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European countries are far from meeting their official development assistance (ODA) targets. Factors related to migration are further adding to the financial pressure faced by development budgets, parts of which are being earmarked to take care of refugees.
The European Commission announced in Jean-Claude Juncker's 'State of the Union' speech a new initiative on Africa – the EU External Investment Plan (EIP), which looks at helping the private sector in Africa and the European Neighbourhood.
Open data, and the transparency and effectiveness of international development aid, have failed to get the attention they deserve.
Europe is still the world’s leading provider of official development assistance (ODA). In 2015, its international solidarity budget increased sharply to cover the costs of the refugee crisis.
Despite the fact that costs are still high, internet access and mobile phone use is becoming increasingly widespread, including in developing countries.
On 12 December, world governments concluded a historic international agreement to fight global warming at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris.
The Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016, Development Goals in an Era of Demographic Change, was published on 6 November. It revealed that demographic trends had changed dramatically over the last 30 years.
The investment needed to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN in September varies greatly.
Most Official Development Assistance (ODA) comes from the EU institutions and member states. This amount is over $87.5 billion for 2013, the latest year for which data is available. This is 55% of the total of $135 billion. How much does each player provide? This infographic provides the answers.
External development finance plays a key role in supporting developing countries in their transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient and sustainable development pathway.
Over the last 50 years, Africa is estimated to have lost in excess of $1 trillion in illicit financial flows (IFFs). This sum is roughly equivalent to all of the official development assistance (ODA) received by Africa during the same timeframe. Currently, Africa is estimated to be losing more than $50 billion annually in IFFs.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of goals, targets and indicators that UN members will use to frame their policies over the next 15 years. If approved at the UN summit in September, they will become globally applicable beginning in January 2016.
Although Germany and Sweden are not front-line countries exposed to immigration, they were among those receiving the largest number of asylum seekers in 2014.
France, the UK, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, the countries with the largest colonial empires until the middle of the 20th century, are spending their Official Development Assistance (ODA) largely in the countries which were their colonies.
The percentage of women in parliaments has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. 22% of national parliamentarians worldwide are women, up from 11.3% in 1995.
Vaccination may be the most effective public health intervention of all time. This is especially true in developing countries, where many families can’t find or afford health care when they get sick. The prevention offered by vaccines can be life-saving.
More than two thirds of Europeans believe that fighting poverty in developing countries should be one of the EU's top priorities as it contributes to a more peaceful and equal world. But the level of support of people who say they are personally involved in helping developing countries varies greatly. Personal participation is highest in the Netherlands and Sweden, and lowest in Bulgaria and Romania.
The latest data shows that internet use continues to grow steadily, at 6.6% globally in 2014 (3.3% in developed countries, 8.7% in the developing world). The number of internet users in developing countries has doubled in five years (2009-2014), with two thirds of all people online now living in the developing world.
In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly designated 19 November as World Toilet Day. In the Western world, people take the toilet for granted, and don’t realise to what extent the lack of such facilities hampers the lives of millions of people.
The Green Climate Fund, which is the UN’s main instrument to transfer money to developing countries, in order to assist them in countering climate change, was launched in 2009 with the aim of raising climate finance of $100 billion a year by 2020. A substantial amount is expected to be raised in the run-up to the 2015 climate summit in Paris.
INFOGRAPHIC: The overall trend in hunger reduction in developing countries means that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of undernourished persons by 2015 is possible, according to a new UN report released on 18 September.
Around 40% of the European Commission's Overseas Development Aid (ODA) goes to Africa every year. The continent has received more than a quarter of the €2.7 billion increase in the aid budget since 2005 and, in 2009, aid for trade to the African, Caribbean and Pacific States increased to €3.6 billion. But where does the money end up?
Although child marriage is prohibited by international law, over 700 million underage girls are married worldwide, particularly in Africa and Asia.
Together, EU institutions and their member states are the biggest contributor to development cooperation worldwide. In 2012 alone, more than $37 billion was donated in aid – not counting loans made by the European Investment Bank.
