Official Development Assistance needs to be redesigned through peacebuilding lenses

"Official Development Assistance (ODA) needs to be redesigned through peacebuilding lenses as to reflect current developmental challenges", said the EPP Group's Spokesman in the Development Committee Davor Ivo Stier at the annual workshop between DEVE MEPs and CONCORD.

Currently, 1.5 billion people live in fragile and conflict affected regions worldwide. Fragile states and ungoverned spaces are spreading leaving many in poverty, lawlessness, thriving corruption and violence.

The EPP Group believes that there is a need to establish a clear link between development and security. "Sustainable development is not possible without peace and security and peace is not possible without development. The development-security nexus has been reflected in the new Agenda 2030 through the introduction of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on peace and justice. SDG 16 addresses promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development with access to justice for all. But in order to be able to implement SDG 16, we need to make substantial changes both at the EU and the OECD level in order to finance related activities", claims Stier, who is also the EP rapporteur for 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Stier believes that the EU needs to lead the discussions under OECD on redesigning ODA. "There are clear indications that allocations to peacebuilding and to institution-building — which is closely related — in conflict-affected countries are seriously inadequate. In a group of 31 conflict-affected countries, critical institution-building in the political, security and justice areas received less than 10 per cent of official development assistance (ODA) during the period 2002-2013. Peacebuilding is chronically underfinanced although it is clear that peace is the basic precondition to sustainable development".