We are living through events few could have predicted a couple of years ago. The consequences of another war in Europe are being felt across the world in the form of increasing energy and food prices; climate change is devastating ecosystems around the world; inequalities are soaring. The world is at a crossroads where international cooperation efforts can help countries withstand the impact of these shocks while building a more sustainable and equitable world, but only if it is done the right way. Decision-makers face a difficult, yet vital series of choices to make in this critical juncture.

AidWatch reports offer insights and recommendations for policymakers dealing with these challenges. They assess European ODA, a precious tool to support those left furthest behind, in terms of quantity and quality. AidWatch represents civil society views on ODA trends and urges European policymakers to honor their commitments for partner countries’ own development objectives.

The 2023 AidWatch report employs a revised methodology, dissecting the official ODA definition to gauge the EU’s contribution to overall objectives. This reassessment is vital to redefine the concept of ‘inflated aid’ and its relevance in the debate on aid quality.

Using the revised methodology, the report critically analyses the EU’s financial support to partner countries. It questions how much of this support can genuinely qualify as ODA. The report then evaluates how ODA supports countries’ economic development and welfare, thereby acting as a powerful tool to reduce inequalities between and within countries. Additionally, it provides a detailed country-by-country analysis for EU Member States and the United Kingdom.

2021 report takes a detailed look at the commitment to effectiveness in the Team Europe approach – the EU’s response to COVID-19 in partner countries. There are worrying signs that Team Europe is falling short when measured against all four of the Development Effectiveness Principles. The entire approach lacks transparency, civil society has so far been largely shut out of the process and partner country ownership seems scant. Read more in the “Effective ODA?” section or download the full report.

2020 also marked a step change in the EU’s budget for international cooperation. As the EU’s previous budgetary cycle (from 2014 to 2020) came to a close, Global Europe – the EU’s new fund for global development – was introduced. While Global Europe introduces several welcome changes, it also gives way to a number of concerns. A complete analysis of the most relevant trends in the EU ODA landscape from 2014 to 2020 as well as Global Europe is available in the full report.

You can also find the new digital version of AidWatch here. 

2020 marks the first year since 1998 that the global rate of poverty has increased. The COVID-19 pandemic has much to do with that, but it doesn’t help that the EU and its Member States are further off-track than ever in meeting their aid targets. In fact, at the current rate of growth, the EU will not meet the (genuine) aid target before 2070, as revealed by CONCORD’s 2020 AidWatch report.

Since 2005, CONCORD’s annual AidWatch report monitors the quantity and quality of EU Official Development Assistance, or ODA. It holds the EU accountable for their commitment to allocate 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to ODA by 2030. In 2019, despite an absolute rise of €3 billion, ODA fell for the third consecutive year in proportion to the EU’s GNI. So, the EU was off-track in its support to partner countries even before the global pandemic.

EU aid decreased in 2018, continuing the downward trend from 2017. Despite the well-received 25% reduction in inflated aid, EU aid is still decreasing after discounting these components. This means that, at the current rate of growth, the EU will only meet the 0.7% ODA/GNI target in 2061, as revealed by the CONCORD AidWatch Report 2019.

Looking into the Leave No One Behind principle and how to actually implement it, the AidWatch report shows that the current EU ODA allocation is not guided by the high levels of poverty and inequality in some regions of the world.

The CONCORD AidWatch report 2019 assembles a whole set of recommendations on how to start implementing the Leave No One Behind principle and ensure that EU aid is adequately used for poverty and inequality reduction.

The AidWatch 2018 report considers European official development assistance (ODA) in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s overarching pledge to leave no-one behind – a commitment to put the most marginalised people first in global development, by combatting discrimination, tackling inequalities in and between countries and ensuring everyone, especially those who historically have been most excluded, can enjoy their rights to the full.3

A complete assessment of the extent to which European ODA is leaving no-one behind would require a separate piece of research, but this report picks up some key elements, including the degree of coherence between some of EU’s wider policies and the leave no-one behind principle; and the EU’s approach to including youth and persons with disabilities in its development cooperation.