EU realigning aid towards domestic goals, say NGOs

EU members states are increasingly tying overseas development aid to specific domestic and foreign policy goals, hampering efforts to tackle the root causes of poverty, a new report by a coalition of NGOs has claimed in a report published in May 2011.

The 2011 AidWatch report was launched in Brussels on the 19 May 2011, detailing the performance of EU members states against their agreed targets on aid quantity and quality.

Now in its sixth year, the AidWatch report is the annual flagship pan-European report that documents and analyses the aid commitments of all 27 EU member states. As well as country by country summaries, the report also offers a comprehensive comparative analysis and an in-depth investigation of key development issues. In the lead up to the high level forum on aid effectiveness (HLF4) in November 2011, this year’s report focuses on the issue of aid quality.

• Primary Source

Concord / AidWatch: Challenging Self-Interest. Getting EU aid fit for the fight against poverty, May 2011 http://www.bond.org.uk/data/files/AW_report_2011_FINAL_1_page_view.pdf

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