International cooperation, the illusory increase in public aid for development: here is the picture of true solidarity in the rich world

ROME – From the site of Info-Cooperation – the portal of Italian humanitarian operators – we learn that in 2022, according to preliminary data from the OECD, thePublic Development Aid (ap) increased by 13.6% over the previous year. An inflated increase, however, because it drops to 4.6% if we consider only the actual aid and which decreases further if we also exclude the episodic aid component. In short, cases of episodic aid also weighed on ODA, such as assistance to Ukraine and expenses for Covid-19. Meanwhile, only 5 out of 30 countries – Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Denmark – have reached or exceeded the target of 0.70%, i.e. the international and European commitment also signed by Italy to allocate that percentage of its national wealth in support of development goals, enshrined in theAgenda 2030 of the United Nations.

The burden of assistance to Ukrainians. The altered increase must then be further scaled down in the light of the fact that the inflated component of the aid increased above all, in particular that relating to expenses for refugees in the donor country. In 2022, this item exceeded 29 billion dollars in OECD countries (the highest figure ever recorded), for 14.4% of the totalap. To this were added a series of expenditure items, in particular assistance to the Ukrainian population and resources to combat the Covid-19 pandemic which, although fundamental, represent forms of episodic and non-replicable aid. That is, aid that, once these crises are resolved (again considering the possibility of a protracted crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine), will risk disappearing. Taking these components into account, it can be said that the increase in ODA in 2022 was only apparent.

The real help is contained in a 4.6%. As the OECD points out, the increase in resources is mainly due to the inflated aid, and specifically to the expenses destined for the reception of refugees in the donor country. In 2022, these reached their highest level on record, exceeding $29 billion (in constant prices). If we consider only genuine help, understood as theap net of spending on refugees in the donor country, the growth recorded between 2021 and 2022 in fact goes from 13.6% to a much more contained 4.6%. In the Czech Republic, Poland and Ireland the share of inflated aid exceeds half of theap total. In the case of the Czech Republic and Poland, the increase is due to their geographical position, which since the outbreak of war has meant that they have received very large numbers of Ukrainian refugees. While the case of Ireland, according to the OECD analysis, can be explained by an increase both in resources for the reception of refugees and in contributions to international organizations.