OECD demands more Swiss development aid

OECD says donors have to accelerate funding to meet the goal of doubling aid to Africa by 2010 Keystone

Switzerland should give more development aid from 2009, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says.

The recommendation is included in the OECD’s “Development Cooperation Report”, which was published on Thursday in Berlin.

The report looks at overall aid volume and examines whether donors are on track to reach their goal of increasing aid to $130 billion (SFr161 billion) globally and doubling aid to Africa by 2010.

It said Switzerland’s contribution of 0.44 per cent of gross national product (GNP) in 2005 was 0.03 per cent below the average of the 22 member countries that make up the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

In absolute figures, Switzerland was 14th among the 22 donor countries, with a contribution of SFr1.77 billion in development aid. But the Swiss rose to 11th place when considered as a percentage of GNP.

This represents a 0.03 per cent increase on Switzerland’s 2004 contribution, but was largely due to debt relief, the report declared.

Although Switzerland’s 2005 contribution was in line with the objectives it set, from 2009 new funding goals had to be established and volumes re-thought, it added.

Higher pledges

The United Nations has called on countries to raise spending to 0.56 per cent of GNP by 2010 and to 0.7 per cent by 2015 to combat global poverty.

The Swiss government has pledged to meet the percentage set out in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

And at the 2005 UN World Summit in New York, the then Swiss President Samuel Schmid noted that Switzerland would review its aid commitments for the period after 2008 with a view to increasing Switzerland’s development aid.

NGOs have accused it of artificially boosting its aid figures by adding assistance to asylum seekers from developing countries in Switzerland.

In 2005, the OECD said Switzerland should increase the amount of its aid to 0.7 per cent and reduce the number of recipient countries.

The latest OECD report says that donors will have to increase funding for aid programmes faster that any other public expenditure to fulfil their commitments to increase aid to $130 billion and double aid to Africa by 2010.

Aid funding, recently rising by five per cent per year, would have to rise by 11 per cent every year from 2008 to 2010, it stated.

The majority of European Union member states have committed themselves to raise contributions to 0.7 per cent of GNP by 2015, and four have already achieved that target.

swissinfo with agencies

In brief

Switzerland’s annual aid budget is equivalent to 0.4% of gross national product, which is below the 0.7% recommended by the UN.

For 2007 the SDC’s budget is expected to be SFr1.3 billion.

SDC undertakes direct action, supports the programmes of multilateral organisations, and helps to finance programmes run by Swiss and international aid organisations in the following areas: bilateral and multilateral development cooperation, humanitarian aid and cooperation with eastern Europe.