A leaked draft of an aid accountability report that will be presented in a Group of 8 summit in France later this month is in conflict with a report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in April, drawing speculation that the world’s biggest donors may be attempting to conceal their failure to meet their past aid commitments.
The G-8 report claims that the countries have increased aid volumes by $49 million between 2004 and 2010, which is only $1 billion short of the annual target they set in 2005, according to the Financial Times, which says it has seen the draft accountability report.
The OECD review, meantime, noted that G-8 countries and other donors missed their 2005 targets by at least $19 billion.
>> Donors Missed 2010 Aid Targets - OECD
The differences in the two documents, according to the Financial Times, is due to the G-8 report’s failure to account for inflation in its assessment. This made increases in aid volumes appear more generous because prices rose between 2004 and 2010.
This attempt by the G-8 to gloss over its poor performance in meeting its aid commitments has been heavily criticized by anti-poverty campaigners and advocacy groups.
“It is shameful that the G8 are choosing to artificially inflate their figures. Cooked books will not feed anyone in Africa,” the Financial Times quotes Max Lawson, head of development finance at Oxfam International.
Meantime, a report by the international anti-poverty campaign group ONE shows differences in the individual performance of donors in meeting their 2005 commitment to increase the amount of aid they provide to Africa by $25 billion by 2010.
The United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have performed well while Italy, France and Germany have fallen short of their targets, Jamie Drummond, ONE’s executive director said.
Italy, France and Germany failed to meet their pledges and were largely responsible for the G-8’s $7 billion shortfall, the report notes, according to the Guardian.
Read more development aid news.
