• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • Opinion
    • Humanitarian response

    Opinion: Humanitarian challenges rely on aid rules being valued and strengthened

    This week's OECD DAC meetings highlighted the importance of multilateralism, writes Bond Policy Advisor Mike Green.

    By Mike Green // 03 November 2017
    A view of a street in Rousseau, Dominica, hit by Hurricane Irma. Photo by: Rick Bajornas / U.N.

    On Tuesday, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development concluded the high-level meeting of its Development Assistance Committee. Ministers from the 30 DAC member countries spent two days deliberating important and topical issues that affect aid and development spending on the ground.
    The agenda included important areas such as reporting standards on in-donor refugee costs, blended finance principles, and the mandate of the DAC itself. While technical in nature, these topics may have a profound effect on quality of development outcomes and ultimately on the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.

    In the months leading up to the meeting, civil society organizations had engaged with DFID, outlining propositions of potential official development assistance rule changes that could ultimately lead to increased aid effectiveness, as well as measures that would not be supported by civil society — meaning, anything that diverted aid away from the world’s poorest people. The devastation caused by Hurricane Irma brought to the fore issues around the long-term effects to regions and small island nations that endured significant financial setbacks as a result of natural disaster or humanitarian crisis, as well as the issue of giving aid to British overseas territories devastated by the hurricane.

    UK proposal on aid for overseas territories withdrawn at DAC, but sparks debate

    The U.K. delegation at the Development Assistance Committee's high-level OECD meeting in Paris on Monday was forced to withdraw a proposal to "waive" aid eligibility requirements for rich, crisis-hit states after it failed to secure a consensus. But sources told Devex the proposal was partly responsible for reigniting a key debate over ODA eligibility that could lead to changes in the future.

    The U.K. raised this specific case as rescue and recovery efforts for overseas territories could not be counted as ODA as they had very recently graduated from the DACs list of ODA eligible countries. The DAC committed to two significant tranches of work.

    First, OECD DAC agreed to establish a process to examine short-term financing mechanisms available to respond to catastrophic humanitarian crises in countries recently graduated from the ODA eligible list. This would address the scenario seen in British overseas territories after Hurricane Irma and could include ODA spending based on objective criteria set by the DAC.

    Second, DAC agreed to explore what “reverse graduation” could look like in practice. This followed an acknowledgement that there are no rules at present around whether a “graduated” country or territory can go back onto the DAC list of ODA eligible countries should they later suffer a persistent drop in their per capita income, pushing them below the World Bank high-income threshold. To understand what this could look like in practice and how it might affect the integrity of the rules, the DAC has now requested evidence-based proposals from its secretariat to allow reinstatement for those who have graduated.

    Given the huge inequality of wealth that exists in a number of these small island nations and the potential for unintended consequences by counting rescue and recovery efforts as ODA eligible carte blanche, there is rightly a debate as to what a humanitarian response should look like. It’s a welcome step for the DAC to formally acknowledge that effects of natural disaster and humanitarian crisis could lead to a substantial and sustained drop in the GNI of a country. And the U.K.’s role in putting this on the DAC’s agenda should also be recognized.

    However, civil society does not want to see this leading away from existing and already robust OECD DAC rules on ODA spending and diverting money away from the world’s poorest countries and people and toward the national interest of donor countries.
    This week’s meeting reminded us of the value of multilateral systems when tackling complex global issues, the importance of securing consensus, and the value in basing rule changes on evidence-based analysis. It also highlighted the importance of multilateralism at a time of significant global challenge. Unilateral action by any member state could have led to weaker aid rules and thereby ineffective aid. It would have been the world’s poorest and most marginalized who would have suffered the consequences of such a step.
    This wasn’t the case, and instead the outcome will ultimately benefit those in most genuine need and hopefully help those countries no longer dependant on aid from becoming so again.

    Join the Devex community and access more in-depth analysis, breaking news and business advice — and a host of other services — on international development, humanitarian aid and global health.

    • Humanitarian Aid
    • Democracy, Human Rights & Governance
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
    The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect Devex's editorial views.

    About the author

    • Mike Green

      Mike Green

      Mike Green is policy adviser at Bond, working on U.K. and EU aid policy. He supports members on issues surrounding aid quality and quantity, financing for development, EU aid, and the OECD Development Assistance Committee.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Director Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships
      Nairobi, Kenya | Kenya | Eastern Africa
    • Deputy Country Director – Programs Delivery
      Nairobi, Kenya | Kenya | Eastern Africa
    • Political Advisor on International Affairs
      Brussels, Belgium | Belgium | Western Europe
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      How low-emissions livestock are transforming dairy farming in Africa
    • 3
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 4
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 5
      How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    Related Stories

    Climate FinanceThe island territories that fall through the cracks

    The island territories that fall through the cracks

    Devex NewswireDevex Newswire: Trump aid cuts rattle the UN’s humanitarian capital

    Devex Newswire: Trump aid cuts rattle the UN’s humanitarian capital

    HumanitarianOpinion: Why we don’t mix humanitarian aid with military operations

    Opinion: Why we don’t mix humanitarian aid with military operations

    Sponsored by Gates FoundationOpinion: Enlightened self-interest demands global health investments

    Opinion: Enlightened self-interest demands global health investments

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement