In 2015, UN member states approved the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that integrates the economic, social and environmental pillars of development within 17 intricately interdependent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Central to the 2030 Agenda is a pledge to meet the Goals for all, leaving no one behind, and endeavouring to reach the furthest behind first. The Report unpacks the meaning of this pledge with a specific focus on the unique role and added value of development co-operation and official development assistance (ODA).
This report responds to the demand from members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee/DAC for greater clarity on how to answer the pledge to leave no one behind. This pledge entails a substantive shift in the narrative on sustainable development in all countries – to consider and include the people who are not benefiting from progress for often-intersecting political, social, economic, environmental, cultural and structural reasons through inclusive, equitable and sustainable development in developing countries.
The “Development Co-operation Report 2018: Joining Forces to Leave No One Behind” makes a strong case for the unique role of development co-operation in supporting countries and the global community to achieve the 2030 Agenda. It calls for providers to update development co-operation frameworks in three ways:
1. A new narrative spelling out the mutual benefits of leaving no one behind for everyone.
2. Deliberately mainstreaming the objective of inclusive, equitable and sustainable development through development co-operation portfolios, and harnessing agents of change, innovation and data.
3. A smarter use and allocation of ODA as an integral part of broader efforts to increase the volume of financing to achieve the SDGs for all.
The final part of the report contains individual aid profiles of all members of the DAC as well as 13 other providers that report to the OECD and private development finance from 2 foundations.
The aid profile of Greece indicates that the country is committed to the 2030 Agenda, which it sees as a transformative framework for a new sustainable development path where no one is left behind. Greece intends to revisit its overall development perspectives through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals. The vision of “leaving no one behind” is also explicitly incorporated in the new European Consensus on Development to which Greece subscribes as an EU member state.
Moreover, Greece has adopted a pragmatic approach to its development assistance by focusing primarily on multilateral aid. Greece believes that a “leave no one behind” approach to development co-operation should focus on the most vulnerable and on basic services that promote inclusive development such as healthcare, primary education and vocational training.
In 2017, Greece provided USD 317 million in net ODA (preliminary data), which represented 0.16% of gross national income (GNI) and a decrease of 15.8% in real terms from 2016 due to lower in-donor refugee costs. In 2017, in-donor refugee costs were USD 72 million and represented 22.7% of Greece’s total net ODA, compared to 39.8% in 2016.
More information: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/dcr-2018-en.pdf?expires=1544610413&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=43F3C16ABBFD2097ABF9CD41B68CFDA3