Statement from Global Citizen re: the OECD’s release of preliminary 2022 Official Development Assistance data

“The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has released preliminary data showing that in 2022, a record $204 billion in foreign aid, known as ODA, was allocated to assist the world’s developing countries. We commend Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Turkey for maintaining development aid levels at or above the benchmark of 0.7 percent of national income recommended by the United Nations. However, this is not a moment for celebration; several disturbing trends are putting the world’s long-term development goals at risk.

Despite this record increase in overall aid, the world's poorest countries continue to be overlooked and deprioritized, and received less aid in 2022 than they did the previous year. Bilateral aid to Africa fell by 7 percent in 2022, and nearly $30 billion marked for the welfare of developing countries was not deployed, but instead stayed within the borders of the world’s wealthiest nations.

Development assistance is one of the essential tools governments must urgently deploy to help people in low-income countries overcome the coinciding crises of food insecurity, climate change and rising fuel prices, or we risk watching them spiral further into extreme poverty and oppression.

Business as usual is not the answer. It is imperative that governments do not abandon the world's poor, and both increase and accelerate their contributions to international development assistance.”

— Michael Sheldrick, Co-Founder & Chief Policy, Impact and Government Affairs Officer, Global Citizen.