In their new Aidwatch report on Czech Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2011, development NGOs associated in Czech Forum for Development Cooperation (FoRS) point out that the quality of the Czech aid has increased, but it is necessary to ensure its stable funding.
The report shows that Czech ODA is operating more effectively and more transparently. Several conceptual documents were prepared by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in 2011 such as country strategy papers with 4 of the 5 priority program countries, a new Project Cycle Methodology for bilateral ODA defining standard procedures and roles of individual actors as well as the National Strategy for Global Development Education and the Strategy for Government Grants for Students from Developing Countries. In addition, evaluations of bilateral development projects were launched in 2011. Moreover, the responsibilities, competencies and the aid budget within the Czech ODA will be unified under the Czech MFA in 2013.
The volume of Czech ODA in 2011 slightly increased compared to 2010 reaching approx. 177,2 million EUR. Most bilateral ODA went to the priority countries: Afghanistan (8 million EUR), Mongolia and Moldova (3 million EUR each). The highest part of bilateral ODA was spent on strengthening government and civil society, which is the sector of a long-standing Czech expertise. However, with ODA representing only 0,12 % of the Czech Gross National Income (GNI), compared to 0,13 % in 2010, the Czech Republic does not meet its international commitments to provide 0,33 % of its GNI for ODA by 2015. In addition, the proportion of the bilateral ODA was further reduced to 31 % of the total ODA and was spent mostly on development projects in partner countries carried out by various actors, especially private companies (37 %) and civil society organizations (34 %).
A briefing paper in English based on FoRS Aidwatch report including FoRS recommendations for Czech state institutions is available here.
Contact person: Marie Zazvorkova, marie.zazvorkova@fors.cz
Information provided by Marie Zazvorkova, FoRS
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