Does the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee have a transparency problem? Is it an out-of-touch rich donors club? And with war once again at donors’ doorstep in Ukraine, does the concept of official development assistance still make sense?
Those were among the questions we put to DAC Chair Susanna Moorehead last week, as she and her team presented preliminary aid figures for 2021.
Aid from official donors rose to an all-time high of $179 billion in 2021, up 4.4% from 2020. However, excluding donated COVID-19 vaccines, the increase was just 0.6%. And with the war in Ukraine set to hit fuel, fertilizer, and food prices, on top of existing crises in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Yemen, and elsewhere, Moorehead warned against complacency, arguing that “the worst is yet to come.”