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26/11/2007 - After rapid increases in recent years, Spain's official development assistance reached USD 3 813 million in 2006, making it the 8th largest donor by volume. The Development Assistance Committee commends Spain for its growing aid efforts and its commitment to more than double the share of its gross national income allocated to development assistance in 2012 to reach the UN target of 0.7%. In 2006, the Spanish ODA increase was the second highest in absolute terms among DAC donors, as well as within the European Union. The Committee appreciated Spain's sensitive approach to peace building and reconciliation in Latin America.
Spain is pursuing ambitious goals for reforming its development co operation system and the challenges of putting them into practice will require sustained efforts in the years ahead. Spain has sharpened the poverty focus of its aid with a new commitment to sub Saharan Africa and a more targeted approach to poverty reduction within middle income countries. It applies the aid effectiveness principles well in the field but successful implementation of the Paris Declaration will depend on completing the on-going reform process and working in partnership with other donors. The Committee recommended that Spain improve co ordination and coherence among its development stakeholders, limit the number of countries or sectors it supports, and develop further its strategic approach to contributions to multilateral development organisations. Spain also needs to improve further its capacity to deliver bilateral aid, strengthening its attention to human resources issues.
While the agenda is ambitious, Spain seems well placed to achieve its goals for development co operation.
The Development Assistance Committee, which groups major aid donors that are members of the OECD, issued its Main Findings and Recommendations on Spain as part of a series of examinations of members' aid policies and programmes. The Peer Review, led by Austria and France, with Mexico as an observer, took place on 15 November 2007. The Spanish Delegation attending the review meeting was headed by Mr Juan Pablo De Laiglesia, Secretary-General of the Spanish Agency for International Co-operation. The DAC Chair will present the findings from the review on 10 December in Madrid. For further information, journalists are invited to contact the OECD's Media Division (tel. [33] 1 45 24 97 00).
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