EU development assistance in times of crisis

Global economic crisis is jeopardising official development assistance (ODA) spending by the EU Member States.

The European Union (EU) is the world's largest donor, committed to providing 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) in ODA by 2015, as foreseen in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). ODA comprises contributions of donor government agencies to developing countries and multilateral institutions, aimed at promoting economic development. ODA includes the costs to the donor of project or programme aid, technical cooperation, debt forgiveness, food and emergency aid, as well as associated administration costs. The intermediate target was 0.56% GNI by 2010, but the European Union missed this, providing only 0.43%.