Civil Society Fights Budget Cuts Amid Requests for “Aid” Changes – Global Issues
NEW YORK, Oct 16 (IPS) – Sarah Strack is Director of Forus Multiple conflicts, climate emergencies and other problems are destabilizing many parts of the world and intensifying the resource constraints needed to fund the global sustainable development agenda. Among these challenges, data for 2023, shows that Official Development Assistance (ODA) reached a high of US$223.7 billion, from US$211 billion last year, according to Eurodad.
However, when one looks beyond the statistics, troubling trends emerge. Major donors such as Germany and France are reducing their development budgets and several countries have already announced cuts by 2025.
This trend has created a debate about the form and quality of international aid, especially at a time when ODA is more important than ever in dealing with global problems.
In France, with the campaign #StopàlabaisseAPD (#StoptheODACuts), NGOs are rallying against further reductions in the 2025 budget, warning that such cuts could undermine international solidarity efforts and hit those already left behind.
The Coordination SUD, a coalition of 180 French NGOs, raises the alarm about the potential impact of these cuts, which follows a 13% reduction in 2024, and sees ODA funds reduced again by more than 20% in 2025, according to finance. The bill was introduced on Thursday
The first victims of this move will be the most vulnerable people. “ODA enables local and international NGOs to work every day with the most vulnerable communities,” reminds Olivier Bruyeron, President of the Coordination SUD.
“Official development aid has been used as a political football in recent years,” said Bond, the UK’s national NGO forum.
As a national civil society organisation, they work to ensure that UK aid reaches communities “most in need”.
“ODA is being used as a nationally oriented political tool, when it should be a means of redistributive justice,” said Bond’s Alex Farley at a recent global event during the Future Summit organized by global communications organization Forus. .
This debate is part of a larger global discussion on the future of ODA.
Although the general goal of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) is still an important benchmark for donor countries, experts argue that ODA should evolve to better address the real needs of recipient societies, especially in the Global South. As Oyebisi Oluseyi of the Nigerian Network of NGOs (NNNGO) notes, “While this target is still important, it is no longer enough.”
Critics call for a redefinition of ODA that changes the dynamics of recipient countries and societies. Zia ur Rehman, Coordinator of the Asia Development Alliance – a regional NGO forum, emphasizes the need for local actors to have a greater say in how funds are spent.
Giving a perspective from the Pacific Islands, Emeline Siale from the regional civil society coalition PIANGO, emphasizes the need for local actors to play a leading role in ODA decision-making, “not just as participants but as leaders”.
“Community participation in itself is a humbling process, and it has become an important topic in many public discussions,” Siale explained.
As with key international conferences on how to finance development, the future of ODA—and its ability to meet the needs of the most vulnerable—hangs in the balance.
“The upcoming Fourth United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development provides an important opportunity for the developing world to align with the goals of effective development, rather than allowing it to be diluted. Now, more than ever, civil society must play its role, change. the power and enforce a new global governance all of international aid is more representative, democratic, inclusive, and transparent, “says the leader of the civil society in Burkina Faso Mavalow Christelle Kalhoule and the President of Forus, a global public network representing more than 24,000 NGOs in all countries. globe.
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