Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 October 2018
65. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which various countries, through the EU or UN, in the past five years have failed to deliver aid as promised; the target countries adjudged to have suffered most in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40551/18]
View answerPreliminary official data collected by the OECD indicates that total ODA from members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) amounted to USD 146.6 billion in 2017.
However, total ODA from members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2017 was equivalent to just 0.31% of their combined gross national income, down from 0.32% in 2016 and well below a United Nations target to keep ODA at or above 0.7% of donor GNI.
Only five DAC members – Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom – met the United Nations target in 2017 for an ODA/GNI ratio of at least 0.7%. The proportion of ODA given in 2017 by all other DAC donors, including Ireland, was under this threshold.
In terms of the volume of aid, the European Union and its Member States continue to be the world's leading provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) with an overall amount of €75.7 billion in 2017. In total, 56% of total net ODA is provided by DAC-EU countries. ODA delivered through the EU is primarily financed either through the EU budget or, in the case of the European Development Fund (EDF), which is used to provide development assistance to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries, through mandatory assessed contributions by all EU Member States. Member States can also make voluntary but legally binding commitments to a number of EU-managed trust funds.
Funding for the various funds and programmes of the UN is spread across a combination of assessed and voluntary, core and programmed contributions. Total revenues for all UN agencies in 2016 amounted to USD 49.33bn.
