New rules may allow aid money to be spent on security

Over the last months, the OECD i’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has held heated debates on what should count as development aid.

The DAC is the world’s main donors’ forum. Its way of measuring official development assistance (ODA) is also used by the EU, UN and the World Bank.

The committee allows ODA to include developmental and humanitarian aid, but not aid for military use. Ahead of the DAC’s high level meeting taking place on Thursday and Friday in Paris, it seems that members are ready to include some security and defence-related costs in the ODA definition.

DAC chairman Erik Solheim says the consequences of the upcoming measure will be limited in scope.

”We are talking about minor alterations, which would make aid more effective in a crisis situation and strengthen governance and security,” he told EUobserver.

Solheim, a former minister for development in Norway, says this would allow for training military staff in human rights and gender theory, as well as improve logistical solutions in emergency situations.

”For instance, the UK could have used military helicopters for delivering aid during the ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. This isn’t permitted during current rules but would have allowed to act faster, saving lives and money.”

But Sara Tesorieri, from the anti-poverty organisation Oxfam EU, fears that development aid will lose its focus.

“Development aid is supposed to be about progress, not prevention. We are all for preventing violent extremism, increasing transparency and training military personnel to avoid human rights abuses. We only oppose that these activities are financed through development aid budgets, whose essential goal is to lift people out of poverty," she told EUobserver.

"These other activities are important and can help enable development, but they aren't about eradicating poverty, and so should be financed through other budgets.”

Erik Solheim, on his side, says the changes will not take up more than ”one or two percent” of the budgets. He promises personally to make sure that aid goals are not be endangered by the change.

The EU view

Almost all DAC members back the idea to include some security and defence costs in ODA. The same goes for the European Union, a DAC member in its own right. A representative of the European Commission, speaking on terms of confidentiality, says it is up to the majority of members to decide on the definition, as the EU does not contribute to UN peacekeeping operations.

But Tesorieri says the EU does support security capacity building and peacekeeping operations through its African Peace Facility, financed by the European Development Fund.

”I would hope the Commission takes a principled stand against the further expansion of eligibility of security costs, as it already finances peace and security operations”, said Tesorieri.

She fears that the proposed changes could lead to severe consequences in the future.

Refugee reception as development aid

Development assistance is currently under double pressure, as several European countries spend large amounts of their ODA in their own countries, on refugee services. DAC rules allow for development aid to cover housing, health services and education during the first twelve months of a refugee’s stay.

In 2015, the Netherlands spent 27 percent of its ODA on refugees; Sweden — 30 percent, making the Swedish Migration Agency its largest beneficiary of funds.

“It can appear that a country is spending a large amount of its gross national income on development, even reaching the [internationally agreed] 0.7 percent target, but if a good proportion of that money actually stays in Europe, it will still not lift people out of poverty”, said Tesorieri.

"EU governments feel under pressure, perceiving migration as a crisis and struggling to respond to the situation. But rerouting development aid to refugee reception in Europe is counterproductive", she added, "as this does nothing to address the situations that people are fleeing from."

Erik Solheim shares her concerns.

“The rules allow for it, but until 2014 countries used to use this possibility only sparsely. I am happy that big donors such as Germany and [the] UK don’t use ODA for their refugee reception. The money is very much needed in Africa.”

This misuse of ODA funds will not be on the DAC’s agenda this time.

“But we will look into rules in the future, with the goal of making them stricter rather than wider.”

Meanwhile, over 113,000 people have signed Global Citizen, ONE and Oxfam’s petition that asks EU leaders to help the refugees “without doing so at the expense of the world's poorest”.