Rich donor governments will be “untying” some aid commitments at the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, according to a draft document seen by the Financial Times.
The draft indicates governments intend to back away from commitments to make overseas development assistance more transparent and instead use recipient countries’ systems to administer aid.
Publish What You Fund Managing Director Karin Christiansen said this endangers the credibility of development aid, especially at a time when governments are tight on spending.
“We’re in the realm of low ambition,” Christiansen said. “Just days before the meeting, some countries are still trying to shirk past commitments, buy time and create loopholes. This should have been a moment for donors to celebrate making their aid more effective, but on most issues they’re fighting to stand still.”
Campaigners and officials point to the United States as one of the donors most reluctant to make tighter commitments, the Financial Times reports. U.S. Agency for International Development Senior Development Counselor Dirk Dijkerman, however, said the “US has been an active proponent for improving the quality of aid.”
“Last year, the US provided more development and emergency assistance than any other country in the history of the world,” he said.
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