Development Assistance | Get PDF
Development assistance plays a critical role in the fight against extreme poverty and disease. In signing on to the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, developed countries acknowledged that progress towards achieving the first seven goals would largely depend on leadership in developing countries. However, by committing to goal eight, which calls for a global partnership for development, the international community clearly affirmed the importance of external support for international development. This imperative was also reflected at the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, where eight of the world’s wealthiest nations agreed to a new partnership with the developing world, committing to deliver an additional $50 billion in development assistance around the world by 2010, half of which (an additional $25 billion) would be designated for Africa.
Evidence for Action
Across the world, there is evidence that investments in development are working, producing real results and improving the lives of millions of people.
- In 2002, only 50,000 HIV positive Africans had access to life-saving antiretroviral medicines. Today, more than 2.1 million people in Africa are receiving treatment thanks to development assistance delivered through programs like the Global Fund and PEPFAR.
- Debt relief and targeted aid for education helped send 29 million African children to school for the first time between 1999 and 2005.
- The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria has delivered 59 million nets since 2002, helping to substantially reduce malaria deaths in countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya.
Moving Forward
Achieving the large-scale results that are possible with development assistance requires that donor governments follow through on their commitments to scale-up aid to the world’s poorest nations. As detailed in the 2008 DATA Report, midpoint to the 2010 delivery date to increase development assistance to Africa by $25 billion, the G8 has only delivered 14% of its promise.
Just as important as delivering on the promises to increase the quantity of development assistance, the quality of development assistance must improve as well. For development assistance to be effective, it has to be spent well and used wisely. Development assistance works best when it is delivered promptly and predictably, when it is driven by local initiative and when there is local accountability for its use. To reflect this, spending and disbursement plans should be transparently reported so that donors and recipients can plan and monitor effectively. Whenever possible, donors should use national systems for delivery and should procure goods and services locally to help build local capacity and reduce costs.
In addition, it is crucial that development assistance strengthen - and never undermine - domestic democratic accountability. Resources for fighting poverty should be targeted to countries that are putting citizens in the driving seat of development by improving democracy, accountability and transparency and fighting corruption. When countries are not pursuing these objectives, development assistance should be targeted through alternative delivery mechanisms such as non-governmental organizations, international institutions and faith groups.