimates that in the past year, a good quarter or 20 billion US dollars of the 78 billion dollars in international development assistance was spent on technical cooperation and consultants. According to The Guardian, a World Bank spokesperson admitted that the increased consultancy fees “need to be addressed”. (ell)
On the Internet:
ActionAid study: http://www.actionaid.org.uk/wps/content/documents/real_aid.pdf
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