On Friday, April 4th, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), the independent research arm of the Organization for Economic Development & Cooperation (OECD) released the 2007 Official Development Assistance numbers. The OECD is a membership organization of the governments of countries committed to supporting democracy and the market economy. According to the report, aid from the 22 member countries of the OECD to developing countries fell by 8.4% in 2007 to $103.7 billion. However, this decline was anticipated as ODA in the previous two years was exceptionally high due to large debt relief operations, especially in Iraq & Nigeria. If debt relief efforts from 2006 are excluded, assistance rose by 2.4%.
The United States continues to be the largest donor, contributing $21.753 billion in 2007. This is a 9.9% decline over the previous year, mostly due to a slowing of reconstruction efforts in Iraq. ODA from other donor countries fell sharply as well. France’s contributions declined by more than 15% and the United Kingdom gave 29% less than it had in 2006.
In proportion to our national wealth, the U.S. now shares the bottom position with Greece, giving just 0.16% of our GNP to ODA. This falls below the OECD average of 0.28% and the 0.7% goal expressed in the Monterrey Consensus. Only 5 of the 22 OECD member countries contribute 0.7% or more of their GNP to ODA.
This year, U.S. appropriators will have some difficult choices to make as they determine the funding priorities of the United States for 2009 and the next administration. In the midst of an uncertain national and global economy, how will Congress respond to the unmet needs around the world and unfulfilled commitments? Will the U.S. continue make promises to our neighbors around the world that it won’t fully finance? How can we lead the world in development and poverty reduction or expect our partners to meet their commitments if we don’t lead by example?