Aid in Perspective

The United Nations once gave out the target that richer nations should spend 0.7 percent of their gross national income (GNI) on Official Development Aid (ODA). Most advanced economies that belong to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) continue to fail to reach this moderate goal. Others, like Germany, have reached the benchmark for the first time in 2016. Critics argue that the only reason the government in Berlin spent enough is that money spent on refugees in the country itself are counted towards ODA. Only six of the 29 states on the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) reached the 0.7 percent goal in 2016.