09/01/2012 - Though the economic crisis has forced Spain to cut public spending in the past year, including to development co-operation, its aid has almost doubled since 2003. In addition to this higher quantity, the OECD’s Review of the Development Co-operation Policies and Programmes of Spain commends the improved quality of its development co-operation programmes.
Spain increased aid from 0.23% of its national wealth in 2003 to 0.46% in 2009, before cutting it to 0.43% - or USD 5.9 billion in 2010. The world’s 7th largest donor by volume, Spain still has plans to meet the international target of committing 0.7% of its gross national income to development aid.
The government, backed by strong cross-party and public support, is committed to fighting poverty in developing countries and has based its policies on a commitment to making aid more effective. Spain has recruited staff to cope efficiently with the higher levels of aid, strengthened its humanitarian assistance programme, and developed frameworks to work more effectively with its recipient partner countries, multilateral agencies and the private sector. At the same time it has gained valuable experience in developing capacity in Middle-Income Countries and should share its knowledge with other donors.
As well as noting the strengths of Spanish aid, the Review makes recommendations for further improvement:
For more information on Spain’s development policies and programmes, journalists can contact Elisabeth Cardoso Jordao in the OECD’s Development Co-operation directorate: Elisabeth.Cardosojordao@oecd.org or by phone +33 (0) 1 45 24 92 57.
>> More information about OECD’s work on development is available at: www.oecd.org/development
>> Further information about the Spain peer review is available at: www.oecd.org/dac/peerreviews/spain
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