Over the past month EPF has been worried to note that the 2012 development assistance budgets are being cut by three major international donors: Canada, The Netherlands and Spain. In early April the overall figures for 2011 spending are set to be released, and they are expected to confirm this negative tendency for the past year across most International Donors. More news of this in next month’s EPF Newsletter…

On 29th March the federal government of Canada released its 2012 budget. This contains cuts to foreign aid as well as a re-evaluation of Canada’s spot in some international organizations. International assistance will shrink by more than 7 per cent by 2014-15 — a $377 million slice from Canada’s current $5.16 billion aid budget. Within the suite of departments and agencies that contribute to foreign aid, the Canadian International Development Agency will bear the brunt of the shrinking aid envelope.

In the Netherlands the CDA, VVD and PVV have also recently agreed to cut Dutch Development Assistance by one billion euros. With these cuts the Dutch contribution to international development now falls under 0.6 percent of gross domestic product. The UN international standard is 0.7 percent – a figure that was sacred for the CDA for a long time. These cuts have been described by some as “a slap in the face of the progressive members of the CDA.”

Meanwhile in Spain, following the elections last November the country has announced plans to cut its public deficit from 8.5% of GDP to 3% in the next two years. In real terms this will amount to cutting its ODA by 47.6%. Amidst these cuts development stands to be disproportionately badly affected compared to other areas of the Spanish budget. In December it was reduced by 1 billion Euros, and in the budget agreed over the past month for the rest of 2012 it has been cut by a further 1.4 billion Euros. In overall terms it appears that Spanish Development assistance now stands at approximately 0.2% of GNI.