Publication of 2020 official development assistance figures by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (13 April 2021)

The Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) today published preliminary data on global official development assistance (ODA) for 2020. With ODA at €12.4 billion, i.e. 0.53% of gross national income (GNI) – up by 10.9% in real terms compared to the previous year –, France remains in fifth place among international aid donors.

In line with the French President’s commitment to increase France’s resources for protecting global public goods, French ODA rose for the sixth consecutive year (up €2.3 billion since the beginning of the five-year term).

The increase in French ODA is mainly driven by bilateral assistance (up 20.8% in current euros compared to 2019). Bilateral funding in donations increased by 2%, in accordance with the targets set by the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID) in February 2018. Assistance for projects, enabling practical projects to be funded on the ground, tripled by comparison with 2019, particularly thanks to increased activity in non-C2D donations directly implemented by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and activity entrusted to the French Development Agency (AFD). Sub-Saharan Africa, which is central to France’s development policy, received a third of our bilateral ODA (€2.9 billion), up 40% compared to 2019. The bilateral ODA allocated by France to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) stands at €1.7 billion.

France allocated €1.9 billion to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries in 2020 – more than the other European donors. In particular, through the AFD, it established a Health in Common Initiative worth €1.2 billion – €150 million of it in donations – which, among other things, improved care for patients and strengthened the capabilities of the Pasteur Institute’s reference laboratories in several sub-Saharan African countries.

French ODA to international organizations and multilateral funds amounted to €4.4 billion (up 2.8%). Over half corresponded to France’s contribution to the ODA implemented by the European Union. This money also financed the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), Unitaid, Gavi The Vaccine Alliance’s Finance Facility and the Green Climate Fund. France stepped up its support to the least developed countries through its contribution to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the African Development Fund (ADF).

The programming bill on inclusive development and combating global inequalities, presented by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and adopted by the National Assembly on 2 March 2021, realizes France’s new ambition for development policy. Through increased resources and overhauled methods, it reflects the desire to ensure our action is effective on the ground, helping the most vulnerable people, and to mobilize our partners to take more robust action to protect global public goods (climate, health, education). The Senate is currently discussing the bill.