Vagthund: Bistandsydere devaluerer hjælpen ved at indregne alt muligt

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AidWatch, ekspertgruppen som repræsenterer 1600 europæiske NGOer, når desuden frem til, at donorernes binding af bistanden til hjemlige firmaer og leverandører fordyrer den med milliarder.

DAKAR, 31 May 2011 (IRIN): Poor-performing donors were lambasted (hudflettet) by UK Prime Minister David Cameron at this year’s G8 leaders’ meeting for failing to move towards meeting 0,7 percent [of gross national income] aid targets; but most major donors are to blame for tying aid to donor-based contractors, say aid watchdogs, and for reporting money spent at home as aid.

AidWatch, a group of European aid experts representing 1.600 NGOs, estimates European Union members reported 7,4 billion US dollar (5,2 billion euro) in inflated aid in 2010 – that is, the money was actually spent on debt cancellation, on foreign students, and on refugees in donor countries.

This is equivalent to almost 10 percent of the total aid provided that year.

Donors may report the first year of housing costs for refugees, and costs spent on foreign students, as part of official development aid (ODA).

In 2009 – the most recent year for which data is available – the US reported the highest volume of aid on refugees at home (740 million dollar), while Canada and France reported the highest percentages of their overall aid (6 and 4 percent, respectively) on refugees at home, according to Josh Lozman, chief of staff at aid watchdog ONE.

France, Germany and Canada, the only G8 countries that report foreign student costs as part of ODA, spend 14 and 8 and 9 percent respectively.

Læs videre på http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92853