Official development assistance
Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It is widely used as an indicator of international aid flow. It refers to material resources given by the governments of richer countries to promote the economic development of poorer countries and the welfare of their people. The donor government agency may disburse such resources to the government of the recipient country or through other organizations. Most ODA is in the form of grants, but some is measured as the concessional value in soft (low-interest) loans.
This article is about a particular category of international aid. For more general aspects, see Aid and Development aid.Society and culture[edit]
Global goals[edit]
Several of the Sustainable Development Goals (to be achieved by 2030 at a global level) include ODA in their targets and indicators.[30] This applies to SDG 17 which is to "Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development". Its second target is worded as "Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance (ODA/GNI) to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries."[30]
SDG 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries) also includes a target on ODA: "Encourage official development assistance and financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to States where the need is greatest, in particular least developed countries, African countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their national plans and programmes."[30]