When Concord, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development, released its AidWatch 2014 report Thursday, the central message was that only four countries — the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and Luxembourg — met the European Union’s pledged target of providing 0.7 percent of their gross national income on official development assistance.
The deadline for reaching that figure is next year, but the study by the Brussels-based group showed that some crisis-ridden EU members continue to cut aid budgets; Concord projects EU aid to the poorest countries will drop 41 billion euros ($50.8 billion) next year.
“Donors need to recommit,” said Amy Dodd, chairwoman of Concord AidWatch and coordinator of the U.K. Aid Network. “It is fundamentally a political problem. It is not that the United Kingdom or France doesn’t have the money. Not to downplay the challenge, but you have to build a political consensus and put pressure on the political parties.”
About the author
Bill Hinchbergerhinchberger
Bill Hinchberger is a global communications professional and educator. He studied at Berkeley and has taught at the Sorbonne. Based mostly in Paris, he spends quality time in Brazil and the United States, and works extensively in Africa and Latin America. He has served as an international correspondent for The Financial Times, Business Week, ARTnews, Variety, and others. One current focus of his work is content creation for foundations, NGOs and other organizations, especially those working on issues related to international affairs, the environment and development. He also runs training programs for professional journalists, notably in Africa, and is an associate of Rain Barrel Communications, a leading consultancy for social justice projects.
