Aid Talks Fail to Deliver for the World's Poor

All Africa
Sep 5, 2008

ActionAid said today that key demands by developing countries and campaigners for immediate improvements to make aid work better for the poor were blocked by the US, Japan and the World Bank.

Hopes had been high that key reforms would be agreed to make aid more efficient, transparent and effective, but these were scuppered by back room deals dominated by donor countries. Some progress was made in some areas, such as the use of country systems, but overall there were few concrete commitments. The talks were convened by the OECD; a grouping of the world's wealthiest nations.

ActionAid spokesperson, Wole Olaleye said "It is disgraceful that powerful countries have denied the poor a chance to benefit from better aid. Future aid negotiations cannot be run by a few rich countries. They must be moved to a forum where northern and southern countries can negotiate on equal terms, such as the United Nations, with meaningful participation by civil society."

The European Union has supported developing country positions and hinted that it might consider making additional commitments to improve aid.

"Europe provides two thirds of the world's aid," Olaleye added. "It's time for them to set the bar much higher and agree with developing countries the concrete steps needed to make European aid more accountable and effective."