2019 data on official development aid & online discussion of ODA’s role in the Covid-19 crisis

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This article is brought to you in association with OECD.

The OECD will release 2019 official development assistance (ODA) data at 16:00 Paris time (14:00 GMT) on Thursday 16 April. Journalists and civil society representatives are invited to a Zoom presentation of the data with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Chair Susanna Moorehead, and OECD Development Co-operation Director Jorge Moreira da Silva. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A discussion on how foreign aid can best be used to help developing countries weather the health and economic crisis sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Journalists wishing to connect and/or receive the data under embargo two hours in advance should RSVP to Catherine Bremer in the OECD Media Office (+33 1 45 24 80 97). Questions can be submitted online during the presentation. They can also be sent in advance to the same email address.
The OECD’s aid statistics track official flows from DAC donors to developing countries. Preliminary data released each April include detail on humanitarian aid, ODA spent on refugees in donor countries, and flows to least-developed countries and Africa. Final ODA figures with a detailed geographic and sectoral breakdown are released at the end of the year.

As in 2018, the 2019 data will be expressed on a “grant equivalent” basis, allowing for a more realistic comparison between grants, which make up the bulk of ODA, and loans, which account for around 17% of gross bilateral ODA. Until 2018, loans were expressed on a “cash basis”, meaning their full face value was included then repayments were subtracted as they came in. The grant-equivalent methodology, a fairer way of measuring donor effort, means only the “grant portion” of the loan, i.e. the amount actually “given” by lending below market rates, counts as ODA. More information on ODA: Frequently Asked Questions.