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'EU Member States are missing their aid target' states a new CONCORD Report

European Member States are missing their official development aid targets and jeopardising global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, reveals the new report 'Penalty against Poverty: More and Better EU aid can score Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)’ published today , 10 June, by CONCORD.

The report states that in the current context of the economic, food and climate change crises, the global effort to achieve the MDGs is facing serious challenges, this while more people in the developing world are going hungry than ever. Some might say that given the huge impact of the economic crisis on Europe such a disappointing trend was inevitable, this is not true. With sufficient political will from the EU, it can still prove itself as a credible development partner and reverse the disappointing trends in its development support seen in 2009.

Hussaini Abdu, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, a member of CONCORD, said in a press conference on 10 June that “EU aid efforts are being crippled by a crisis of commitment. In 2005 EU leaders committed to allocating 0.7% of their national income to fight global poverty but 5 years later they are well off-track on aid and abandoning their international commitment on aid effectiveness. We are not asking them to get more ambitious about fighting poverty, just keep their existing promises on aid quality and quantity”.

SOLIDAR supports CONCORD in its call for EU governments to keep their promises to deliver more and better EU development aid. EU leaders must commit to legally-binding yearly timetables stating how aid targets will be met and find new ways to raise money for development such as a financial transaction tax which would bring estimated yearly revenue of €215bn - €1tr at no extra cost to the tax payer. Europe must put an end to the inflation of aid figures and place developing countries and their citizens at the centre of efforts to meet the MDGs.