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With Austria’s official development assistance (ODA) at 0.42% of its gross national income (GNI) in 2008 (preliminary data) Austria was in 11th place among OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors. Austria’s net ODA fell by 14% to USD1.7 billion from 2007 to 2008, due to a lower level of debt relief grants provided in 2008. Debt relief made up 50% of Austria’s ODA during the period 2005 - 2007 and more than 40% in 2008, which is higher than any other DAC member. With the decline in debt relief, Austria needs to sharply increase its aid to meet its commitment to reach the EU target of 0.7% of GNI to development assistance by 2015. Reaching its interim target of 0.51% in 2010 is essential despite the current financial crisis.

The DAC commends Austria’s efforts to focus its development co-operation on the world’s poorest people and its plans to substantially increase its aid for humanitarian action, priority partner countries, and UN agencies. Austria can greatly enhance the effectiveness and decrease the dispersion of its aid by increasing the share of aid that can be programmed by its partner countries.

By establishing the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Austria has progressed with the organisational reform it started in 2004. The staffing and technical expertise in the Foreign Affairs Ministry must now be strengthened so that it can effectively carry out its mandate as the national co-ordinator for aid and development policy. Austria’s aid system must become more cohesive and its aid more predictable, for which the new five year budgetary cycle provides a good foundation. The DAC recommends increased focus on public and political awareness about global development challenges. It also recommends a medium-term development policy, endorsed by the government, which commits all ministries to reducing poverty, increasing peace and security, and preserving the environment.