development aid

The EU has decided its budget for 2018 with cuts long-term development aid that helps the poorest people. A coalition of development NGOs criticised the EU for putting its own short-term interests ahead of the people most in need.

At a meeting at the OECD in Paris on the future of development aid, governments of the world’s richest countries promoted the use of development aid to support private investment in poor countries, but failed to focus on the rules and safeguards needed to make sure it supports the people most in need.

A coalition of NGOs has welcomed the European Parliament's vote to increase humanitarian and development aid in the EU budget 2018, but call on the EU to ensure aid money really goes to those who need it most.

Plans for next year's EU budget mean that not the actual needs of people in developing countries will be addressed, but money will be spent on border security to stop migration, Oxfam deplores.

EU governments have today furthered the recent trend of using development aid to advance their own short-sighted interests. They have adopted a new framework for the European Union’s development policy that neither listens to EU citizens nor focuses on eradicating poverty.

Rich countries are exaggerating how much they are spending to tackle poverty and inequality in poor countries.

The budget deal struck by EU governments, the European Parliament and the European Commission promises more funds for the EU’s external action, but diverts money from those most in need, warn development and humanitarian organizations.

Development NGOs Oxfam, ONE and Plan international welcomed a European Parliament vote to reject proposed cuts and to increase of the EU's external spending, supporting for the fight to end extreme poverty.

In an joint statement Oxfam and 10 other NGOs are cautioning against a strong shift of Europe's development programming towards migration management.