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11/12/2007 - Finland disbursed USD 834 million in official development assistance in 2006. This amount, as a share of national income, makes Finland the eleventh largest donor amongst OECD Development Assistance Committee countries.
The Development Assistance Committee found Finland to be a committed development co-operation actor that works within the EU and with other like-minded groups. The committee appreciated that the new development policy (2007) maintains the over-arching goal of poverty reduction and commitment to the MDGs, while also prioritising sustainable economic, social and ecological development. Since the peer review in 2003, Finland has taken steps to improve its aid. It is a keen proponent of policy coherence for development, and is committed to making its aid more effective, through supporting long-term planning, country ownership, alignment, harmonisation, division of labour and joint donor efforts.
The committee noted some challenges for Finland, including making sure progress is made on its commitment to allocating 0.7% of its gross national income to development assistance by 2015 (it is currently at 0.4%). It should also ensure that its proposals to make aid more effective and to increase coherence amongst policies that affect development, both bring real results. It should also ensure that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ development policy-related activities are properly resourced and efficiently organised.
The Development Assistance Committee, which groups major aid donors that are members of the OECD, issued its Main Findings and Recommendations on Finland as part of a series of examinations of member aid policies and programmes. This Peer Review, led by Germany and Norway, took place on 27 November 2007. The Finnish delegation attending the review meeting was headed by Ms. Marjatta Rasi, Under Secretary of State for Development Co-operation. The DAC Chair will present the findings of the review on 14 December in Helsinki. For further information journalists are invited to contact Helen Fisher at the OECD's Media Division (tel. [33] 1 45 24 80 97).
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