Poor 'cast as fall guys'
2005-02-28 08:19
London - The world's poorest nations receive only one-fifth of global aid, humanitarian agencies said in a report published Monday, calling for major reforms to international funding programmes.
The report by Oxfam and ActionAid accuses wealthy countries of failing to deliver on pledges to halve world poverty by 2015. It also claims only half the money donated through aid programmes is spent on health, education and basic services.
Up to 40% of aid is tied to overpriced goods or services from the donor country, and about 80 official agencies are involved in distributing aid, generating a huge administrative burden, according to the report, published ahead of an international aid conference in Paris on Monday.
Conference delegates, including government ministers from around the world, are to assess progress on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, set out in 2000, to reduce global poverty by 2015.
"Our report tells a sorry tale of muddle, hypocrisy, dithering and stalling," said Patrick Watt, a policy officer for ActionAid. "The world's poor are cast unwittingly in the role of fall guys."
The humanitarian agencies would call for a new UN commission to monitor the effectiveness of aid, and lobby government representatives to cut red tape and target donations at the world's poorest regions, he said.
"If ministers in Paris fail to take the steps needed to make aid more effective, the UN's anti-poverty targets may end up as museum pieces," Watt said.
- AP