Switzerland's official development aid (ODA) rose to a record 0.56% of national income last year, according to the government, but a quarter of this was spent on internal asylum-related costs. Aid agencies say Switzerland should stop ‘playing with figures’.
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L’aiuto svizzero allo sviluppo raggiunge il record ufficiale, le agenzie di aiuto denunciano “l’illusione”.
ODA totalled CHF4.274 billion last year, or 0.56% of gross national income, compared with 0.51% a year earlier, says a government press releaseExternal link on Wednesday. This was due to the war in Ukraine. Excluding asylum costs, however, ODA was 0.4% of gross national income.
Alliance Sud, a coalition of Swiss NGOs, said the official ODA increase was an “illusion” and that in reality Switzerland’s ODA falls well short of the UN target of 0.7% of gross national income. The Alpine country must substantially increase its aid to Ukraine, but without undermining existing projects and programmes in developing countries, it said in a press releaseExternal link.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), only five countries have reached the 0.7% target: Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Denmark. Switzerland is in ninth place.
“In accordance with DAC [OECD Development Assistance Committee] reporting rules, Switzerland also declares as ODA the costs of receiving asylum seekers, temporarily admitted persons and refugees from developing countries during their first 12 months in Switzerland,” according to the Swiss government websiteExternal link.
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