Oxfam: New Players, Same Story

Washington, DC -- Reacting to the outcome of the Busan aid negotiations, International agency Oxfam said donors had put off important decisions about how to improve aid.

A common set of monitoring standards that apply to everyone – new and traditional donors, as well as poor countries receiving aid – now won’t be decided until June 2012.

Oxfam’s Gregory Adams said: “There’s too much unfinished business here, and citizens in poor countries deserve better. Negotiators had a real opportunity to lock all parties into a deal on a scorecard to keep everyone honest.

“We’ll know six months down the line whether there’s any meat on the bones of this deal. And we hope this is not going to be decided behind closed doors.

"Good aid doesn't have a nationality. If donors are given a free pass on sticking to deals to make aid effective, poor people end up getting aid that doesn't help them escape poverty.

“This meeting became a conversation between Northern and Southern donors about what kind of aid they want to give, not what the world’s poorest people need. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but good quality aid saves lives,

“We’re encouraged by the OECDs dedication to oversee work on this global aid agreement through to mid-2012. The Busan agreement puts more countries now at the table, and accountable for their actions.  

“Now everyone involved must work quickly, and use the next six months to clarify how the new Global Partnership will function, and how it will move the Busan agreement into action.  One billion poor people are waiting for more than words -they want measurable action.”