More than 22% of official development assistance declared by European Union countries last year is “hot air” and not real aid, according to an analysis by NGOs, which warns of a huge increase in overcounting.
Total “inflated ODA” soared from €9.7 billion ($11.5 billion) in 2021 to €18.7 billion in 2022 — from 15.4% to 22.1% of reported spending — says the annual AidWatch report by CONCORD, the confederation for EU development groups.
It highlighted a “spectacular increase” in the sums diverted to paying the bills for hosting Ukrainian refugees in EU countries — calling for the rules to be changed to exclude so-called in-donor refugee costs, or IDRC, from ODA calculations.